Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

National or Federal Organizations of Interest:

1. Let’s Move is a comprehensive initiative launched by the First Lady. I would love to be a part of this initiative because of its dedication to finding solution to fight childhood obesity.

Let's Move has been in existence for 2 years and has made significant progress. They are a community of practice that consist of parents, businesses, educators, elected officials, members of the military, chefs, physicians, athletes, childcare providers, community and faith leaders and kids.

Job opportunities:

White House Intern: The Office of the First Lady

The staff is divided into six departments: Chief of Staff, Policy, Communications, Scheduling, Correspondence, and the Social Office.

I would want to work in either her Policy or Social Office. The skills I need to competently fulfill this role would be organizational skills, the ability to research policies, event planning, and excellent  communication skills.

2. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Health and Human Service has the North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program. This program provides resources, interventions, and creates treatment plans for families with children with developmental delays.

Position Title: Habilitation Specialist

Skills and experience needed:

Experience in service delivery for children with developmental delays is a required. I have 5 years of experience. Another requirement is the ability to write IFSP's. I currently work with children as the transition from the 0-3 program to school age services. Although I am familiar with IFSP’s, I have only written IEP's. I believe that this would not interfere with my ability to do the job.

Management prefers someone with an Infant Toddler Specialist Certification or working towards certification. I do not have this but will research taking the steps to add this to my license.

3. The North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children (NCaeyc) is the state affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC). The mission of the group is to be the voice of the professionals who work directly with or on the behalf of children birth- age 8.  I would love to join this community of practice along with the other teachers, child care providers, administrators, directors, researchers, college faculty, and others.

There are not any current job opportunities within this organization. I explored the positions and qualifications of the current staff to see what potential jobs may become available in the future.

Position Title: Coordinator of Programs and Services

Based on what I read about the current person that holds this position to be successful in this role I would need a Master’s Degree in the field of early childhood, 10 years’ experience, experience as a rated license assessor, and childcare program administration skills.  I would like to become familiar with the rated license process so that I can gain the skills to possibly work as an assessor. To work for this organization in this role I need to work on my leadership and program management skills to be successful. I have my childcare director’s certification but have never worked as a center or program director. I’m thinking of working part time this summer as a program administrator to gain the experience.