Several of Colorado’s most prominent early childhood groups are getting new leaders this year.
Clayton Early Learning, which runs a nationally recognized preschool and childcare program in northeast Denver, announced Tuesday that Rebecca Crowe will be its new president and CEO.
Crowe most recently served as a fellow on the education team at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and is one of the country’s biggest players in education philanthropy.
Crowe, who’s also held leadership posts with the nonprofit consulting firm Bellwether Education Partners and the education reform group Partners in School Innovation, will take the helm at Clayton on June 10. She’ll replace the organization’s longtime leader Charlotte Brantley, who announced her retirement last fall.
The Denver Preschool Program and the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance are two other groups poised to get new leaders in the coming months. Jennifer Landrum, former president and CEO of the Denver Preschool Program, left the job in January, and the board expects to begin interviewing candidates for the post in mid-May. The program provides preschool tuition assistance to Denver 4-year-olds and is funded by a city sales tax first passed in 2006.
Liz Houston, executive director of the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance, announced earlier this month that her last day will be April 24. She’s leaving for a job at the National Wildlife Federation, helping expand an early childhood project to other states. The alliance supports Colorado’s 34 early childhood councils with training, conferences and technical assistance. The councils, which usually cover one to three counties, work with local providers and families to boost child care access and quality.
One other move of note: Kathryn Harris, former president and CEO of the nonprofit Qualistar Colorado, which closed its doors in December, landed at another Denver-based early childhood group over the winter. She is chief operating officer of Bright By Three, which provides language and literacy resources to families with children ages 0-3.
Correction: April 17, 2019: This story has been changed to reflect the correct name of the group for which Liz Houston will be working. It is the National Wildlife Federation. It has also been changed to reflect that Houston will not oversee the group’s early childhood project, but rather help expand it to other states.