Kimberly Shinn-Brown has used relationships to bring about change in the community.
"My work and life revolve around nurturing relationships between and among children, families, staff and the community," says Shinn-Brown, director of Head Start and Early Head Start for the Ozarks Area Community Action Corp.
Shinn-Brown's career with OACAC began in 1994 when she was hired as lead teacher at the Republic Center Head Start.
Through the years, she served as education specialist, program director for Early Head Start and assistant director of operations for Head Start/Early Head Start. Head Start provides educational experiences, health services and other opportunities for low-income children and their families.
The program set a standard of excellence in several areas, Shinn-Brown says. The Early Head Start program was one of the first in the region to provide center-based infant-toddler services and to deliver child care services in partnership with the community and other child care programs.
"I was only 28 when I was given responsibility for a half-million dollar budget, which has since tripled," she says. "I took the grant proposal and turned it into a thriving, successful, innovative and regionally recognized program. The transformation was a direct result of relationships."
In 2006, Shinn-Brown implemented a summer leadership and management series for area supervisors and center directors. Participants discuss supervision, group dynamics, conflict resolution, consensus building and evaluation methods.
She also led the group that developed the Brown Bag Leadership Lunch, monthly meetings at which early childhood professionals discuss leadership topics.
Shinn-Brown also is secretary and treasurer of Mayor's Commission for Children. "The commission acts as a catalyst to mobilize and educate the community to provide the supports necessary for every young child to be successful in school and in life," she says. She also is on the Red Wagon Kids Education Committee, which aims for universal access to quality preschool.
"Because of my close working relationships with staff and their relationships with families, I continue to hear success stories of our Early Head Start graduates," Shinn-Brown says.
"Many are reading above grade level, (are) on the honor roll in school and active in the community. Many of their parents returned to school or job training, obtained better jobs, improved their standard of living and remain engaged in their child's education."
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