Shannon Rudisill is the first Executive Director of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, assuming the position in November 2016. Under her leadership, ECFC is pursuing a strategy of growth and strategic engagement with partners across philanthropy to build capacity for supporting policies and practices that help young children and their families thrive.
Prior to joining ECFC, Shannon was the Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development at the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Shannon served on the Obama Administration’s senior leadership team for early childhood programs, setting strategy for ACF programs such child care and Head Start, as well as programs jointly administered with the U.S. Department of Education, such as the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge and the Preschool Development Grants. She is especially proud of the $500 million Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants which will bring higher quality early care and comprehensive services to thousands of infants and toddlers from families in poverty.
From 2009-2014, Shannon was the Director of ACF’s Office of Child Care (OCC). OCC administers the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which provides over $5 billion per year to States, Territories, and over 500 Tribal communities to provide child care for about 1.5 million children each month. At OCC, Shannon tirelessly pursued strategies to make child care work better for families and to ensure that children are served in safe, healthy, and nurturing early learning and afterschool programs. Under her leadership, the Obama Administration’s principles for child care reform were reflected in the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant for the first time in almost 18 years.