Celebrating our Second Black Early Childhood Educator Career Pipeline Graduates 

“Whole Child, Whole Family” in Action 

By Children’s Council’s Black ECE Team: 
Maiysha Dickerson, Venus Savea and Je Ton Carey 

On Friday, July 14, 2023, Children’s Council hosted a joyous graduation for our second annual Career Development Cohort of Black Early Childhood Educators at the historic Bayview Opera House. We gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of our remarkable 39 graduates with an inspiring day of community and celebration.

Learn more about our Pipeline, meet two of our 2022-23 cohort graduates, and see why this program is so successful and important to our city in this KQED article.

Click here to see our Facebook photo album!

Special accolades were made by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Ingrid Mezquita (Department of Early Childhood) and Adrian Owens (Office of Economic Workforce Development), along with our 100+ guests of friends, family and community leaders. 

Children’s Council’s innovative Black Early Childhood Educator Career Development Pipeline initiative has proven to be a highly effective approach to addressing the achievement and equity gap that persists for our Black children, while building a robust pipeline of qualified Black early educators.

Children’s Council’s “Whole Child, Whole Family” approach to our work is woven deeply into the fabric of the program, centering the individual needs of our participants, and ensuring they reach their goals.  

Participants attended weekly online classes, completing the four core classes essential for early educators working with young children (Orientation to ECE Principles and Practice, Introduction to Early Childhood Curriculum, Child, Family & Community and Child Growth & Development). These 12 units are required to obtain a teaching permit through the California Department of Teaching and Credentialing.  

Our Black ECE Pipeline participants also took part in Peer Learning Circles (PLCs), featuring guest speakers offering resources and information on career pathways in early childhood education, business development supports & trauma-attuned teaching. 

Our Career Development Pipeline program also incorporates 1-on-1 case management and wrap-around supports for program participants. Our Black ECE Achievement team intentionally connected students to a full range of resources and services including child care, food and housing, to ensure their success.    

These 39 Black Pipeline graduates are now entering the Early Care & Education workforce equipped with a greater understanding of how children grow, learn, think and play. In addition, nearly half of our alumni will be joining our Family Child Care Business Incubator program, which includes a wide range of trainings and supports to help them start their own home-based child care businesses in San Francisco.  

Children’s Council, along with our partners, the Mayor’s Dream Keeper Initiative and the Office of Economic Workforce Development, are committed to making a change in early childhood education by increasing the numbers of Black educators in our city. 

We are excited to kick off our third Black ECE pipeline cohort set to begin in Fall 2023. If you are interested in joining, please email us at blackeceteam@childrenscouncil.org  

Click here to see our Facebook photo album.