Janet Mclaughlin Email & Phone Number

Vermont, United States

Appointed to lead the Child Development Division for the State of Vermont with a mission to support the healthy development of Vermont's children through safe, affordable, quality early childhood and afterschool programs and services.

Vermont

Responsible for strategic direction and daily operations of VTAEYC in service of young children and early childhood educators. Led team of 8 staff members in executing multiple membership, workforce development, and professional development projects while strengthening finances and communications. Accomplishments in two years:- Updated mission, vision, and values in partnership with the Board of Directors- Reorganized staffing pattern and hired additional team members to meet priority needs- Overhauled financial management including changing accounting basis and fiscal year end- Revamped organizational communications to emphasize consistency, clarity, timeliness, and inspiration- Increased annual budget from $1M in FY21 to $4.5M planned for FY23- Secured $2.7M grant from state of Vermont to establish a new student loan repayment assistance program- Secured $1.6M annual grant tor provide quality training and supports for early childhood educators- Lead growth and enhancement of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood VERMONT to double enrollment and more equitably support early childhood educators- Partnered with national, state, and local leaders on Advancing ECE as a Profession, a workforce-led effort to create a strong, respected, and well-compensated early childhood education profession- Oversaw growth and enhancement of Vermont Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship Program and Pre-Apprenticeship Program for high school students- Hosted two well-received Vermont Early Childhood Education Conferences, including a sold-out in-person conference with 450 attendees celebrating VTAEYC’s 50th anniversary in 2022- Interviewed by and quoted in VTDigger.org, Burlington Free Press, Seven Days, WCAX, Vermont Public- Testified to Vermont state legislature; led multiple engagements with Congressional delegation

Vermont

Led planning, finances, HR, operations, and evaluation for 35-person $8M organization. Oversaw marketing and communications strategy to build public will for state investment in early childhood education, activate organization’s 30,000 supporters, and advance policy agenda and programmatic initiatives. Managed relationships with key state and nonprofit partners to ensure child care was prioritized in line with Let’s Grow Kids vision. Highlights:Spearheaded LGK’s multi-tiered response to the COVID-19 pandemic: identified and rapidly implemented new practices and policies in operations, human resources, and finance; crafted and managed crisis communications with early childhood educators, parents, and policymakers; provided immediate supports for essential workers, early childhood educators, and families of young children; and advocated to secure $40M in COVID relief funding to stabilize child care throughout Vermont.Created an Operations and Evaluation team to more effectively meet needs of agile, fast-paced organization with focus on user-friendly technology, multi-use data systems, efficient financial practices, and performance management resulting in significantly improved staff morale and engagement as measured by staff “pulse” surveys. Unified organization’s overall communications efforts and developed cohesive message-tested communications campaigns implemented via paid media, social media and earned media and recognized by communication experts and state leaders for their effectiveness.Launched partnership with new affiliated 501(c)4, the Let’s Grow Kids Action Network, overseeing the start-up of integrated financial, communications, and staffing plans.Led the organization’s inclusion and racial justice efforts to support individual and organizational reflection and implementation of best practices.

Led organization in partnership with Board during key transitional period while CEO was on maternity leave. Designed and implemented annual operating plan. Led Executive Team and staff, engaged with key policymakers, donors, consultants, and partners to accomplish organizational goals. Served as primary organization spokesperson.Highlights:Oversaw a smooth unification of three separate teams, cultures, and brands under the Let’s Grow Kids banner resulting in increased brand clarity, improved strategic alignment, and stronger teamwork.Shepherded Let’s Grow Kids during its first major state legislative funding request, resulting in $8M in new investments in early childhood education, the largest funding increase of any area that legislative session.

