June 17, 2025 Trying Together Exec Director Featured on Women and Girls Foundation Podcast Trying Together’s executive director recently discussed the organization’s mission and the need for an increase in early childhood education workers’ wages on the Women and Girls Foundation podcast. Learn More The podcast, led by host Camila Rivera-Tinsley, frequently features guests who are “working toward a more equitable future” and tackles such topics as gender, racial, and environmental justice. In a recent episode, Tinsley discussed issues surrounding early child care – from parents seeking child care for their children so they can work to those employed in the field in need of higher wages – with Cara Ciminillo, Trying Together’s executive director. On the podcast, Ciminillo talks about how she got involved in early childhood education, April’s Month of the Young Child, the origin of Trying Together’s name, and the organization’s advocacy efforts during the state budget season. Ciminillo talked about how early childhood education is an overwhelmingly women-led field. “Probably about 96 percent of all early learning experiences and child care experiences are led by and provided by women,” she said. “It is a women-led field and has a high number of women of color who lead the work in this industry. They are brain builders.” Ciminillo said the success of many of the state’s industries is tied to whether communities provide adequate child care options. She added that the state’s early childhood education teacher shortage is caused by the industry’s low wages. “If you want to solve (the problems of) an industry’s workforce, you have to solve for the child care workforce,” she said. “It’s very much a challenge in terms of our collective economic mobility if we don’t solve the economics of child care and the wages they make.” To learn more, watch Ciminillo and Rivera-Tinsley discuss early childhood education on the Women and Girls Foundation podcast.
June 4, 2025 Trying Together Exec Director Discusses Your Career, Our Future on Yinz Are Good Podcast Trying Together’s executive director discussed the Your Career, Our Future campaign alongside the Early Excellence Project on Yinz are Good’s latest podcast. Learn More Cara Ciminillo, Trying Together’s executive director, joined Dr. DaVonna Shannon, director of research and impact for the Early Excellence Project, to discuss the initiative with Yinz are Good host Tressa Glover. The Early Excellence Project champions Black and Brown child care providers by fostering equality, equity, and accessibility in early childhood education. Ciminillo and Shannon discussed how the Your Career, Our Future campaign has collected stories from early educators and families in the Pittsburgh region with the intention that their shared experiences will inspire more people to answer the call to become early educators. Making Educators the Centerpiece The campaign centers around 15 educators and parents, who relay their positive experiences with the early childhood education field. Ciminillo cited several stories from the campaign. One educator entered the the profession at a young age and rose from being a classroom aide to an executive director. Another was a stay-at-home father who become a classroom educator due to his interest in understanding how his child was developing. “We’re always trying to center the educator,” Ciminillo said. “They are exemplars of people coming into the field. We ask how we can help others to see themselves in these stories to draw other people to the field. You need to help people see what opportunities exist, so making provider stories the centerpiece is important.” A Need for Investment Ciminillo and Shannon said the campaign aims to combat an ongoing early educator shortage that has resulted in repercussions for businesses, the economy, and local communities. “One of the pain points that we’ve heard frequently – it predated COVID and was exacerbated after COVID – is that child care programs are struggling with staffing,” Ciminillo said. “We are a field where wages are suppressed and the reason why is that families can’t pay more. Child care is expensive and it’s a regulated system; it’s based on a child-to-staff ratio. The public system has not invested enough to alleviate that problem.” Ciminillo said that this lack of investment in early childhood education has resulted in low wages for teachers and, in turn, teachers leaving the profession as well as challenges in recruiting and retaining them. “What happens is that providers subsidize (a lack of funding) with their own wages,” she said. “As a result, you’re not getting as much interest in going into the field as other fields that are higher income-generating.” Ciminillo noted that many early childhood educators were making just over $9 per hour prior to COVID-19, but are now earning an average $15. However, she said wages will need to continue to rise due to the profession’s often challenging nature. She said the job’s primary focus is “brain building.” Shannon added that part of the Your Career, Our Future campaign involves letting families know that early childhood education is not “babysitting.” “Children are developing in these early childhood programs, which are very high-quality,” she said. “The message to employers is: If you don’t know how to invest in early childhood education, you will lose staff. People won’t be able to work if they can’t afford child care.” To listen to the entire interview, “Episode 168: Trying Together & Early Excellence Project’s Your Career, Our Future Campaign,” visit the Yinz are Good podcast’s website.
April 16, 2025 Trying Together Honors Early Childhood Educators at Annual Celebration Dinner Nearly 800 early childhood educators and advocates joined Trying Together on April 10 for its Annual Celebration of Early Childhood Educators Dinner at Acrisure Stadium. The Westinghouse Academy marching band greeted attendees as they arrived at the event, which included a dinner, photo booth, raffle prizes, and networking. The formal presentation featured a video from Governor Josh Shapiro, who spoke about the importance of early childhood education in Pennsylvania and proposed investments for recruitment and retention. Honorees Trying Together Executive Director Cara Ciminillo paid tribute to the dinner’s two honorees – Riverview Children’s Center Executive Director Betty Lisowski and Dr. Aisha White, program director for the Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education (P.R.I.D.E.) at the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Child Development. “With more than 40 years’ experience, Betty has been the catalyst for sustained, high-quality early care and education and expansion at Riverview Children’s Center,” Ciminillo said of Lisowski. “Betty has positively impacted thousands of children, families, and colleagues through the high-quality care and education Riverview provides while also being a working mother of three.” Lisowski’s co-workers at Riverview paid homage to her work at the center in a video. Lisowski cited author and speaker Jim Collins’ quote that “great vision without great people is irrelevant” in describing those with whom she has worked in early childhood education. “I am truly blessed to have spent my entire 43-year career in this field,” she said. “It has been a journey I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’ve loved the work, but more importantly I’ve loved and cherished the people I’ve had the privilege to work with.” Ciminillo noted Dr. White’s work in helping children find pride in their racial identity as well as her decades-long engagement in the arts, social activism and work involving racial awareness. During a speech following her own tribute video, White noted that many children in America are struggling, citing Black infant mortality rates that are nearly two times higher than the national average for all races or ethnicities and the fact that 11 million U.S. children live in poverty and 400,000 in foster care. “While things are not good for children across the board, there’s an extra burden on children of color – and especially Black children – and that’s the burden of racism,” she said. “With respect to race, what we can do is pretty simple: Support children’s positive racial identity development in as many ways as we can, as often as we can, and as effectively as we can.” Ciminillo also recognized two regional educators – Lesely Crawford, executive director of the ABK Learning and Development Center, and Eva Wood, executive director of Ligonier Valley Learning Center in Latrobe – who were recent honorees at the PennAEYC Voice for Children Awards. Valuing Educators During a toast to all of the early childhood educators in attendance, Ciminillo said that a society that values its children must also value those who care for them. “Tonight, we gather during the Month of the Young Child not just to celebrate, but to honor you,” she said. “Your work is essential. It always has been. But more and more, the world is beginning to understand what you’ve long known – that care is not just an individual act of kindness, it is a public good.”
March 24, 2025 Trying Together Board of Directors Treasurer Raises $2.7K for PwC National Pi Day Fundraiser Price Waterhouse Cooper’s (PwC) Pittsburgh’s office recently held “Pi-a-Partner Day,” a National Pi Day-themed event to raise awareness for local nonprofits and provide donation opportunities. Dan Waltman, Principal for Wealth Management Tax Services at PwC, has been involved with Trying Together for four years and serves as treasurer for the board of directors. He chose to raise money to benefit Trying Together. “Having young twin boys with full-time working parents was what drew me to get involved with Trying Together,” Waltman said. “The positive impacts that child care providers have had on my children is undeniable.” Waltman offered an incentive to potential donors: if he reached his original goal of $2,500, he would be pied in the face. He surpassed that goal by raising $2,780. “Dan’s fundraiser on behalf of Trying Together is one of the more creative efforts I’ve seen – and I applaud his success!” said Cara Ciminillo. “On behalf of Trying Together, I thank him for his commitment to supporting the work of early childhood.” Those interested in donating to Waltman’s fundraising effort can still do so on PwC’s fundraising page. National Pi Day National Pi Day, which was celebrated March 14, is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π. The day is celebrated on that particular day because 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant features of pi, and March is the third month (the 1 and 4 are represented by the 14th day).
