BOSTON, Mass. – Dr. Ashley C. Williams joined Jumpstart for Young Children as Vice President of Programs to lead the organization’s workforce strategy to expand the pipeline of qualified, diverse talent pursuing careers in early education. Dr. Williams’ decades of work in early childhood education began when she joined Jumpstart’s training program as a student at San Francisco State University.
“It is an honor to return to Jumpstart, the organization that shaped my belief in the promise of early care and education as a critical lever for racial equity and social justice,” said Dr. Williams. “I look forward to continuing my work on behalf of educators and young learners in this new capacity.”
“We could not be happier to welcome Dr. Williams back to Jumpstart in this new role,” said Jumpstart for Young Children’s CEO Naila Bolus. “This is truly a full-circle moment that speaks to the passion and dedication of our alumni and the importance of investing in our early childhood education workforce.”
A former preschool teacher and Head Start center director with an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from San Francisco State University, Williams has vast experience working to reveal, dissolve, and resolve systemic inequities in early care and education that cause harm to children, families, and the educators that work with them—especially when they are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Williams’s professional and academic experience also includes tenures as Associate Director of the teacher preparation program EDvance and Senior Quality and Workforce Analyst for the San Francisco Office of Early Care and Education as well as both a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development and an M.A.Ed. with an emphasis on Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University.
Dr. Williams has joined Jumpstart’s San Francisco office and will work with California State Director Humberto Estratalán to implement Jumpstart’s programming and advocate for equitable early childhood education policy throughout the state. She was previously the Director of California Policy and Educator Engagement Programs at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at UC Berkeley.
ABOUT JUMPSTART FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
Jumpstart for Young Children is a national organization based in Boston advancing equitable early learning outcomes for young children in underserved communities. Jumpstart’s proven evidence-based curriculum serves thousands of children across 14 states and Washington, D.C., and has trained over 45,000 college students and community volunteers to deliver high-quality early childhood education programming.
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