The Exchange Leadership Initiative (ELI) launched in November
2014, with the intention to explore strategies for making leadership
more visible in the field of Early Care and Education, growing in
understanding of the qualities, training, and skills sets that underlie
leadership and fulfilling our responsibilities in supporting and
developing leaders.
We undertook the search for Emerging Leaders as treasure
hunters, seeking what we knew to be there but which we could not yet
see. Applications were reviewed on the basis of specific criteria below
by the distinguished members of the Emerging Leaders Review Team.
Exchange Emerging Leaders were announced in the May/June 2015 issue of
Exchange magazine.
Exchange continues to focus on leadership with the
announcement of Master Leaders in the November/December Exchange
magazine. The Master Leaders Review Team evaluated applications to be
considered Master Leaders based on the criteria below.
We are grateful to everyone who applied in these
leadership searches and for the dedication and care which each of the
Review Team members brought to the challenging task.
Emerging Leaders are currently engaged in writing
articles for Exchange magazine, participating in surveys about the
field, connecting in-person at conferences and gatherings, and advising
and creating a presence through social media. Many Emerging Leaders
will be attending the Action Forum on Early Childhood
Leadership (an experience designed specifically for them) before the
NAEYC conference in November.
Next steps include a meeting at the Action Forum with
the collaborating organizations of ELI, follow-up on ideas for the
support and development of leadership generated at the Action Forum,
and community building and idea generating with the new cohort of
Master Leaders. In 2016, the next search for leaders who work directly
with young children will be announced.
It is our intention that Exchange, in collaboration with
other professional organizations, continues the search and support for
leadership in ECE. Once identified, these leaders will be invaluable in
plotting our ideas and initiatives into the future they will lead us.
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