Early Years Invests in Our Future Leaders

By Jennifer Gioia, Early Years Communications Manager

Child Care Services Association works to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for all young children and their families by supporting our future leaders—young children—and those that educate them. And we’re always looking for fresh ideas and new ways to do just that. Each semester, Early Years hires interns from surrounding colleges and universities to help drive our goals, better understand our communities and support future leadership. This spring and summer, we had three incredible future leaders here at Early Years.  

We are pleased to share what our interns said about working with Early Years:

Katie Thayer

Katie Thayer interned spring 2019 as a graduating senior from UNC-Chapel Hill working in our Family Support department. After graduating in May with her bachelor’s in human development and family studies, she was hired full-time as the family engagement counselor for Durham PreK and now works alongside the Durham County Government initiative to ensure high-quality pre-K for all Durham County 4-year-olds.

“Interning at Early Years has been an incredible education and work experience for me…Through my internship, I worked on many different projects throughout the organization. I was able to develop relationships with people from each department and other Durham-based organizations, and I learned so much about pre-K, early childhood and nonprofit organizations. Everyone at Early Years has treated me like one of their own since my first day, and they’re always willing to help when I need it.

“I spent most of my time helping the Durham PreK Senior Manager, Alex Livas-Dlott, with Durham PreK applications, screening children for pre-K, planning teacher events and surveying teachers on family engagement practices in the classroom. Now, I have added community outreach for family applications and social media to my list of daily activities as the family engagement counselor.

“Being an intern at Early Years was a wonderful experience, and I am so glad I have the opportunity to stay.“

Colleen Burns

Colleen Burns, a rising junior from UNC-Chapel Hill majoring in anthropology and biology, spent her summer interning in Early Years’ Communications department and spearheading the Anchors Away! for Early Years Awareness campaign on our social media and blog.

“Almost every student’s concern when starting an internship is, “How much of this will be gaining experience versus me just being someone’s assistant?” Working at Early Years has truly been nothing but an enriching experience.

“This summer, I had the opportunity to create and launch a social media campaign to spread awareness about Early Years and its many different programs. This was a big undertaking as Early Years operates so many programs, projects and initiatives. At first, I wasn’t really sure how to cover this extensive nonprofit adequately, and when I originally came up with the idea for Anchors Away! for Early Years Awareness, even I was skeptical if the amount of workload needed to run this campaign was possible. However, I received a ton of support from the Communications Manager, Jennifer Gioia, and when we presented the campaign to Marsha Basloe, the president, she believed in us.

“As soon as the campaign kicked off, it was at full speed. A large process of the campaign was ensuring the other programs were on board and willing to work with us as we gathered information for daily content, including interviews and videos. Overall, we had a huge amount of support for this campaign as the staff and community were excited to not only see their own program featured but also learn things about the other programs Early Years operates.

“This has been an insightful and rewarding experience for me, not just for the communication and social media skills I earned, but also for learning about the issues that affect our community. Through the campaign, I was able to read and listen to the many testimonials given about Early Years’ efforts to strengthen quality child care for children, families and teachers. So many people appreciate the various resources Early Years provides. Even if only for the summer, I am grateful to be a part of something that is making a difference in the community.“

Sarah Hanson

Our third intern to highlight is Sarah Hanson, a Master of Public Administration student at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has been interning at Early Years since May in two departments, both in the Administration and the Systems, Research and Development departments.

“In Systems, Research and Development, my main task is following up on workforce surveys that were sent out in April. Many of the surveys were missing crucial information and needed clarification in order to properly assess and analyze the data.

“In Administration, I had the opportunity to observe a Board Orientation. It helped me better understand the non-profit process. I am updating board committee descriptions and the Board of Directors Manual. I’m also creating an e-manual for Administration where the documents are all located in one e-manual making them easily accessible from anywhere.

“Throughout the summer, I have learned about the importance of research and accurate data collection in policy and program development and implementation. It is necessary to improve and expand the services the organization provides. I have also learned more about how policy and funding impact non-profits and the services they provide. Oftentimes, the importance of early childhood education is overlooked even though it plays a critical role in child development. Early Years is working to change that.“

Interns and volunteers contribute a great deal to Early Years’ work. If you are interested in interning or volunteering at Early Years, contact communications@earlyyearsnc.org.