As Executive Director of the Tallahatchie Early Learning Alliance, my role is to unite the community in supporting children to thrive. I became aware of the need for unity and shared purpose several years ago, when there was a big push for developmentally appropriate practice from the state level. There was a lot of information for people to utilize, but many didn’t have the confidence or sense of permission to make changes. Leading for Children creates space for communities to co-construct solutions. Now, we own the ability to create our own power within the community; others do not create the power for us.

Not only am I seeing changes in my community, I’m seeing changes in myself. If, as individuals, we self-reflect, practice self-awareness, and think about impact, we’re more effective as leaders. A lot of times, I made decisions based on emotion but not always based on the impact. Now, I’m looking at my work and thinking about the impact that it is going to make. With this self-awareness, I’m becoming a better leader — as a person, not just as a director, not just as a teacher, not just as a parent. I’m digging in my heart and I’m changing to be effective.