Biography

Dr. Megan Pamela Ruth Madison is a political educator and a lifelong student of radical Black feminism. Her work in the field of early childhood education began in preschool classrooms across the Midwest, where she grew up and earned her Master’s degree in early childhood education. Today, she lives on Lenape land in Harlem, where facilitates professional learning for teachers across the country on anti-bias education. She earned her PhD in Social Policy from Brandeis University, with a concentration in child, youth, and family policy. As a scholar-activist, her approach to research and practice is guided by the "Sociopolitical Ecology of Development," a new theoretical framework that she developed as a part of her participatory action research dissertation. Megan has established herself as a visionary, strategic, and effective leader through her service on the boards of the National Association for the Education for Young Children and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She is excited about her new role as the Board Chair of Trans formative Schools. With Jessica Ralli, she co-authored First Conversations–an award-winning series of books for young children and their grown-ups on the topics of race, gender, consent, love, bodies, grief, justice, and disability. Despite attempts to ban these essential conversations, they’ve sold more than 220,000 copies to date.  

Megan Madison: Candidate Statement 1
Megan Madison: Candidate Statement 2

Briefly describe your relevant experience in governance and your understanding of fiduciary duties and fiscal responsibilities. How have you applied these principles in previous positions or organizations, and how do you plan to contribute to the effectiveness and financial stewardship of our Board? 

I believe that one of the most important roles that early childhood educators play in our society is the work we do to develop our country’s youngest citizens. We create classroom communities where children develop some of their first social relationships outside their families and learn to exercise their power as both individuals and as a member of a group. These experiences can shape children’s sense of collective responsibility for a lifetime. And when we do this well, we co-create democracy at the classroom level, developing policies, culture, and systems where young children have a real say in the decisions that most impact their daily life.  

As is true for most developmental competencies, educators are more adept in supporting children’s development as democratic citizens when we are also engaged in our own adult development in this area. That’s why it's so important to become a member of our professional association and use your voice to weigh in on the decisions that shape our field. This is how we learn to practice true multiracial democracy–something that the United States has yet to achieve.   

My first experience with governance was in college. As an undergraduate, I was elected to student government. About a decade later, I was elected to the NAEYC governing board. From there, I went on to serve on the governing boards of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), the Jewish Organizing Institute & Network, and Trans formative Schools. Along the way, I’ve completed several training programs in nonprofit governance and volunteer leadership.  

Having served on the NAEYC governing board in the recent past, I am quite familiar with the association’s finances and what it takes to balance our budget. But my experience on the JFREJ board deepened my understanding of financial stewardship for membership-based and advocacy organizations. Ultimately, I believe that budgets are moral documents that reflect the real priorities of an organization. So as the board chair, I made it a priority to double our membership, ensuring that as the organization grew, our finances were not only transparent, but accountable to our base. I learned so much through navigating unexpected challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and also intentional challenges like launching a C4, expanding our fiscal sponsorship portfolio, and deciding to pay an annual Land Tax to the local indigenous community. It would be an honor to bring these principles and experiences into board service at NAEYC again.