Child Development Council gets new CEO

Late last month, Melissa Perry began her role as the new CEO of the Child Development Council (CDC), succeeding Sue Dale-Hall, who officially retired at the end of August. Perry brings years of experience in child care work — both with and outside of the CDC — and said she’s looking forward to leading the organization.

Perry first came to Tompkins County to attend Ithaca College, pursuing a degree in speech, language pathology and audiology. Her history with the CDC started around the same time, as she had her young son to take care of while she went to school.

“When I was moving here, I needed child care in order to make that move happen,” Perry said. “So, they were one of the first people that I called to make sure I could secure child care to put this whole plan of continuing my education into place. … I found an amazing provider that left me feeling really comfortable and confident in knowing that my child was well cared for during that time so I could be pursuing my education.”

After college, Perry opened her own private practice for child care. Later, she worked for a variety of human services organizations, all focused on the well-being of children and families. And in 2017, she started working at the CDC as its family services director. She said that what drew her to working for the CDC most was her experience as a teen parent.

“We have a teen pregnancy parenting program that I feel a kinship to because I relied on those supports when I was a young teen parent myself, and being able to see those programs thrive and make sure that we can still provide those really high-quality services to our young parents and all-age parents in the community is really important to me,” she said.

In the four years she’s been with the council so far, Perry has seen and helped the organization grow significantly, including its expansion into Cortland County, training staff as certified lactation counselors, the creation of Team Dad — a program focused on fathers and father figures — and more.

Perry said that throughout her tenure, the biggest challenge has always been funding.

“We have a very fiscally sound organization, but it’s always looking for those extra funds to support what we sometimes call supplemental services, so supporting families who maybe need a car seat to bring their baby home from the hospital or emergency scholarships for families who maybe can’t pay for child care,” she said. “It’s not the core focus of what we do, but those are things that we see as very beneficial to families and providers and children in the community.”

This year, when Dale-Hall announced her retirement, Perry saw an opportunity to be able to lead an organization that has meant so much to her for many years.

“When this position became available, I knew that that was my goal; I wanted to lead this organization in one way or another,” Perry said. “And when Sue announced her retirement, first, I burst into tears, because I was so sad. But then, this was my opportunity. This was my chance to take the next step towards my goals.”

Perry applied for the position back in June, when the CDC launched its nationwide search for a new CEO. Brenda Pepe, member of the CDC Board of Directors and co-chair of the Transition Committee, said the search was extensive, so narrowing it down between the many candidates was a long process, the last step being a presentation candidates gave on their overall vision for the role.

The decision to hire Perry was unanimous among Transition Committee members, and Pepe said she’s glad that Perry was eventually chosen as the next CEO.

“Melissa has proven that she has been able to establish and maintain and nurture our relationships across our communities,” Pepe said. “She has been able to work on numerous grants at the Development Council and shown her ability to have those grants awarded, which are sustainable for our organization. She has done a tremendous amount of work in her director role already with her team and how she’s reaching out to the people we serve, our stakeholders, our parents and families that we serve.”

Pepe added that Perry has also grown significantly in her time with the CDC, helping the organization to take new approaches to its role in the community.

“Next year, we will be redoing our strategic plan because it comes to an end,” Pepe said. “So, that was a great way to see different methodology that Melissa presented that we may adopt for that strategic plan, and also in fundraising, and how she can bring some new fundraising energy to our organization.”

While Perry is also grateful for the opportunity, she recognizes that Dale-Hall left some big shoes to fill.

“A lot of people go to her for her expertise that she’s developed over this time, and rightly so,” Perry said. “She’s an incredible person, and I’ve been so fortunate to be mentored by her and to learn from her during this time. So, she’s really instilled a lot of knowledge in me and a lot of confidence in me, and I’m very much ready to take this next step and honor the work that she has done and that others have done before her and also make it my own.”

Now that the decision has been made, the next step is helping to further grow the organization, which includes continuing to grapple with the effects of COVID-19.

As Tompkins Weekly has covered in past articles, the pandemic has greatly amplified the already-existing child care shortage in the county, and the CDC has worked diligently to meet that need (see t.ly/tJnE and t.ly/lAay for more information).

While the summer brought some relief for the organization, there is some returning anxiety due to the Delta variant. But Perry and Pepe both said that CDC staff are dedicated to adapting to whatever challenge gets thrown their way.

“The staff has been really incredible in their flexibility to respond to the needs of families and providers,” Perry said. “I think that really speaks to the ability of and the passion of our staff as well that they’re really willing to do whatever they possibly can to support our families and our providers during difficult times and other times, as well.”

The next few months will also include the search for Perry’s replacement as family services director, Pepe said. And as previously mentioned, the organization will be putting a lot of focus around creating a new strategic plan.

As far as Perry’s goals, she’d like to increase in-person work for her staff, which are still largely working under a remote or hybrid model right now, as well as eventually create what she describes as a “childhood hub,” which would bring together multiple organizations in a one-stop shop for families looking for a wide range of support.

From there, Perry said she plans to talk with community members about what they’d like to see out of the CDC and how best they can serve the community’s needs.

For more information about the Child Development Council, visit its website at childdevelopmentcouncil.org.