Let's talk about Professional Development!

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Robin Beller, Manager of the Long Island Regional Office for the Office of Children and Family Services. She shared her inspiring, experience-rich journey in the field of early childhood education, and how she’s uniting partners around a shared vision to support both educators and children.

Tell me a little bit more about you and your professional journey within early childhood education.

It’s been really fun for me. It started for me in high school, when my Home Economics teacher went on maternity leave. I remember when she came back, I peeked into the classroom to welcome her, and she was in the back room crying. She confided in me and said she couldn’t stand leaving her baby at childcare, and I thought to myself, what a hard thing to do, and not know what it’s like there. And that’s where my interest started.

I got into a very good two-year early childhood program at Cobleskill College, where I worked with excellent early childhood leaders, and I started teaching in a toddler classroom. I took some classes at Russell Sage College and Saint Rose, though neither offered an early childhood education program.  I then got a director’s job at a very large center and realized I had no idea what I was doing.  That’s what led me to Southern Vermont College, where I earned my bachelor’s in early childhood education with a focus on childcare management and human resource management, and later my MBA to deepen my understanding of leadership and working with people.

As I finished school, I had the chance to work with incredible colleagues across the Capital District, and later, through the Early Care and Learning Council, to collaborate with others to develop management trainings for directors across New York State. I did that for about nine years, and then I was offered the position of Regional Manager in Long Island for the Office of Children and Family Services. I packed up, moved downstate, and I’ve been here for almost 22 years. It’s been an incredible journey.

What’s something you’re working on right now that you’re really excited about?

Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the collaborative work happening across Long Island. Our partners and agencies are coming together to ensure providers and educators receive consistent messages and support from what we often call “the village.” Right now, several of us are in the early stages of developing a Long Island Road Map, which is meant to be a shared resource to help child care providers navigate everything from getting licensed to accessing ongoing professional development. The idea is to create a kind of “one-stop shop” where providers can easily see and connect with the many agencies and supports available.  There are so many amazing agencies and resources available for our providers, but most of them only know about them by default or by happenstance.

The vision is for each partner agency to have its own “cul-de-sac” on the map, for example, one for Child Care Resource Centers, another for QUALITYstarsNY, the Aspire Registry, the Career Development Center, and so on. Together, these interconnected spaces will help providers find what they need quickly while seeing how each of us contributes to the same overall system of support.

Have you noticed an increase in understanding among your colleagues regarding the use and connection to the Aspire Registry?

We really see ourselves as a circle of people supporting children, and that circle keeps expanding as we bring in new partners and learn how our systems connect within this early childhood ecosystem. For example, when the Aspire team came to train our staff, it opened a great conversation about how our respective systems track training hours. We shared that our assessments are based on fingerprint dates, and Aspire soon integrated that same approach, which has made things easier for both providers and regulators. We’re meeting with Aspire again soon to continue the conversation and explore ways to make the process even more seamless. These ongoing partnerships help us streamline internal procedures, ultimately strengthening the systems that support our entire provider community.

This conversation really highlights how much stronger New York’s early childhood community becomes when we work together. Efforts like the Long Island Road Map and the Aspire Registry show what’s possible when agencies connect their strengths to support educators’ growth. It’s all about building a shared path where every provider can keep learning, growing, and making a difference for children and families across the state.