We have some more exciting news to announce here at the Collaboration. On August 15, 2022 Shannon Ellison will move from her current role as Manager of Health and Development to Director of Programs and Contracts. Please join us in congratulating her on this next step in her career!
In this Director role at the Collaboration for Early Childhood, Shannon will oversee the Family Engagement, Health and Development, and Early Learning content areas of the Collaboration’s program work. She will also serve as a centralized point-person for all of the agency’s contracts, managing the agency’s many RFPs, LOAs and contracts as well as monitoring compliancy on grants that support our work. Shannon’s expertise and interest in this area is a very timely asset to the Collaboration. The need for this work has increased in recent years, as we have grown and continue to seek out new grants and partnerships to expand our work and increase the capacity of early childhood providers in our community.
Shannon (right) and Azucena (left) welcome families at the Community Screening Day. June, 2022.
Shannon brings a wealth of institutional knowledge about the agency to the Director of Programs and Contracts position. She joined the Collaboration for Early Childhood in 2014, and holds the title of one of our longest-serving staff members, second only to Tiffany Kelly, our Hearing and Vision Screening Technician. Shannon came on board as the Developmental Screening Coordinator and was tasked with building the Collaboration’s Developmental Screening Project. Working with the Collaboration’s Health and Development Committee, Shannon established and oversaw the developmental screening work, which began with the help of an American Academy of Pediatrics, Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) grant, which was awarded to Dr. Karen Walker. The Developmental Screening Project currently consists of 25 local early childhood, pediatric, and community sites which conduct developmental screenings in their programs. Thanks to this program, between 1,600 and 1,700 kids receive developmental screenings each year. She later took on oversight of the Collaboration’s Preschool Hearing and Vision program.
Most recently, Shannon worked with Dr. Stephanie Weller, a member of the Health and Development Committee, to apply for a CATCH grant. Shannon coordinated a sub-committee of the Health and Development Committee to finalize and assist Dr. Weller with submitting the application. This new CATCH Grant, awarded to Dr. Stephanie Weller, will build off of the Collaboration’s established Developmental Screening Project model to incorporate a social determinants of health screening for children and families into the Collaboration’s work. This new screening will connect families to resources and build awareness around the impact of social determinants of health on child development.
Shannon (right) with Rachel Wood, former Dir. of Children’s Services at Oak-Leyden at a past Physicians’ Network Event
As Manager of Health and Development, Shannon also coordinated the biannual Physicians’ Network events which included publishing a resource-rich newsletter directed at child health professionals. She also provides counsel and support to families who have concerns about their child’s development or have learned that their child has been diagnosed with a developmental delay. Her deep knowledge, and fierce advocacy for parents, health professionals, and early learning programs has built a strong network of trust here in the community which will serve her well as she recruits and onboards new members of the Collaboration’s program team.
As a member of the Collaboration’s leadership team, Shannon will play a crucial role in refining the program service area positions that she will be overseeing, and she has already started building her team! The Child and Health Partnership Coordinator position is now posted on Idealist and on our website. There will be more positions posted in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
We are thrilled to see Shannon move into the Director of Programs and Contracts position. Congrats, Shannon!