McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY McCormick Center Staff | February 23, 2023

A woman wearing glasses and dreadlocks is smiling for the camera.

With mixed emotions, the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership announced the departure of Donna Jacobson on January 31, 2023. While transitions can introduce uncertainty, they can also offer opportunities for innovation, growth, and new beginnings.

We are pleased to announce that Kimberlee Burt-Hendricks, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education and Teacher Preparation in the Undergraduate College at National Louis University, assumed the role of interim executive director of the McCormick Center on February 20, 2023. Kimberlee has been a faculty member at National Louis in the Undergraduate College for nearly four years and has owned an early learning center in Chicago’s South Loop community for over 20 years.  Kimberlee has worked on several initiatives with the McCormick Center and is familiar with the assessment, research and contract work done by the center. 

Kimberlee, a respected expert in the Early Childhood Education field in Chicago, is familiar with Illinois Gateways to Opportunity professional development system and was a faculty co-lead on the Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)/Mursion pilot earlier this year. She has an M.A.T. in Early Childhood Education, Curriculum, and Instruction from Howard University and is working on her Ed.D at NLU with an emphasis on Advocacy. Kimberlee is a member of several preschool owners associations, and a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Cohort. Kimberlee actively participates with the Women’s Business Development Center as a conference speaker and has mentored many aspiring women business owners  She participates in the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Initiative and was a thought partner and primary contributor to the Goldman Sachs 10KSB Child Care task force, which produced From Pandemic to Prosperity Report with the Bipartisan Policy Center. 

She has been featured in Crain’s Chicago Business, Black Enterprise Magazine, The Chicago Tribune and Ebony Magazine to name a few. She’s also been a guest on NBC, and WCIU as an early childhood thought leader.  

She served on Mayor Emanuel’s Minimum Wage Increase Task Force, which met with then Vice President Joseph Biden to advocate for wage increases locally and nationally.

Kimberlee is passionate about developing business leaders and engaging and equipping parents to support their child’s development.   She counts being the Mommy of 1 year old Elijah as her greatest accomplishment and joy thus far!

Please join us in congratulating Kimberlee as she assumes this new and exciting role with the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. 

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The AI-Enabled Administrator: Reclaim Valuable Time

By Dr. Neal Green • February 8, 2026
Tools: Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, Perplexity Spaces Overview The evidence is clear that early childhood professionals' most significant challenge is a lack of time. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, when used strategically, can give administrators some of the time they desperately need, allowing them to focus more on their staff and the children and families in their care. This approach aligns with the foundational goal of strengthening leadership effectiveness and program impact (Abel, Talan, & Masterson, 2023). When I scan the AI landscape of available products and platforms, it becomes overwhelming. There are so many options that it is impossible to keep up with every new development. Focusing on a limited number of AI tools backed by organizations with strong infrastructure and fiscal stability is a wise place to start your AI journey. McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s (MIEC’s) upcoming professional development sessions will focus on three AI tools. These include Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, and Perplexity Spaces. Think of Gemini Gems as your customized AI assistant that you "train" to follow your rules and meet your goals. Gemini Gems are the right tool to tackle Internal Operations . NotebookLM is perfect for creating Family Support resources that stick. NotebookLM is a powerful AI tool that uses only the documents or other resources you add to generate specific, focused output. Perplexity Spaces is a fantastic choice to address Marketing demands. Like many AI tools, you can toggle back and forth between open web searches and focused documents that are specific to your work. Gemini Gems: The “Specialist Teammate” Gemini Gems allow you to create templates you can use repeatedly for agendas, HR policies, and more. If you have used AI in the past, you know that writing an effective prompt takes time, and they can easily get "lost" if you use AI often. Gems removes that challenge and lets you save your most effective prompts without having to rewrite them every time you use Gemini. It is up to you to decide if you want to create several smaller Gems to tackle common challenges you face or create larger Gems that encompass large swaths of your work. For our purposes, we will focus our Gem work on Internal Operations, addressing Program Administration Scale (PAS) Item 9: Internal Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). Imagine using a Gem to turn messy staff meeting notes into professional minutes with clear action plans in minutes or less! NotebookLM: The "Walled Garden" NotebookLM is an excellent tool for Family Support for your center, addressing PAS Item 17: Family Support and Involvement (Talan & Bloom, 2011). After uploading documents and resources, such as your parent handbook or community referral lists, to your Notebook, you can create several resources that parents/guardians of your center students will love. Just a few of the impressive features available with NotebookLM include audio (podcast) summaries, video summaries, and reporting functions with templates or the option to create your own report with metrics that matter most to you. Perplexity Spaces: The "Research Librarian" Perplexity Spaces is a perfect AI partner for Marketing your early childhood education (ECE) program, addressing PAS Item 18: External Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). You can build your own centralized repository, with control over branding to ensure consistency and present a professional, current image. Adding specific instructions to your space eliminates the need to format documents constantly and saves valuable time. The consistency that a Perplexity Space offers in this regard allows you to upload messages that are the "voice” of your brand. Your marketing efforts are not only more aesthetically pleasing but also enable you to track trends at similar centers in your area, helping you assess the competition. Strategies for Success: Audit your Internal Communications: Identify one repetitive task, such as creating staff meeting agendas (PAS Item 9), and automate it with a Gemini Gem. Curate your Family Resources: Gather three to five existing documents to "feed" a NotebookLM project for more responsive family support (PAS Item 17). Standardize your Brand: Use a Perplexity Space to ensure all public relations tools project a consistent, professional image (PAS Item 18). Reflection Questions: Which administrative task takes the most time away from your interactions with staff and families? How might centralizing marketing materials (branding) impact the professional image to prospective families? Table 1: AI Tools for ECE Professionals
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