Marcy Whitebook

Having begun her professional life as an infant and toddler and preschool teacher, Marcy understands the relationship between appropriate preparation, support, and compensation for early educators and the quality of services for young children. Early in her career, Marcy and a handful of other teachers set out to improve early care and education services by securing rights, raises, and respect for the early childhood workforce. Prior to her current work as the founding director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, Marcy founded the Washington-based Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW), an organization she began in 1977 as the Child Care Employee Project. She earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Developmental Studies from the UCLA Graduate School of Education.