Leadership Team
Kathryn Tout
Managing Director
Mallory Warner
Deputy Managing Director
Brandy Jones Lawerence
TA Director
Anne Douglass
Research Co-Director
Rena Hallam
Research Co-Director
Katherine Paschall
Deputy Research Director
To Be Named
TA Deputy Director
Lauren Zarick
Communications Director
Core Partners
The National Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Center is a collaborative of five core partners. We are staffed by 60+ individuals across our partner organizations, representing researchers, technical assistance specialists, subject matter experts, communicators, and project managers who collectively bring decades of expertise to the National ECE Workforce Center.
Child Trends
Child Trends promotes the well-being of all children and youth through applied research that informs public policies and builds the evidence base for what works for children, youth, and families, particularly those overlooked or ill-served by public systems.
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE)
CSCCE provides research and analysis on the preparation and compensation of the early care and education workforce, and their working conditions. They develop policy solutions and create spaces for teaching, learning, and educator activism.
University of Delaware
The Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood improves the lives of young children and their families by providing exemplary services for the early childhood community. They conduct research that helps to advance equity and promote high-quality education.
UMass Boston
Early Education Leaders builds a leadership development ecosystem to cultivate, sustain, and elevate early educator leadership that reflects the racial and linguistic diversity of the ECE workforce.
ZERO TO THREE
ZERO TO THREE translates expertise in the science of early childhood development into pioneering programs, field-leading training and resources, and responsive policy solutions.
Collaborating Partners
The National ECE Workforce Center’s nine collaborating partners provide consultation support across the center’s work.
Partner Leadership Team
Lea Austin,
Committee Chair
CSCCE
Miriam Calderón, ZERO TO THREE
Anne Douglass, UMass Boston
Rena Hallam, University of Delaware
Tamara Halle, Child Trends
Janice Im, ZERO TO THREE
Caitlin McLean, CSCCE
Kathryn Tout,
Child Trends
Early Educator Advisory Board
Serving as thought partners and advisors, the Early Educator Advisory Board contributes to activities across research and technical assistance. Inaugural board members to be announced.
Integrated Research & Policy Fellows
The Integrated Research & Policy Fellowship Program includes two policy fellows and two research fellows who will deepen their expertise about the key issues impacting the workforce and build research and policy capacity in the field. You can learn more about this program here.
Alyssa Fortner
Policy Fellow
Policy Analyst, Child Care and Early Education at CLASP
Colleen Walling
Policy Fellow
Lead infant/toddler educator with Oklahoma Head Start
Liran Laor
Research Fellow
Doctoral student in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Melanie Seyarto
Research Fellow
Doctoral student in Human Development and Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles
Federal Partners
The National ECE Workforce Center is funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) with support from ACF’s Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD), including the Office of Head Start (OHS) and the Office of Child Care (OCC), as well as the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE).