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.
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.
