Taking Charge of Change: A 20-Year Review of Empowering Early Childhood Administrators through Leadership Training

A woman wearing glasses and a suit is smiling in front of a flag.

Sim Loh is a family partnership coordinator at Children’s Village, a nationally-accredited Keystone 4 STARS early learning and school-age enrichment program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving about 350 children. She supports children and families, including non-English speaking families of immigrant status, by ensuring equitable access to education, health, employment, and legal information and resources on a day-to-day basis. She is a member of the Children First Racial Equity Early Childhood Education Provider Council, a community member representative of Philadelphia School District Multilingual Advisory Council, and a board member of Historic Philadelphia.


Sim explains, “I ensure families know their rights and educate them on ways to speak up for themselves and request for interpretation/translation services. I share families’ stories and experiences with legislators and decision-makers so that their needs are understood. Attending Leadership Connections will help me strengthen and grow my skills in all domains by interacting with and hearing from experienced leaders in different positions. With newly acquired skills, I seek to learn about the systems level while paying close attention to the accessibility and barriers of different systems and resources and their impacts on young children and their families.”

While there is a consensus among policymakers and practitioners about the importance of strong leadership in early childhood, few states have made leadership training a high priority in the implementation of their career development systems. Illinois stands out as a notable exception. For the past 20 years, the state has served as a shining example of a focused investment in the professional development of administrators of early childhood programs. The most well known is a McCormick Center Leadership Academy: Taking Charge of Change™ (TCC).


In these downloadable files, you will find information about the McCormick Center’s work to implement this leadership development initiative, lessons learned, and the impact Tacking Charge of Change has had on the early childhood field in Illinois.”

The whole leadership framework is published in exchange magazine
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The Whole Leadership Framework, developed by the McCormick Center, is now featured in Exchange magazine—offering guidance on integrating administrative, pedagogical, and leadership capacities in early childhood programs.
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