Leadership

Susan Gale Perry

Chief Executive Officer

Susan Gale Perry currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA).

Prior to returning to CCAoA, Susan served as Chief Deputy Secretary of Opportunity and Well-being for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). In this role, Susan led 15 divisions and offices, including Early Care and Education, Child and Family Well-Being, Aging and Adult Services, Economic Services, Public Policy, Communications, Government Affairs and Data Strategy. While at NCDHHS, Susan led the creation of a Governor-directed Early Childhood Action Plan, galvanizing support for measurable progress in early childhood health, learning and well-being; spearheaded cross-system action to address the complex behavioral health needs of those in the child welfare system; launched North Carolina’s Division of Child and Family Well-being; and managed multiple aspects of the state’s COVID-19 response, including developing strategy and building capacity to successfully support the state’s child care infrastructure and workforce so nurses, doctors, and others could provide essential services and developing one of the nation’s first pandemic-EBT programs in order to provide more than $2B in critical food assistance benefits to nearly 1.5 million of North Carolina’s children.  

Susan is a nationally recognized early childhood and human services leader skilled at creating vision and strategy alongside her partners; building strong and connected teams; advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; increasing stakeholder collaboration; securing greater public and policymaker support; and raising funds to improve outcomes for children and families. Most of her career has been in the early childhood public and nonprofit sector, serving as Executive Director for the state of Delaware Office of Early Learning, founding Executive Director of the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation, Senior Director for Policy and Programs at The North Carolina Partnership for Children, and Deputy Executive Director at Child Care Aware of America. 

Susan’s greatest passion is uplifting the voices, inspirations, power and accomplishments of the diverse and remarkable professionals working across public and private early childhood settings to help every child grow healthy, resilient and independent in safe and nurturing families, child care programs and schools, and communities.  

Susan served as CCAoA’s Deputy Executive Director from 2002-2010 and was appointed as CEO in 2023. Susan is an avid (and slow!) swimmer, loves to take very long walks with her two toy-size dogs, and spends as much time as she can in the mountains and near bodies of water. When she has the chance, she loves to throw down on the dance floor!

Michelle McCready, M.P.P.

Deputy Executive Officer

Michelle McCready, M.P.P., currently serves as the Deputy Executive Officer at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA).

She formerly served as the Chief of Policy at CCAoA and provided vision, leadership, and management of policy and evaluation division, including federal policy, state initiatives, and advocacy. She partnered with board members, executives, staff, national and local coalition partners, and the community to make sound policy decisions that help children and families. She successfully executed the national advocacy movement, Child Care Works, which led to the attainment of the 2016 MarCom Award. She also secured several core contracts and grants for the organization such as: emergency preparedness, health and wellness, multiple state advocacy initiatives and increased federal training and technical assistance work. In addition to her leadership in developing a policy agenda that promotes CCAoA’s mission and vision, Michelle also helped develop CCAoA’s signature research reports on state child care data and the cost of child care in the United States. She is a key policy contributor to Huffington Post Politics, CNBC, and Exchange Magazine.

She has more than a decade of leadership experience on several presidential and congressional campaign efforts. Most notably, Michelle staffed various campaigns and efforts in Virginia with Organizing for America during the first three years of the Obama Administration, was the Field Director for Representative Gerald Connolly (D-VA), and for the past six years has implemented CCAoA’s policy and legislative agenda. Michelle has considerable experience working on early learning and child care policies, including the re-authorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) of 2014, Labor-HHS appropriations, Head Start/Early Head Start, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), state and local advocacy campaigns, the Affordable Care Act, Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response, and children’s health initiatives.

Michelle earned her master’s degree in public policy at George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree in social welfare and policy at University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her studies included considerable qualitative and quantitative research experience, focusing on a range of topics including policy analysis, race and equity disparity, conflict resolution and negotiation, and advocacy. She holds leadership roles as the Executive lead for CCAoA’s Public Policy Committee, the Public Policy Committee for Generations United, and on the Early Childhood Advisory Committee to the Arlington County School Board.

Michelle joined CCAoA at the beginning of 2011.

Donna Stewart, SHRM-SCP

Chief of People & Culture

Donna Stewart is the Chief of People & Culture at Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA). She has more than 20 years of experience leading the human resources function and many more years building knowledge in each functional area. Donna’s expertise is centered around inclusion and developing people strategies that align with organizational values which ultimately creates a culture where all employees feel valued and thrive. Her personal motto has always been, “It’s About People.”

Donna’s career has includes HR work with health-related nonprofits, including the American Physical Therapy Association, Westminster at Lake Ridge and the Association of American Medical Colleges. Most recently, Donna served as the Vice President of Human Resources at Hostelling International USA.

Donna holds certifications as a SHRM-SCP by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification by the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). She has a bachelor’s degree in business from National-Louis University.

Donna joined CCAoA in November 2018.

Anne Hedgepeth

Chief of Policy and Advocacy

Anne is a government relations and grassroots advocacy strategist, with experience motivating policy change at all levels of government.

As Child Care Aware® of America’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, she guides the organization’s public policy work, as well as supports the advocacy and awareness efforts of child care resource and referral agencies and other early learning stakeholders across the country.

During her time at CCAoA, she successfully pushed Congress to invest over $50 billion in COVID-19 relief funding in child care and early learning and provided technical assistance and guidance to numerous state initiatives to advance a high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care system.

Anne previously worked with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) where she helped to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and to update and implement Title IX regulations and guidance in schools across the country.

Anne earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Gender Studies from Davidson College and a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University where she was a member of Pi Alpha Alpha.

Anne joined CCAoA in September 2019.

Francisco “Fran” Jamison

Chief of Military Programs and Strategy

Francisco “Fran” Jamison is the Chief of Military Programs and Strategy at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA).

Prior to coming to CCAOA Fran worked for over 28 years as part of the Department of Defense (DoD) military childcare programs in a variety of leadership roles. He has supervised a variety of DoD programs including Child Development Centers, School Age Programs, Family Child Care, Parent Central Services, Outreach Programs, Youth Sports and Fitness and Teen Programs.

Fran is a military “brat” whose father served in the U.S. Army. Fran grew up in Hampton Roads, V.A., where his father spent most of his more than 20-year-long career.

He graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a bachelor’s degree in workforce education and development and has completed all levels of DoD Civilian Education System training including Advanced and Continuing Education for Senior Leaders.

Fran joined CCAoA in March 2023.

Amanda Bogden

Chief Financial Officer

Amanda Bogden most recently held the position as the Chief Operating/Financial Officer at End Citizens United/Let America Vote. In this role, she managed the finance, compliance, and operations departments, ensuring the smooth functioning of the organization.

Previously, Amanda spent twelve years in Managed Accounting Services at Raffa — Marcum’s Nonprofit and Social Sector Group. Here, she honed her skills in accounting and operations, with a focus on empowering mission-based organizations to achieve their full potential.

Her career also includes valuable experience in the finance and compliance department at EMILYs List, as well as time spent at a public accounting firm specializing in small local businesses.

Originally from Pennsylvania and a graduate of Gettysburg College, Amanda brings a deep understanding of nonprofit dynamics and a passion for supporting organizations in achieving their missions to her work.