Director Government Relations
Child Care Resource Center
LaWanda Wesley took over government relations at the Child Care Resource Center after a long career across children’s care and early education programs as a practitioner, administrator and director. She has a rare ability to explain complicated children’s policy issues to legislators and other government officials – and she is trusted by all who meet her. A leader in the California Early Childhood Education Coalition, Wesley was voted the group’s outstanding advocate. With the vast majority of CCRC’s funding coming from the state government, her relationships at the state level are paramount.
Words To Describe Them: Committed, dedicated, upbeat, lived experience, credible
From the Indispensable: “Advocating for children, and families is in my DNA as a living ancestor. I understand the assignment and walk daily in that faith. I unapologetically walk the halls and walls of California’s legislature to Hill visits with Congressional members to serving meals in my community during weekends. The intersectionality of my identity as a foster youth and a single mother of five children keeps me centered. I know what it means to move upstream and rely on public safety nets. Judgment and oppressive systems are never ending but hope is contagious and ever present in my ‘why.’”
