Early Care and Education: Where are We and Where Do We Go From Here?


Linda Smith

Linda Smith is director of BPC’s Early Childhood Development Initiative. She most recently served as the deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role she provided overall policy coordination for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs and the Child Care and Development Fund. She also served as the department’s liaison to the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies.

Previously, Smith served as the executive director for the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), where she represented more than 650 community-based agencies concerned with the care of children in their earliest years. Key components of NACCRRA’s advocacy efforts included strengthening child care licensing and oversight, requiring comprehensive background checks, and establishing minimum training requirements for all child care workers.

Smith served as a legislative fellow and professional staffer on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under the chairmanship of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Prior to this work, she was the director of the Office of Family Policy for the Secretary of Defense, where she was one of the primary architects of the military’s child care program. Additionally, she has held positions with both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force.

Smith began her career in early childhood education on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in her native state of Montana. She is a graduate of the University of Montana.

Leadership: Developing Your Voice as an Early Childhood Educator


Jerletha McDonald

Jerletha McDonald is a social entrepreneur, national speaker and
family childcare business consultant is the founder of the Arlington DFW Child Care Professionals Association. She owned and operated a family childcare center, Nurturing Gifts Infant and Toddler Center, for 15 years.

Jerletha has a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies with a minor in Early Childhood Intervention from Stephen F. Austin State University. 

Jerletha hosts her highly acclaimed Radio/Visual Podcast Show, "The Jerletha McDonald Show: Everything Childcare," she converses about childcare and provides a platform for early childhood professionals to shine. She is the Co-Chair of the National Family Child Care Panel. She is also a member and Co-Chair of the Early Learning Alliance Child Care Provider Council. She is also a member of the Arlington, Texas MLK planning committee and the Arlington Black Chamber of Commerce.

In April of 2016, Jerletha was recognized by the Grand Prairie NAACP as one of the Most Influential Women in Business. In 2018, she was appointed to Gov. Greg Abbott's Early Learning Council representing family childcare providers in Texas. In 2020, she received the North Texas Early Childhood Leadership Award from Child Care Associates. She has received numerous awards and recognition for business, leadership, and childcare excellence.