We’re so pleased to welcome two new board members, Dr. Rajiv Suri and Kimberly McDougal. Both bring a wealth of expertise to Child Care Aware of America’s (CCAoA) Board of Directors, and we want to celebrate that knowledge with a two-part Q and A (the second part will be in a March blog post.) This month, we interview Rajiv.
Q: Why were you interested in joining Child Care Aware of America’s Board of Directors?
Rajiv: As a parent, I clearly remember the stress and anxiety associated with finding quality child care for my children when they were young. Having also struggled to find care after relocating to start a new job, I especially empathize with military families who have to search for providers whenever they move to a new posting. Although the scale of the problem is daunting, I believe that CCAoA has the vision, expertise, and relationships to make a significant impact on child care availability and affordability, and am excited by the opportunity to help advance our mission.
Q: Can you finish this sentence – “The most pressing issue in child care is…”
Rajiv: Access to affordable, high-quality care. Organizations like CCAoA play a critical role in advocating for greater government engagement and creating a strong on-the-ground network of child care resource organizations.
Q: You bring such interesting expertise to leverage. Can you talk about how you’ll apply some of your biggest lessons learned and best practices to this role?
Rajiv: As a technologist, I’m excited to advise CCAoA in better leveraging technology to advance our mission. As we modernize our software and digital capabilities, I’ll use my experience with AI in industry and government to help the team identify and implement new ways to increase effectiveness and improve client experiences.
Q: What trends or themes do you see coming up in the child care space?
Rajiv: As more and more research shows the immense benefit of early childhood education, I anticipate we’ll see a greater focus on the educational quality of care for preschoolers. New AI-based tools will enable the development of personalized curricula and better measurement and tracking of learning outcomes, but will also require additional training for providers. CCAoA is well positioned to develop frameworks to ensure quality and accessibility of care and to promote best practices.
Stay tuned for part two of our Q and A, where we interview new board member Kimberly McDougal.
