For 14 years I have led a multi-site, community-based, non-profit providing bilingual, multicultural early childhood education to primarily low-income, working immigrant families. We currently serve over 800 children. My education and training as a social worker and a lawyer help insure that high quality services are the result of leadership (our people) and best practices in our management (business) policies and procedures. The childcare landscape is one of the most challenging to navigate. We are labor-intensive, deal with a huge imbalance in supply and demand, face high costs due to regulatory and licensing demands, and pay our employees a living wage despite the extra pressure this places on us to raise $ so as to not raise tuition costs beyond what the market will bear. As a CBO, we believe in building strong community alliances, and serving as an anchor for the families we serve and neighborhoods in which we are located. This requires we think and act comprehensively, both at the program level and the policy/advocacy level. In the past I have served as a reviewer of federal grant applications/proposals for HUD, Dept of Health and Human Services, and the Dept. of Ed.