IMPACT STORY: Natasha
04/16/25
If you were to ask Natasha about her professional journey, she’d tell you she’s come a long way – and so has Action for Children. In 2012, Action for Children was offering only in-person professional development classes for child care educators and Natasha, a newcomer to the profession, was there. She was looking to learn new skills and tools to become a better educator and help others do the same, and achieve her dream of being a child care program administrator.
Over the years, Natasha returned to Action for Children for classes and was encouraged by her coaches and instructors to enroll in Action for Children’s Child Development Associate preparatory course in 2024. In the course, she gained a deeper understanding of child development, educational theories and methods, leadership, and engaging families and children, and put what she learned in practice in her child care role.
Since 2016, Natasha has served in two administrative child care roles and has been able to mentor several teachers, leading to higher quality education opportunities for young children. Natasha is currently finishing her Child Development Association application with the CDA council and is looking forward to seeing where it takes her!
Action for Children’s goal of providing valuable training opportunities that help educators to think differently about early care and education has grown along with the Professional Development program. Today, Action for Children offers an expansive catalog of more than 80 trainings in different formats, including in-person, live virtual, asynchronous, on-site, and even virtual reality training!
Ryan, who directs The Goddard School of Gahanna, reached out to Action for Children to organize an onsite training for his staff last year. He says that the onsite training has
allowed him as an administrator to show his team that he’s interested in helping his employees professionally and show them that there are avenues for them if they want to grow as educators.
“Action for Children always seems to open our eyes to different ways to do things,” he shared. “Having a resource out there to give us information in a fresh way, that follows best practices, and is in-line with licensing expectations is something we can count on from Action for Children.”
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Author: Christiana Sallard, Marketing & Communications Manager at Action for Children
Action for Children would also like to thank Natasha and Ryan for sharing their stories.
Action for Children’s professional development services are funded by the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, Franklin County Board of Commissioners, and Action for Children’s generous donors. Learn More.
Action for Children is the local child care resource and referral agency for central Ohio, and is committed to assuring quality early learning experiences for all children. Our services focus on transforming the lives of children by supporting the everyday heroes who most influence our children’s early growth; care givers, educators, parents, and guardians. Learn More.