Mission
We are a statewide early childhood leader driving change through partnerships to build an equitable, high-quality early care and education system that meets the needs of Minnesota’s families and children.
Values
We work with integrity, honor diverse ideas and approaches, and foster a culture of respect and trust. We are child-centered and equity-driven.
Our Commitment to Anti-Racism
Child Care Aware of Minnesota is actively working towards becoming an anti-racist organization. To this end, we are committed to:
- Dismantling systems, policies, and procedures that perpetuate racial inequities.
- Understanding the roots of an early childhood care and education system built on white supremacy that:
- historically has limited access and opportunity for Black, Indigenous, and children of color.
- marginalizes and exploits a workforce made up of many women of color.
- Attending trainings, having conversations, and engaging in other learning opportunities with our own staff and extending that work to our grantees, partners, vendors, contractors, and communities.
- Holding each other accountable to build awareness of our individual role in eliminating racism.
- Owning the responsibility of ongoing learning when our intentions do not match our impact.
Leadership
Marcia Schlattman
Board Chair
Program Director, Milestones
Liz Kuoppala
Board Vice Chair
Executive Director, Mahube-OTWA
Maria Steen
Board Treasurer
Director, CAPLP Child Care Connections
Brittany Clausell
Board Secretary
Founder and Independent Education Consultant
Ariane Bromberg
Trainer and Child Care Substitute
JoAnn (JJ) Johnson
Retired Professor/Chair CFS, St. Cloud State University
Juliet Lee
Director, Sleepy Tigers Chinese Immersion Learning Center
Margaret Mahowald
Director, Calvary Childcare Center
Nancy Hafner
Faculty TPT, Ridgewater College, Wilmar Campus
Kristin Otto
Child Care Licensor, Wright County
Rebecca Nathan
Curriculum and Instructional Design Consultant
Zang Vang-Lee
Project Manager, Hmong Early Childhood Coalition
Christina Valdez
Director, Listos Preschool and Child care
April Kraemer
Manager | Employer Health Solutions | Regional Therapy Services | Employee Health Altru Health System
Scott Marquardt
President, Southwest Initiative Foundation
Melissa Amundson
Curriculum and Training Education Coordinator for the White Earth Child Care and Early Childhood Programs (MNTRECC Representative)
Our organization's financial statements and 990s are available upon request.
Commitment to Power to the Profession and NAEYC’s Unifying Framework
Child Care Aware of Minnesota believes that an effective, diverse, well-prepared, and well-compensated early childhood education field is the driving force behind high-quality early care and education experiences for children and families. Our organization helped inform Power to the Profession (P2P), a national collaboration that defined the early childhood education profession. With the support and input from our organization as well as several other national organizations & stakeholders in Early Childhood Education, P2P established the Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Education Profession in 2020. The framework has several recommendations for educators, employers, owners, professional preparation programs, states, and the federal government with the goal of advancing a unified, diverse, equitable, and effective early childhood education profession.
Following the lead of Child Care Aware of America, staff and stakeholders in the Child Care Aware of Minnesota system gathered together to form a strategic plan group and sub groups, tasked with identifying the current and future ways that P2P is embedded in our work.
Child Care Aware of Minnesota shares the values and principles of the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct position statement and supplements, which outline each of our ethical responsibilities to children, families, co-workers, employers, community, and society.
We believe that we must hold ourselves and each other accountable to the responsibilities outlined in the Unifying Framework and the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct. As we do, it is imperative that we also measure the efficacy of our work and evaluate our practices on an ongoing basis.
Everyone that provides care to a child, whether in a family child care setting, child care center, family friend and neighbor care, or legally unlicensed care, is a part of this framework because of their responsibility to educate and provide positive guidance to young children. They play a crucial role in the growth and development of every child in their care.
Members of the early childhood education field will be accountable for the following responsibilities:
- Planning and consistently implementing intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional, physical, and cognitive development, health, and learning of each child served
- Establishing and maintaining a safe, caring, inclusive, and healthy learning environment
- Consistently observing, documenting, and assessing children’s learning and development using guidelines established by the profession
- Developing ongoing reciprocal, culturally-responsive relationships with families and communities
- Actively advocating for the needs of children and their families while holding positive expectations of them
- Actively advancing and advocating for an equitable, diverse, and effective early childhood education profession that is well-compensated
- Engaging in reflective practice, curiosity, and continuous ongoing learning