Leadership in Action

Janet Zamudio, Children’s Council’s Director of Parent Services, knows how access to child care can change a parent’s life. During her junior year at UC Berkeley, Janet gave birth to her first child. She was prepared to balance being a new mother with finishing her degree, but the high cost of child care suddenly appeared as a major obstacle.

Thanks to help from a friend’s mother, Janet was able to complete her degree in Social Welfare. Along the way, she discovered a passion for early education and helping other parents find quality, affordable child care.

At Children’s Council, Janet oversees our team of counselors who help 10,000 parents each year understand their child care options. She is also responsible for our Inclusion Team, which connects families of children with special needs to child care providers who are qualified to support the child’s social and emotional development.

Today Janet is the mother of three as well as a leader in her field. Before joining Children’s Council in 2013, Janet worked for 13 years at BANANAS, Inc., a sister organization in Oakland. There she brought together parents from Oakland’s African-American and Latino communities to explore common challenges, resulting in a 6-week leadership training program that is still in use years later. And in 2009 Janet earned her Masters in Educational Leadership from Mills College.

Janet continues to serve as a voice for parents by helping to shape policies that impact families at the local, state, and national level. She serves on the national public policy committee for Child Care Aware of America in Washington, DC and is a board member of the statewide California Child Care Resource & Referral Network. And this past fall, Janet was elected to the San Lorenzo Unified School District School Board.

“I voice the needs of families in our communities,” says Janet. “It’s very empowering to shape decisions around the true needs of parents.”