Megan Flowers is a caretaker/foster parent from Scott City, MO. As a parent/guardian who herself has worked in early care and education through Head Start, Megan knows the importance of quality when it comes to early childhood programs and child care. Her perspective as a foster parent offers a unique look at how the needs
Ellie Richter is from St. Charles and has worked as an Early Childhood Language Pathologist for 13 years. Now a mom to a five year-old son, Ellie is using her professional and personal passion for quality early care and education to serve as an effective advocate for children and families, and is determined to elevate
I once attended an all day training for Directors of childcare centers within our community and I heard someone say that they hadn’t figured out how to combine their professional mission with their personal mission and that they were looking forward to figuring out how to do that.That stuck with me! I hadn’t even thought
Mariah Roady’s journey into ECE advocacy started when her daughter was born, and she suddenly had a lot of questions around finding appropriate and affordable child care for her family. At home in Kansas City with her family, Mariah now serves as the Development Director at a high-quality early learning center, earlystART, and has the
Lisa Scheer is the Director of Baden Christian Child Care Center in St. Louis, Missouri and knows the importance of nurturing, caring adults in the life of children, particularly after overcoming obstacles in her own childhood. Read her amazing advocacy journey below. How did you become an advocate for ECE? I became more vocal as
Jessica Baker is a mom of 2, mental health therapist and ECE advocate from Palmyra. She came to her journey of ECE advocacy as a participant in the Missouri Parents as Teachers program with her two children. Read Jessica’s story below! How did you become an advocate for early childhood education? I became an advocate
Sarah Gould is a passionate ECE provider, advocate, and most importantly, mom, from Joplin, Missouri. Her journey into the space of ECE advocacy started with her own journey into young motherhood, where she learned the struggles to self-sufficiency firsthand, and has since made a career of helping other families navigate their own path to self-sufficiency.
Dona Leah Hamilton is a mother of two turned child care provider from Sedalia, Missouri. After struggling to find quality child care options in her rural community for her own children, she took the leap to start caring for children in her home. Dona is now working to advocate so that all Missouri children have
Tiffany Brinton tries to help her kids enter kindergarten One Step Ahead in St. Joseph, Missouri. Her facility, One Step Ahead Early Learning Center, provides high-quality, comprehensive child care and early education for children from 6 weeks through school age. After serving in the field as an owner and director for many years, Tiffany is
Kayla Marmaud is mom of two – 11 and 1 – from St. Joseph, Missouri. She found herself a firsthand case of not being able to return to the workplace due to challenges finding child care when her youngest was born, and has now turned into an advocate for all families in Missouri to have
