Executive Director Cara Ciminillo recently discussed Trying Together’s Your Career, Our Future campaign in an interview with The Soul Pitt.

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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.