Led team of experienced early childhood educators to design and implement programs to advance the quality, capacity, sustainability, and coordination of early childhood education in Vermont. Secured and stewarded multiple foundation and government grants. Managed $2M annual budget and staff of 12 to 20. Worked in partnership with Board, funders, state government, aligned organizations, and other stakeholders to design and implement. Highlights:Developed and implemented new strategic plan and staffing pattern, driven by data and research, that replaced a dozen loosely-connected projects with three aligned initiatives which more expediently addressed child care capacity, workforce development, and viability issues statewide.Created Make Way for Kids to provide funding and technical assistance to start up and expand child care programs which contributed to reversing decline in child care capacity for infants and toddlers by creating 2,000 additional high-quality child care spaces over 2.5 years. By its third year, initiative attracted nearly $3M in support from the state including plans for ongoing $800K annual investment.Shepherded key workforce development projects that elevated the quality, consistency, and accessibility of professional training and development for early childhood educators in Vermont

Middlebury, Vt

Stewarded staff-directed and donor-advised grantmaking programs across multiple programs areas from postsecondary education to environmental restoration to emergency response. Established and managed grantmaking programs, evaluated funding proposals, and provided support and capacity-building to nonprofits across multiple program areas. Hired to reinvigorate the Foundation's largest staff-directed impact program, the Food and Farm Initiative, an effort to strengthen Vermont’s capacity to fight hunger while strengthening its local food system via convening, grantmaking, and strategic planning. Highlights include:Guided anti-hunger and local foods organizations into partnerships and programs that both reduced hunger and supported local farms; results included increased availability and affordability of school meals in Vermont, new production and market channels for local foods to reach Vermonters with limited incomes, an expanded and better-coordinated Farm-to-School Network, and increased capacity and strengthened leadership within regional local foods nonprofits.Spearheaded cross-departmental team that raised $1M over 30 months to increase Food and Farm Initiative grantmaking by 60%. Developed and executed well-received donor communications and events that attracted philanthropists from across the state.

Washington D.C.

Led national program that empowers families at risk of hunger with the skills needed to prepare healthy, affordable foods, through hands-on cooking and shopping programs. Oversaw national program strategy and execution via collaborative partnerships with implementing organizations across the country. Managed and mentored a team that grew from 4 to 30+ direct staff and from 20 to over 100 partner staff and AmeriCorps members, and from hundreds to thousands of volunteers. Represented Share Our Strength and the Cooking Matters in executive-level relationships with corporate sponsors, major donors, the USDA and the First Lady’s office; acted as key media and industry spokesperson. Served on senior leadership team and, as one of top three program staff, helped lead the creation of the No Kid Hungry campaign.Highlights:Expanded impact and reach of the program with 700% increase in families served annually while maintaining positive behavioral impact measures and increasing partner satisfaction.Attracted and stewarded the program’s first multi-year multi-million dollar corporate sponsorships as well as secured additional philanthropic, government, and corporate support to increase annual program revenue from $1M to $7.5M. Increased value of Cooking Matters for partners by implementing regular evidence-based practice-informed updates of program materials and evaluation systems; rebranding to Cooking Matters; developing product extensions for grocery stores and child care programs; and establishing an expert national advisory council.Commissioned original research on low-income families cooking and shopping habits that generated national media coverage including front-page graphic in USA Today and a New York Times column by Mark Bittman.Co-led the development and launch of the Chefs Move to Schools program, an initiative of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, with White House chef Sam Kass, which included executing a 700+ person event at the White House.

Washington, Dc

Oversaw grantmaking programs awarding $4M annually to anti-hunger and poverty groups in the U.S. and abroad. With volunteer fundraising committees and corporate sponsors, designed grantmaking programs and recommended grantees that met programmatic priorities and stakeholder preferences. Highlights:Conducted first strategic cross-program analysis of grants, and implemented changes for better alignment with stated anti-hunger objectives. Focused international grantmaking on organizations with strong local leadership and social entrepreneurship strategies to more fully align with Share Our Strength’s core values.

Denver, Co

Created and executed $400,000 annual fundraising campaign through activities that included redesigning the donor database, implementing the organization’s first direct mail efforts, securing grants from philanthropy and government, and managing special events. In first two years in this newly created role, increased general operating funds by 50%, donor renewals by 300%, and event profits by 400%.

A.B., Comparative Study Of Religion

Mpa, Nonprofit Management