March 21, 2025 Trying Together Exec Director Discusses Your Career, Our Future Campaign with The Soul Pitt Executive Director Cara Ciminillo recently discussed Trying Together’s Your Career, Our Future campaign in an interview with The Soul Pitt. Learn More Ciminillo appeared on The Soul Pitt’s podcast to discuss the campaign and who it is attempting to attract. The Soul Pitt is a website and print magazine that serves Pittsburgh’s communities of color. The Your Career, Our Future campaign is aimed at combating a nationwide trend in which early learning programs have had to close classrooms and turn families away due to the lack of early educators available to meet child care demands. This, in turn, harms young children and their families, businesses, and the economy. Your Career, Our Future – which is a joint effort between Trying Together and the Early Excellence Project – has collected stories from early educators and families in the Pittsburgh region. The campaign’s aim is to attract more people to answer the call to become early educators. In The Soul Pitt interview, Ciminillo notes that the campaign aims to recruit early childhood educators by giving them the tools they need to succeed. It also shows current and future educators they are valued and respected. “This campaign puts a face to the profession,” Ciminillo said during the interview. “We’ve collected stories from 15 people who have been positively impacted by early childhood education. This includes not only educators, but also child care program owners and parents.” Ciminillo told The Soul Pitt that the campaign hopes to draw passionate people of all backgrounds, education levels, and skill sets who are nurturing, inspiring, and excited to educate young people. She added that the Institute for Career Pathways through Trying Together can help those who are starting out in their career as well as those looking to advance. In the interview, Ciminillo is asked why it is important to share their stories in a campaign like Your Career, Our Future. “So often, we focus on the difficulties faced by the field – but this campaign instead shares all the amazing parts of being an early childhood educator,” she said. “Early childhood education is more than a job – it’s a powerfully rewarding and vitally important career.” In the interview, she also discusses the benefits of becoming an early childhood educator and how those who are interested in the program can obtain more information. To read the entire interview, visit The Soul Pitt.
February 26, 2025 International Women’s Day Panel and Luncheon Accelerate Action will host its International Women’s Day panel and luncheon on March 7. Learn More Participants will start the day with a free community panel of local women leaders who are driving change on critical issues. The panel will be followed by a ticketed luncheon. The luncheon’s featured speaker is Lulu Garcia-Navarro. The panel is comprised of: Trying Together Executive Director Cara Ciminillo FISA Foundation Executive Director Kristy Trautmann Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania President & CEO Sydney Etheredge Ford Institute for Human Security Director Dr. Muge Kokten Finkel Black Women’s Policy Center Founder & CEO Rochelle L. Jackson The panel begins at 9 a.m. at Point Park University, while the luncheon starts at 11:30 a.m. The event runs until 3 p.m. Tickets and registration are now available.
