Cambridge, MA Sept. 11, 2008 – The Schott Foundation Board of Directors and Staff wish to congratulate Dr. Valora Washington, President of the CAYL Institute, for being named to Barr Fellows class of 2009 by the Barr Foundation. The Schott Foundation has proudly provided grant support for the Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education and its alumni program, two successful Massachusetts early childhood leadership development programs designed and directed by Dr. Washington.

The Barr Fellows Program honors the contributions of the most gifted and experienced leaders in the Boston area. Over a three-year period that includes a sabbatical, international travel, a series of retreats, and peer learning, these distinguished leaders have an important opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of their organizations and find the inspiration to attain even higher levels of effectiveness, creativity, and innovation.

“This is a well-deserved honor for Valora who has worked tirelessly for years to promote high quality, universal early education. She is to be especially lauded for the work she has done through the CAYL Institute to help women and people of color become directly involved in determining public policy related to early education in Massachusetts,” said Dr. John H. Jackson, President and CEO of The Schott Foundation.

Dr. Washington is a recognized authority in early childhood care and education. She has organized and developed initiatives targeting policy change in different areas of early care and education, including higher education and local, state or federal government. As President of the CAYL Institute, Dr. Washington directs several leadership programs for practitioners, including the CAYL Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education, and the CAYL Principals Fellowship for elementary school principals with prekindergarten programs–both of which offer new models for leadership development. She also has co-created several institutions, such as Michigan’s Children, a statewide advocacy group, and the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative.

Frequently tapped for senior-level service, she has been Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Governor’s School Readiness Commission; Board Chair for Voices for America’s Children; Secretary of NAEYC; chair of the Black Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development; Co-Chair of the National Head Start Association Commission on 2010; and a member of the current governor’s Readiness Commission subcommittees. She currently serves as a trustee of the Boston Children’s Museum and Wheelock College.

Since 2005, she has co-led workforce development initiatives in Massachusetts; In July 2008 she completed service as one of three co-chairs on the Massachusetts Task Force on the early Education and Out of School Time Task Force. Valora is a former Vice-President of the Kellogg Foundation, where she led a process to develop over $18 million in grants related to early education and child welfare, and $86 million overall. She has held executive and teaching positions at institutions including Antioch College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She is a co-author or co-editor of over 50 publications, including Children of 2010 and Keeping the Promise: a Study of the Massachusetts Child Care Voucher System. Advocacy for the voucher system led to 52,000 children in Massachusetts having opportunities for a one year certification period, effective last fall. Ready or Not: Early Care and Education Faces New Challenges, her latest writing venture (with Stacie Goffin) was published by Teachers College Press in June 2007.

For Dr. Washington’s bio and the CAYL Institute web site, click here.

About The Schott Foundation for Public Education

Founded in 1991, The Schott Foundation for Public Education seeks to develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully resourced high quality preK-12 public education.

The Schott Foundation for Public Education

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