Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat’s Statement on
Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Leadership in New Regional Effort
to Strengthen the Early Care and Education Professional Workforce
February 23, 2016 – Today, Washington Area Women’s Foundation President and CEO Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat issued the following statement:
“I’m pleased to announce Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s investment in the Washington Region Early Care & Education Workforce Network, a new effort seeking to drive change in the early care and education professional workforce across the Washington region.
We know that early education is key to a child’s wellbeing and economic security later in life. To provide these critical building blocks for low-income children in our region, we must ensure that early care and education providers are fully equipped with the supports and skills they need. We also know that, despite its critical impact, early care and education is one of the lowest paying professional fields – and jobs are predominately held by women workers, themselves struggling to support families on low wages. By investing in this regional effort, we can support the advancement of these workers, and children and families will have access to higher quality programs.
The Washington Region Early Care & Education Workforce Network was formed as a unified, collaborative response to the recommendations outlined in the report, Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation, released last year by the National Academy of Medicine. This year, the Network will participate with a handful of states from across the country to develop local plans for implementing the recommendations of that seminal report. Our regional implementation plan will be released in October 2016.”
In addition to Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative, other national sponsors of this project include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, McCormick Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
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About Washington Area Women’s Foundation
Washington Area Women’s Foundation is a DC-based public foundation dedicated to mobilizing our community to ensure that economically vulnerable women and girls in the Washington region have the resources they need to thrive. Learn more about The Women’s Foundation’s mission to transform the lives of women and girls, the Washington region, and the world by visiting us online, on Facebook or on Twitter.
About the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative
Washington Area Women’s Foundation established the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative in 2008, as a multi-year, multi-million dollar collective funding effort. The Collaborative is supported and directed by corporate funders and local and national foundations. Current investors include: Bainum Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, PNC Foundation, Richard E. and Nancy P. Marriott Foundation, Washington Area Women’s Foundation, Weissberg Foundation, and The World Bank Group.
