Amber Fields Email and Phone Number

I was the Community Impact Manager for Education and the interim manager for Basic Needs at the United Way of the Capital Region. With 12 years of experience as an early education teacher in Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry Counties. I have been a teacher and family support specialist for Capital Area Head Start, as well as the lead teacher at the Mechanicsburg Naval Academy and the United Cerebral Palsy Capital Area Children’s Center. I earned my Child Development Associate through the CAECTI program through Penn State University and my Strength Based Family Worker credential through Temple University. I was a 2018/2019 Fellow for OCDEL (Office of Child Development and Early Learning), selected as one of more than 150 applicants.Since February 2017, I have implemented the Ready for School, Ready to Succeed Pilot Project in the Capital Region. The program focuses on preparing children academically and socially for school, connecting families with early intervention and support services and helping families get their students registered for kindergarten. In addition to providing school readiness activities for children ages 3-5 and their parents or grandparents, the program also helps connect families to affordable preschool programs and aims to improve reading proficiency among participants.During its first two years, the program has expanded from three education liaisons operating at three schools to seven liaisons at 12 schools connecting more than 400 people to programs and services through preschool workshops facilitated by the liaisons. I have dedicated my life to my son Jayant and to be an advocate for early education. I maintain relationships with numerous state legislators and have served on the Pennsylvania Head Start Association board. I also attend early education caucus meetings held at the State Capitol and have presented at more than five education conferences on topics of advocacy and the collective impact model.