Mental Health Assistant
Resume:
Oakland, CA *****
August 7, 2020
Project Director, Practice and Policy Outcomes
West Ed
San Francisco, CA 94107
Dear Hiring Manager,
I’m writing to ask to be considered for the Project Director for Practice and Policy Outcomes with West Ed. In my 30 years of work on early childhood education, there has been no greater time –in terms of state leadership and national recognition of the importance of early childhood programs --to redefine and support our early childhood education system. My passion for these issues, experience, networks, and skills would enable West Ed to accelerate systemic reforms. I’ve initiated, informed and influenced early education policies at the national, state and city and county level. I have worked on a breadth of early childhood policy issues from the start of my career at The Children’s Defense Fund, as a Committee Consultant for the California State Senate Health and Human Services Committee, as Assistant Director of Planning at the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families and as Acting Administrator and Senior Management Analyst at the Alameda County Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program. In five years as California legislative staff, I distilled complex policy and research on issues such as foster care, ECE, mental health and home visiting through writing over 60 research and practice based legislative analyses and verbally briefing policy and budget committees. My time in the Capitol also taught me the art and science of advancing legislation and state budget requests The Project Director needs to be able to identify, analyze, and frame program and policy opportunities for change makers whether they are in government, the private sector, foundations or community stakeholders. For the bulk of my career, at Alameda County, I’ve assessed policy opportunities, leveraged resources, and built partnerships with researchers, city economic development and other staff, Chambers of Commerce, Planning Commissions, and City Councils across Alameda County and secured ECE policies in 11 General Plans. I’ve also used outcomes based frameworks and research to guide multidisciplinary partnerships, the County Early Care and Education Planning Council and a cross agency Birth to 5 Initiative of County departments, which secured two million dollars for home visiting programs. Most recently, I have managed a $1.5 million budget, seven staff, planning for two attempts at a local ECE sales tax measure, and initiated and continue to lead Alameda County’s planning for an Emergency Child Care system. I am a seasoned, strategic professional with an extensive network and desire to use my experience to improve outcomes for young children and their families and all iof my work has been predicated on exceptional written and verbal communications skills. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Ellen Dektar
Ellen Dektar
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