April 29, 2024 Trying Together Exec Director Touts Importance of Child Care Access on Our Region’s Business Trying Together Executive Director Cara Ciminillo was featured on WPXI’s Our Region’s Business segment on Sunday, April 28. Ciminillo discussed the importance of child care access after the issue recently topped a survey from the Allegheny County Executive’s office. Learn More During the segment, WPXI’s Bill Flanagan noted that a lack of access to affordable child care could be the biggest barrier to building a workforce pipeline in the region. Ciminillo joined Kendra Ross, Director of Social Impact at Duolingo, and Dan DeBone, President & CEO of the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce, to discuss the issue. Ciminillo said Trying Together works to support child care workers in the field as well as improve quality and advocate on their behalf. “The crisis existed before the (COVID-19) pandemic, but the pandemic really just squeezed it,” she said. “All the other sectors have been able to move up their wages, but child care is really limited in its ability to do that. We know this is because families can’t afford more. The average infant-toddler child care slot is $12,000 per year. So, you can’t put more of those costs on families – they’re struggling already.” Ciminillo said the provider workforce doesn’t bring in enough money from state subsidies to augment that revenue formula. “The tax credit is great, but if you have 100% of the tax credit but you don’t have the staff to support the children who need the care, you can’t use the tax credit,” she said. “It’s really important that we invest in recruitment and retention of the workforce.” Ross said Duolingo was trying to provide grant money for child care organizations that don’t have enough resources. DeBone said the chamber of commerce advocates for legislation to help early child care programs. Last year, Trying Together partnered with Duolingo, the Early Excellence Project, and Candor & Co in the creation of a new program called “Early Learners First.” The program’s goal is to strengthen and enhance Pittsburgh’s early education system by investing in local child care programs. Duolingo, headquartered in East Liberty, pledged $1 million to the program. Trying Together also is a member of the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce and has partnered with the chamber to host informational sessions about the impact child care has on the economy. Affordable Child Care Access Tops Survey In the recent All in Allegheny Community Survey, increasing access to affordable child care and care for older adults to make it easier for workers and people participating in workforce training programs ranked first. The Allegheny County Executive’s office invited county residents to share their ideas, priorities, and needs with County Executive Sara Innamorato’s office through the survey. According to the survey results, affordable child or family care options was the top priority for 50.8% of all respondents. Other top issues included reduced-fare public transit, the creation of good-paying jobs, and protecting worker’s rights. To listen to what Ciminallo had to say, watch the Our Region’s Business segment. For more information on Trying Together’s advocacy regarding access to child care, visit our Public Policy Agenda page.
January 15, 2021 Centering Women in Economic Recovery Centering Women in Economic Recovery is a free five-day lunchtime series that will run from Monday, January 25 to Friday, January 29, 2021. The series will feature regional female thought leaders from organizations with deep expertise in policy, business, community, public sector, and education. Join in for one or all five days! About Coined the She-cession, the economic fallout of Covid-19 has disproportionately affected women in key ways. Women are one-third more likely to work in a sector that was shut down during the lockdown, more likely to be furloughed, and 47 percent more likely to have lost or quit their jobs. And, women shoulder more child care responsibilities and household work than men. Centering Women in Economic Recovery is a free 5-day lunchtime series with regional female thought leaders from organizations with deep expertise in policy, business, community, public sector, and education. These lunchtime sessions will explore the policies and actions needed to build a more female-forward infrastructure that supports equity for working women. Featured Sessions Policy Monday, January 25, 2021 | 12 – 1 p.m. Moderator: Heather Arnet, Women and Girls Foundation Panelists: Megan Nestor, Fourth Economy Carol Joyner, Family Values@Work Claire Ewing-Nelson, National Women’s Law Center Rochelle Jackson, Black Women’s Policy Agenda Rosamaria Cristello, Latina Community Center Private Sector Response Tuesday, January 26, 2021 | 12 – 1 p.m. Moderator: Jessica Brooks, Pittsburgh Business Group on Health Panelists: Sabrina Saunders, Vibrant Pittsburgh Katherine Kellaman, Port Authority of Allegheny County Carrie Riggle, First Commonwealth Bank Anne Gargas, Torchlight Government and Public Sector Response Wednesday, January 27, 2021 | 12 – 1 p.m. Moderator: Anne Sekula, The Salon Panelists: Anu Jain, City of Pittsburgh GEC / Workforce Equity Initiative Moriah Hathaway, Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission on Women Nonprofit Response Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 12 – 1 p.m. Moderator: Michelle Pagano Heck, Nonprofit Talent Panelists: Bobbi Watt Greer, The United Way of Southwest PA Tanya Volkes Mallory, Dress for Success Michelle McMurray, The Pittsburgh Foundation Child Care / K-12 Education Response Friday, January 29, 2021 | 12 – 1 p.m. Moderator: Cara Ciminillo, Trying Together Panelists: Heather Hopson, Single Mom Defined Muffy Mendoza Brown, Brown Mommas Megan Rose, Center for Women Pittsburgh Registration To register, visit the online registration page. For questions, contact The Salon at info@thesalonpgh.com.
