- This event has passed.
CRANE LECTURE SERIES: Dr. Valora Washington
Join us for the 2023 Crane Lecture Series featuring
DR. VALORA WASHINGTON
Wednesday, March 29 from 4-6pm
Columbus Museum of Art in the Cardinal Health Auditorium
Persist, Reform, Transform, Reframe: Four Next-Level Strategies for Early Childhood Education
Join us on Wednesday, March 29 from 4-6pm at the Columbus Museum of Art for a free lecture and reception to welcome Dr. Valora Washington, President & CEO of The CAYL Institute, as our 2023 Crane Lecture Series speaker.
The early care and education field continues to face many challenges, especially when it comes to teacher recruitment and retention. Designing new solutions will require extraordinary openness to new learning, operational adaptability, and change to complex and unpredictable situations.
In this presentation Dr. Washington will offer next-level strategies for researchers, practitioners, and advocates to advance the field for the benefit of children, families, staff, and communities. Specifically, she will discuss how early educators and their allies can:
- PERSIST in aligning the various sectors of early care and education into a consistent field of practice;
- REFORM COVID-era policy exceptions into sustainable innovations sustainable innovations;
- TRANSFORM potential fiscal cliffs into bridges of sustainable funding; and
- REFRAME the narrative to emphasize early education as a good job and essential to our economy and workforce development across all industries.
Join us as Dr. Washington discusses the state of early care and education around the country and in Ohio. After exploring the state-of-the-field, she will challenge our thinking about how we speak and advocate for better early learning opportunities and share how other states are tackling these challenges. Importantly, Dr. Washington’s remarks will leave us with actionable ways to be part of the solution – whether you are a researcher, teacher or support staff, advocate, policy maker, parent, or community leader.
Dr. Washington founded The CAYL Institute, which stands for community advocates for young learners, to organize, equip, and empower people to create change on behalf of children through public policy, professional practice, and family engagement. As an internationally recognized leader and change agent in early childhood education and teacher professionalization, Dr. Washington is uniquely situated to motivate leaders across sectors toward solving its most vexing problems.
Please join us for a motivational and meaningful afternoon of connection, made better by your voice and perspective. The one-hour lecture will be followed by a reception where you can connect with others and meet Dr. Washington. The Crane Lecture Series is free and open to all, but registration is required.
EVENT SCHEDULE
4:00 – 4:10pm
WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS
Dr. Laura Justice, executive director of the Schoenbaum Family Center and Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy
Dean Donald Pope-Davis
, PhD, College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University
Tanny Crane, president and chief executive officer of Crane Group
4:10 – 5:00pm
CRANE LECTURE
Dr. Valora Washington, president and chief executive officer of The CAYL Institute
5:00 – 6:00pm
RECEPTION
Enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while you connect with others and have the opportunity to meet Dr. Washington.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Crane Lecture Series is a special event hosted every two years by the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy. The event is dedicated to bringing a high-profile, nationally known speaker to Columbus, Ohio to inspire and engage key community leaders, educational researchers, policy leaders, and educators.
ABOUT DR. WASHINGTON
During her decade as CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition, Dr. Valora Washington advanced and professionalized the field of early childhood education with her leadership of the largest credentialing program for early educators in the United States, the Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™. Dr. Washington also oversaw the CDA Gold Standard Certification for training institutions, creation of high school CDA programs, and broad increases in participation of the CDA program.
Dr. Washington also co-founded Voices for Michigan’s Children (a statewide advocacy group) and The CAYL Institute, where she currently serves as its chief executive. She formerly served as Vice President at Antioch College and the Kellogg Foundation and as a tenured faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her distinguished career includes leadership roles with the Massachusetts Governor’s School Readiness Commission; Voices for America’s Children; NAEYC; Black Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development; Boston Children’s Museum; and Wheelock College.
Dr. Washington was named one of “Ten Outstanding Young Women of America” from among 62,000 nominations. In addition to a Ph.D. in Child Development/Education from Indiana University at Bloomington, Dr. Washington holds four honorary degrees and professional recognition from numerous organizations including the Barr Fellowship, Leadership Greater Washington, NAEYC Black Caucus, Cambridge Resource and Referral, Center for Adoption Research, and National Association of Black Social Workers.