Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

There are many international organizations that support early childhood around the world.  The first one I found is the World Organization for Early Childhood Education.  This organization has committees in over 60 countries including one here in the USA.  Membership includes a variety of people from a wide array of professions such as teachers, doctors, lawyers, students, parents, and many more.  These people work at the local, national, and international level to advocate for the world’s children and families in regards to health, development, rights, and education (World Organization for Early Childhood Education, n.d.).  They also join to celebrate UN International Peace Day, Global Handwashing Day, and Universal Children’s Day.   They have sent supplies to other countries and worked closer to home in New Orleans.  This appears to be a great organization that supports early childhood education.  As I searched this site, I was unable to locate any career opportunities, but there was information on becoming a member.  More information can be found at:  http://www.omep-usnc.org/

The second organization I looked at is ICF International.  This organization is not just about early childhood education, but they “partners with government and commercial clients to deliver professional services and technology solutions in the energy, environment, and infrastructure; health, social programs, and consumer/financial; and public safety and defense markets” (ICF International, 2013).  They work to find and implement solutions and services that will protect and improve the quality of life (ICFI, 2013).  They strive for passion, expertise, and results.  There work in early childhood is in part implementing new standards for providers.  Their Early Education Services (EES) launched a project in India in 2007 to tackle many issues there.  They need national standards for early childhood education, licensing and accreditation system, resource and referral system, and professional development systems in place.  This organization had quite a listing of jobs and career opportunities.  There were many with Head Start, including an administrative support specialist.  This job is out of Atlanta, GA and I have the preferred skills of a bachelor degree and experience working within a Head Start program.  I do not have the experience of providing office and administrative support in a fast-paced environment and I have not charted or graphed outcome data.  These are all things I could learn and get accustomed to and familiar with though.  The thought of relocating would be scary to me!  More information can be found at:  http://www.icfi.com/.

The third organization is Mercy Corps.  This organization is based out of Portland, Oregon.  They work to “alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities” (Mercy Corps, 2013).  They put out their accountability to stake holders which has many similarities to our code of ethics.  They promise to act ethically, be respectful of others, are open about what they do, allow stakeholders to be a part of the process, promise to use feedback to improve services (Mercy Corps, 2013).  They work here in the United States and many other countries around the world.  This organization had a lot of career opportunities here in the United States and in other countries.  Unfortunately, I did not find one that I would like to apply for or one that I was familiar with and would not need new skills and knowledge for.  I would like to learn more about their volunteer opportunities.  More information can be found at http://www.mercycorps.org