Member Login
Search

The Role of Belonging and Purpose in our Early Childcare Workforce

In the last 18 months, early childcare educators have been leaving the field in record numbers. We are in a recruitment and retention crisis. Although compensation efforts are needed, the workforce's well-being must also be addressed. Leaders need to help their teams find their purpose and sense of belonging. In this session, participants will learn about the National Workforce Center and the five policy areas:

  1. Qualifications and Educational Supports
  2. Compensation and Financial Relief
  3. Work Environments
  4. Workforce Data
  5. Financial Resources

The session will focus on the Work Environment policy area and how to strengthen working conditions to help recruit and retain educators. Through the use of collaborative tools and processes, leaders can support their staff’s well-being and cultivate positive work environments.

Learn about our Speaker

     

Raquel Munarriz Diaz, Ed.D., has extensive expertise in leading professional development (PD) and cultivating strategic relationships. She is a leading voice in implementing Communities of Practice (CoP) designing, and implementing the nation’s largest CoP certification in the country, certifying over 400 professionals in every county in Florida, as well as training professionals on high-impact CoPs in GA, CA, MA, and LA. Raquel has led workforce networks focused on state and community leaders, higher education faculty, and state organizations. She co-created and published a CoP framework focused on the importance of using content, process, structure, and conditions in order to ensure diverse voices are invited and included to help tackle the adaptive challenges of the early childcare system.

Raquel is a first-generation college graduate who earned her doctorate from Florida International University in 2008. Her degree is in Curriculum & Instruction: Early Childhood. As a life-long learner, Raquel has continued to learn and grow in her field. Raquel holds an Early Care Education National Board Certification and was a ZERO TO THREE National Fellow (2018-2020).

Raquel’s passion for the early childhood field extends beyond the day-to-day work of providing intensive and targeted TA. She is passionate about continuing to learn and advocate for the early childhood field. She currently serves as the chair of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Affiliate Advisory Council. She is a member of the Code of Ethics NAEYC workgroup. Dr. Diaz was elected President of the Florida Association for the Education of Young Children (FLAEYC)-making her the first Latina president in the organization’s 66-year history. Raquel believes in the power of collaborative wisdom and aims to invite and engage diverse voices in order to work as a community to ensure our workforce and young children thrive.