Valora Washington

With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Valora Washington is a recognized authority in early care and education. She has conceptualized, led, facilitated and executed significant change initiatives. She leads the largest credentialing program (CDA) for early educators in the USA. Valora co-founded Voices for Michigan's children, The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, and the CAYL Institute (a leadership development program for practitioners). Valora holds four honorary Degrees and professional recognition from the Barr Fellowship; Leadership Greater Washington, boston AEYC; NAEYC Black Caucus; Cambridge Resource and Referral; center for Adoption Research; National Association of Black Social Workers; United way of Massachusetts Bay; and others. She was named one of the "25 Most Influential Working Mothers" by Working Mother Magazine and was chosen as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Women of America" from 62,00 nominations. Valora has authored over 50 publications, including Children of 2010 and Children of 2020.Since coauthoring Ready or Not with Stacie, Valora has co-authored The New Early Childhood Professional and Guiding Principles for the New Early Childhood Professional. She formerly served as Vice President at Antioch College and the Kellogg Foundation and as a tenured faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.