In our final episode of our Early Education & Care mini-series, Josh speaks with Vanessa Martinez who is the Assistant Director and Subsidy Administrator of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts Early Education & Care Program. She is also a mentor at Project Flourish which helps early childcare workers receive their Child Development Associates Accreditation (CDA’s) while continuing to work in the field. In the episode, Josh and Vanessa discuss the importance of educators building strong relationships with families and the current crisis surrounding the shortage of early educators due to the lack of funding and resources, as well as how this is affecting families and children in our community.
You can follow Vanessa and her work by checking out the YWCA website and Facebook page. Do you know someone working in the early education & care space who might benefit from receiving their CDA? Learn more here.
Listen to Public Hearing wherever you get your podcasts and on WICN 90.5FM, Worcester’s NPR affiliate station.
Public Hearing is a podcast from Action! by Design. Action! by Design’s vision is a world where all people are valued and have access to opportunities that enable them to live healthy and fulfilled lives on a sustainable planet. We’re a social innovation and change agency that uses facilitation and design to address complex problems facing communities. In his book Designs for the Pluriverse, Arturo Escobar, an author and anthropologist, defines design as a “space for linking theory, practice, and purpose, connecting vision and reality.” This is how we approach our work; we use design thinking and an equity-centered framework as a mindset to inform how we approach and address problems. We use facilitation to ensure we’re centering the voices of those most impacted by the challenges we’re addressing. Want to learn more? Let’s chat. Reach out to our team at theteam@actionbydesign.co