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Early Years Announces New President to Start November 1
Early Years Announces New President to Start November 1
Current President Marsha Basloe to Retire
Chapel Hill, N.C., September 14, 2022: Early Years is pleased to announce its new president, Dr. Kristi Snuggs, who will lead the organization following the retirement of President Marsha Basloe, who has served in the role since January 2018.
“Early Years is an unbelievably strong organization, and I am so proud of our team’s work at the local, state and national level,” Basloe said. “Early Years has made, and will continue to make, positive change for children, families and early childhood educators in our communities, state and across the U.S. I am truly honored to have been a part of it.”
After working with Armstrong McGuire to lead a nationwide search, the Early Years board selected Dr. Kristi Snuggs, who brings deep understanding and experience in early childhood education at the local, state and national levels.
Dr. Snuggs is presently the Deputy Director of the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE). In this role she has worked with Early Years, the NC CCR&R Council, TEACH, WAGE$ and AWARD$. She has also worked at the national level on the PDG grant for North Carolina. Prior to this role, she was the Child Development Division Director of Nash-Edgecombe Economic Development, Vice President of Instruction for Edgecombe Community College and an educational consultant for Early Childhood Teacher Education for the NC Community College System.
Kristi will begin her tenure at Early Years on November 1, 2022. In the interim, Basloe will continue to handle administrative behind the scene pieces and the strong leadership team will manage programmatic areas.
“We are excited about the new leadership Dr. Kristi Snuggs will bring to Early Years. Her experience, commitment to building a strong early childhood workforce and optimism for the future of early childhood education in the Triangle, across North Carolina and nationwide give us great confidence in the future success of Early Years,” said Early Years Board Chair Sharon Hirsch.
Early Years
Founded in 1974, Early Years’ vision is for all children to have equitable access to affordable, high quality early care and education to lay the foundation for successful life outcomes. To that end, Early Years provides free child care referral services, financial assistance to low-income families and professional development and technical assistance to child care programs. With spoonFULL, Early Years also provides nutritious meals to children at child care centers, where they may eat 50-100 percent of their meals. Throughout N.C., educational scholarships from Early Years’ TEACH Early Childhood® Scholarship Program gives child care professionals the means to obtain an education and Early Years’ Child Care WAGE$® and Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$® Plus programs supplement their meager salary. Early Years also supports infant-toddler educators through its new NC Birth to Three Quality Initiative and licenses TEACH and WAGE$ across the U.S. Early Years’ Research Department conducts early childhood systems research and policy development statewide and nationally. For more information, visit www.childcareservices.org.
