Cultivating leaders for the future

we believe in

Policy Fellowship for Equity and Justice

in Early Childhood

The Program

Our commitment to elevate leaders who will protect, promote, and preserve Black children and families is the impetus for our Policy Fellowship. The Policy Fellowship accelerates Black leaders who carry within themselves the purpose to challenge the systems that keep our outcomes from becoming a reality.

The policy fellowship ensures these leaders are equipped to advocate effectively in their respective institutions and communities.

The Work
The NBCDI Policy Fellows engage in an intensive 18-month leadership and career development training program designed to increase leadership impact at the executive level in order to advocate for Black children and families on a national scale.
The Results

Each policy fellow is equipped with new approaches to policy, exposed to diverse perspectives, and enabled to develop fresh ideas for intervention on behalf of Black children and their families.

The purpose of the policy fellowship is to advance our eight essential outcomes on the national level.

The program’s alumni enjoy increased influence in their communities, driving policy and programmatic change in service of the eight essential outcomes.

Class of 2019-2021
Class of 2021-2023

Fellow Spotlight

Dr. Faith Crittenden

Dr. Faith Crittenden

Physician Resident, Yale

Dr. Faith Crittenden

Dr. Faith Crittenden is a highly accomplished physician and public health advocate with extensive experience in healthcare policy focused on health disparities and equity. Dr. Crittenden is an author of several policies for various organizations from racism is a public health issue to combating natural hair discrimination in medicine and among children. Check out her op-ed published in KevinMD.com.

Kamau "Kofi" Smith

Kamau “Kofi” Smith

CEO of Keystone Management, as Chair of the NBCDI board

Blythe Keeler Robinson

Blythe Keeler Robinson

President and CEO of Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers, as Vice Chair of the NBCDI board.

Dr. John H. Jackson

Dr. John H. Jackson

is the President and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, a BIPOC-led public fund that pools philanthropic funding and fuels racial and education justice movements. He leads the Schott Foundation’s efforts to ensure a fair and substantive opportunity to learn for all students, regardless of race or gender.

Dr. Kiesha King

Dr. Kiesha King

is the Senior National Education Administrator for T-Mobile. Honored by the FCC Commissioner as the 2020 Digital Equity Innovator for providing millions of students across the country with vital mobile connectivity during the pandemic, she is an avid thought sponsor who uses her more than 17-years of experience as an educator, administrator, and consultant working to find ways to reduce and close the digital divide for students.

Dr. Joan Lombardi

Dr. Joan Lombardi

is a Visiting Scholar and Leadership Council Chair at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, and is an international expert on child development and social policy. Over the past 45 years, she has made significant contributions in the areas of child and family policy as an innovative leader and policy advisor to national and international organizations and foundations, and as a public servant.

Regine Moore

Regine Moore

is the Director of Constituent Relations, Black/African American Stakeholder Engagement for Walmart. She leads Walmart’s external reputational work in the African American community, a role that fits with her passion for multicultural connectivity, and her intention to be a force for good to shift how people think and understand communities unlike their own to create a more equitable environment.

Lee Parker

Lee Parker

is the Executive Director and Banker at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, she works closely with diverse business owners, C-suite executives, family foundations and not-for-profits, offering a white-glove and tailored approach that helps add value across the entirety of the balance sheet. Lee guides them in plotting paths toward generational legacies and the social impact footprints they wish to leave. Lee Joined the NBCDI Board of Directors in 2023.
Public Voices Fellowship on Racial Justice in Early Childhood
Fellowship

In Partnership with

The Program

The Public Voices Fellowship on Racial Justice in Early Childhood is designed to bring new and diverse voices into racial justice in early childhood conversations.

The fellowship increases thought leadership among women and people of color so that their voices are included in these important conversations and find just and equitable solutions to racial justice in early childhood.

Partnering hosts of the Public Voices Fellowship include The OpEd Project, Dr. Iheoma Iruka, and Sandra Wilcox Conway. 

The Work

The Public Voices Fellowship on Racial Justice in Early Childhood is part of a prestigious national initiative launched by The OpEd Project to change who writes history. The year-long fellowship convenes four times with twenty thought leaders on racial justice in early childhood.

Fellows explore how to build consensus, how ideas spread, when and why minds change, and how ideas can shape the future.

The Results

Each fellow receives one-on-one coaching by leading journalists and editors.

All fellows write a minimum of two opinion (“op-ed”) articles during the fellowship.

The fellowship supports fellows as they shape their ideas about today’s most important and urgent conversations. This support includes two seminars focused on the intersection of racial justice in early childhood and other resources to help fellows develop their leadership skills and knowledge.

Meet NBCDI’s inaugural fellowship cohort
NBCDI’s 2024-2025 Fellowship Cohort

Fellow Spotlight

Dr. Faith Crittenden

Dr. Faith Crittenden

Physician Resident, Yale

Dr. Faith Crittenden

Dr. Faith Crittenden is a highly accomplished physician and public health advocate with extensive experience in healthcare policy focused on health disparities and equity. Dr. Crittenden is an author of several policies for various organizations from racism is a public health issue to combating natural hair discrimination in medicine and among children. Check out her op-ed published in KevinMD.com.

Kamau "Kofi" Smith

Kamau “Kofi” Smith

CEO of Keystone Management, as Chair of the NBCDI board

Blythe Keeler Robinson

Blythe Keeler Robinson

President and CEO of Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers, as Vice Chair of the NBCDI board.

Dr. John H. Jackson

Dr. John H. Jackson

is the President and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, a BIPOC-led public fund that pools philanthropic funding and fuels racial and education justice movements. He leads the Schott Foundation’s efforts to ensure a fair and substantive opportunity to learn for all students, regardless of race or gender.

Dr. Kiesha King

Dr. Kiesha King

is the Senior National Education Administrator for T-Mobile. Honored by the FCC Commissioner as the 2020 Digital Equity Innovator for providing millions of students across the country with vital mobile connectivity during the pandemic, she is an avid thought sponsor who uses her more than 17-years of experience as an educator, administrator, and consultant working to find ways to reduce and close the digital divide for students.

Dr. Joan Lombardi

Dr. Joan Lombardi

is a Visiting Scholar and Leadership Council Chair at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, and is an international expert on child development and social policy. Over the past 45 years, she has made significant contributions in the areas of child and family policy as an innovative leader and policy advisor to national and international organizations and foundations, and as a public servant.

Regine Moore

Regine Moore

is the Director of Constituent Relations, Black/African American Stakeholder Engagement for Walmart. She leads Walmart’s external reputational work in the African American community, a role that fits with her passion for multicultural connectivity, and her intention to be a force for good to shift how people think and understand communities unlike their own to create a more equitable environment.

Lee Parker

Lee Parker

is the Executive Director and Banker at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, she works closely with diverse business owners, C-suite executives, family foundations and not-for-profits, offering a white-glove and tailored approach that helps add value across the entirety of the balance sheet. Lee guides them in plotting paths toward generational legacies and the social impact footprints they wish to leave. Lee Joined the NBCDI Board of Directors in 2023.
Fellowship Programs