My Own Capacity

Which issues impacting young children and their families and/or the field of early childhood fuel your passion?

Childhood poverty is a social issue that impacts young children, their families, and the early childhood field and fuels my passion. My advocacy objective would be to reduce childhood poverty and improve optimal development of the child and family by offering parent programs in ALL early care and education facilities that assist in helping families achieve educational/employment goals by offering support and resources. This issue is so significant to me because of my personal experience with childhood poverty and low-income families and I fully understand the detrimental impact it has on the child, the family, the community, and society as a whole.

What special skills do you have that will contribute to your advocacy efforts? How will you incorporate these skills into your work?

The skill of experiencing life as a low-income family but also the education and knowledge of an early childhood professional is the greatest resource I have to contribute to my advocacy efforts. I fully understand the physical, mental, social, and emotional toll this circumstance has on the child and its family. I will incorporate this understanding into my work by sharing my story and my success and being the resource needed for families to have positive, life-changing outcomes.

In what ways do you hope to grow in order to be a more effective advocate?

To be a more effective advocate, I hope to become a more informed, organized, well-researched resource for children and their families. I want to become deeply absorbed in finding solutions to issues that affect children, their families, and everyone connected. I want to discover the leader in me and to obtain an understanding of social issues that affect these individuals so that I can help change lives and make an impact (even on a micro level) in the early childhood field.