ABOUT RANDI B. WOLFE, PH.D.
Randi B. Wolfe, Ph.D., has more than 35 years of experience working in early care and education, family support, teacher preparation, and workforce and organizational development. She has both theoretical and practical understanding of children and families, having taught preschool, directed a day care center, developed and directed a community-based family support center, earned an Ed.M. in Instructional Leadership at the University of Illinois, and earned a Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy at Northwestern University.
As an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at Northern Illinois University (1997-2006), Randi taught undergraduate and graduate courses in developmentally appropriate classroom practice, family engagement, child development, and working in diverse settings. She also served as faculty team leader for the inter-disciplinary early childhood unit. While she was at NIU, graduate student enrollment grew by 300% and undergraduate enrollment doubled. Reflecting her commitment to ensuring that all children receive an excellent education, Randi was instrumental in infusing into the ECE teacher preparation programs a focus on working effectively in diverse settings, engaging families, and meeting the unique needs of children with special needs and dual language learners.
While Director of Workforce Development at Los Angeles Universal Preschool (2007-2010), Randi created and implemented the Early Care and Education Workforce Initiative which awarded grants to seven collaborations of community colleges, universities, and feeder high schools, aimed at removing barriers and creating pathways to careers in early care and education. She also developed and instituted the LAUP Teacher Stipend Program that provided roughly 225 stipends annually as an incentive to ECE teachers to complete college coursework and pursue degrees. Most significantly, Randi built the LA County ECE Workforce Consortium, a broad-based coalition of agencies and institutions of higher education working together to provide professional development and training to current and potential ECE professionals across LA County. In November, 2010, First 5 LA awarded $37 million to LAUP to fund the Consortium for five years.
Randi became the first Director of Best Start Communities at First 5 LA in December, 2010. Reflecting her leadership and vision, Best Start was successfully launched - a countywide place-based initiative involving 14 communities and representing 1.5 million young children and their families. Guided by the four goals of Best Start - that children should be born healthy, maintain a healthy weight, be safe from abuse and neglect, and be ready for kindergarten - Randi was responsible for training and managing a department of 32, overseeing several teams of external consultants, planning and managing a 5-year budget of $200 million, and coordinating efforts among six internal departments. In May, 2010, Randi presented the keynote address at the Best Start Parent Academy which brought together nearly 200 parents from the 14 Best Start Communities for a day of training, networking, and community capacity building.
Proud mother of two young adult children, Randi has always maintained that, “My children are my best work and my greatest source of pride. They represent the embodiment of everything I believe in and hope for.” Their influence on the development of her ideas is visible in her training, consulting, relationship-building, and program design. Openly and humorously sharing personal and parenting stories as a teaching tool has become a hallmark of her leadership.
As an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at Northern Illinois University (1997-2006), Randi taught undergraduate and graduate courses in developmentally appropriate classroom practice, family engagement, child development, and working in diverse settings. She also served as faculty team leader for the inter-disciplinary early childhood unit. While she was at NIU, graduate student enrollment grew by 300% and undergraduate enrollment doubled. Reflecting her commitment to ensuring that all children receive an excellent education, Randi was instrumental in infusing into the ECE teacher preparation programs a focus on working effectively in diverse settings, engaging families, and meeting the unique needs of children with special needs and dual language learners.
While Director of Workforce Development at Los Angeles Universal Preschool (2007-2010), Randi created and implemented the Early Care and Education Workforce Initiative which awarded grants to seven collaborations of community colleges, universities, and feeder high schools, aimed at removing barriers and creating pathways to careers in early care and education. She also developed and instituted the LAUP Teacher Stipend Program that provided roughly 225 stipends annually as an incentive to ECE teachers to complete college coursework and pursue degrees. Most significantly, Randi built the LA County ECE Workforce Consortium, a broad-based coalition of agencies and institutions of higher education working together to provide professional development and training to current and potential ECE professionals across LA County. In November, 2010, First 5 LA awarded $37 million to LAUP to fund the Consortium for five years.
Randi became the first Director of Best Start Communities at First 5 LA in December, 2010. Reflecting her leadership and vision, Best Start was successfully launched - a countywide place-based initiative involving 14 communities and representing 1.5 million young children and their families. Guided by the four goals of Best Start - that children should be born healthy, maintain a healthy weight, be safe from abuse and neglect, and be ready for kindergarten - Randi was responsible for training and managing a department of 32, overseeing several teams of external consultants, planning and managing a 5-year budget of $200 million, and coordinating efforts among six internal departments. In May, 2010, Randi presented the keynote address at the Best Start Parent Academy which brought together nearly 200 parents from the 14 Best Start Communities for a day of training, networking, and community capacity building.
Proud mother of two young adult children, Randi has always maintained that, “My children are my best work and my greatest source of pride. They represent the embodiment of everything I believe in and hope for.” Their influence on the development of her ideas is visible in her training, consulting, relationship-building, and program design. Openly and humorously sharing personal and parenting stories as a teaching tool has become a hallmark of her leadership.
