McGuireWoods Consulting senior advisor Jim Dyke was featured in a video celebrating 20 years of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF).
VECF is a public-private partner organization that focuses on strengthening early child development quality of care, increasing capacity and advocating for strong public policy through collaboration with Virginia’s business leaders and key stakeholders.
Dyke has been involved with the organization for 15 years and joined the organization because he believes that early childhood education is the vital building block with the greatest long-term return for Virginia students.
In recent years, VECF has been able to form a coalition with business leaders in Virginia, as early childhood learning is integral to not just the education sector, but the business sector as well.
“I think COVID-19 was very impactful in making people aware of how important early childhood education is,” Dyke said. “As a result of that, we were able to build a good coalition with the business community, which recognized the fact that early childhood development and childhood care are significant workforce preparation issues.”
Dyke says this collaboration is a significant step for both communities.
“The formation of an alliance with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the business community was a significant step because it made the business community active participants and advocates for early childhood development and childhood care,” Dyke said.
While the VECF has made significant progress for early childhood education in Virginia in the last two decades, Dyke says it is only the beginning.
“You should be thankful for the success, but you cannot rest on your laurels. You have to continue to press forward to do even better in the future.”
