Courtesy of the Le Center Leader.
Local Head Start executive Christine Young completed some training that will ultimately benefit children and their families from the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc., in Le Center, MN.
Young is one of 38 graduates of the 2018 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Head Start Management Fellows Program. This program is an intensive 12-day leadership and management development program, conducted at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
“Head Start creates the foundation for a wonderful future for children and their families,” said Yasmine Daniel-Vargas, director of the National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operations.
The program was developed in 1991 to strengthen the management and leadership skills of Head Start administrators and is currently funded by the Head Start National Center on Program and Management and Fiscal Operations.
Throughout the program, participants are taught how to lead effectively and deliver developmental services in changing environments, secure funding, implement programs and network with other Head Start executives across the nation. Since the program’s inception, 1,560 executives have graduated with enhanced management and leadership abilities.
“Graduates of the UCLA Head Start Management Fellows Program have introduced successful community initiatives that make a lasting impact on the health, nutrition and school readiness of the children they serve,” Daniel-Vargas said. “The commitment of the UCLA Anderson School of Management to teaching excellence is a hallmark of the program’s enduring success.”
Head Start programs provide comprehensive developmental services to low-income preschool children and their families. Head Start also provides a range of medical, dental, mental health and nutrition care as well as parent involvement services.
Program directors supervise nearly 259,000 paid staff and more than one million volunteers nationwide. In 2016-17, Head Start programs served 1,070,000 children ages birth to five and pregnant moms, making a total of more than 35 million since its inception in 1965.