ABOUT RANDI B WOLFE, PhD
Randi B. Wolfe, PhD, has more than 35 years of experience working in early care and education (ECE), family support, teacher preparation, workforce and organizational development, policy and systems change. 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 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 and secured $37 million from First 5 LA to fund the Consortium for five years. The Consortium is a broad-based coalition of agencies and institutions of higher education that work together to provide professional development and training to current and potential ECE professionals, and impact ECE systems and policy across the county and across the state.
As President of TIKKUN Consulting since 2011, Randi has focused on ECE workforce development and policy in Los Angeles, statewide, and nationally. Her current work with the SEIU Early Educator Training Center has focused on developing registered apprenticeship programs for center-based early educators, home-based child care providers (FCCs), and Head Start workers. The goals of the apprenticeships include:
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 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 and secured $37 million from First 5 LA to fund the Consortium for five years. The Consortium is a broad-based coalition of agencies and institutions of higher education that work together to provide professional development and training to current and potential ECE professionals, and impact ECE systems and policy across the county and across the state.
As President of TIKKUN Consulting since 2011, Randi has focused on ECE workforce development and policy in Los Angeles, statewide, and nationally. Her current work with the SEIU Early Educator Training Center has focused on developing registered apprenticeship programs for center-based early educators, home-based child care providers (FCCs), and Head Start workers. The goals of the apprenticeships include:
- Transforming the field of early care and education from being viewed as a dead-end job into an entry point to a sustainable career pathway;
- Developing workforce development programs that address the tension in the ECE field between increasing professional requirements and inadequate compensation;
- Piloting and field testing research-based, economical, scalable apprenticeship models for ECE workers that utilize a collaborative, comprehensive, state-of-the-art approach.