When asked why she has dedicated 25 years to child and youth development, the answer comes easily to Crisolide Rodriguez: she wants to help her community by preparing children for the future. Cris, a home-based family child care educator and owner of NBC Child Care in West Warwick, RI, feels most satisfied when “a child goes home for the day having learned something new.”

She believes that in order to offer high-quality care which parents can trust, a home-based educator must have access to ongoing resources and trainings, starting with the entrepreneurial pathway. Cris has dedicated hundreds of hours participating in, designing, and co-facilitating SEIU Training & Support Fund entrepreneurial courses and small business support programs. She feels more prepared having the fundamental business acumen - marketing, financial management and time-space percentage, etc - necessary to successfully run her business. Cris says, “Knowing how to manage the money that comes in and goes out has changed the trajectory of my program. Accounting: this can take your program into the future or crush it.”

Cris reminds home-based child care educators that they are early childhood professionals and small business owners. Her focus always goes back to learning: “The more we know, the more we can offer our families.” While she recognizes that the work of home-based educators is minimized and not always valued, Cris encourages her colleagues to never give up: “Even when we feel stuck, there is always a tomorrow.”