Strategy and innovation for an equitable early childhood field
Hi, I’m Chelsea.
I’m an independent consultant helping early childhood leaders make sense of complex systems. I help teams build practical solutions that make life better for child care providers and families.
Let’s work together
I support mission-driven organizations across early childhood and the care economy - including nonprofits, for profits, philanthropy, and the public sector.
Expertise
Topics I know well
Services
How I can help
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Strategies to move toward fair pay for caregivers and educators
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Technology approaches that solve real problems for child care providers, families, public agencies, and mission-driven organizations.
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Helping early childhood systems work better for children, families, and providers. Experience across CCDF, QRIS, pre-k, tax credits, and PDG
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The financial and operational realities of running child care programs - and the funding, tools, and practices that can make those businesses more sustainable.
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Programs and policies that support and celebrate family child care providers and family, friend, and neighbor caregivers.
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I help teams make sense of messy questions, understand tradeoffs and clarify priorities - always accounting for the complex realities of the ECE field
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I conduct landscape scans, market research, policy analysis, stakeholder interviews, and synthesis to help teams see patterns.
I take a human centered approach, starting with the perspectives of those most impacted - providers, families and frontline staff.
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I help design and improve programs, products, and tools to meet field needs and deepen impact - with a focus on what providers, families, staff, and partners will actually experience and use.
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I help teams take action through roadmaps, project plans, prioritization frameworks, and product or project management support.
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I support replication, scaling, and go-to-market strategy for organizations working to expand high impact work.
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I create pitch materials, write grants, develop reports and explainers, and help teams communicate with the ECE field.
Clients
Recent Projects
Program replication toolkit
Supported replication of Home Grown’s Thriving Providers Project - a first-of-its kind direct cash transfer program for home-based child care providers. Updated internal replication toolkit for a public audience and incorporated lessons learned from 9 pilot sites.
(Toolkit & blog post coming soon)
Policy-to-practice playbook
Helped FamTech.org’s policy committee improve adoption of 45s and 45f tax credits for child care and paid family leave. Created playbooks to help companies and their partners understand eligibility and take action.
Additional projects
Financial analysis tool refresh - helped First Children’s Finance improve its signature financial analysis tool for child care businesses, building a roadmap for product management and integration of AI
Go-to-market tests - helped Shine Early Learning develop a proactive outbound strategy for state systems partnerships through lean testing, market research, and executive workshops
Prospecting toolkit - created plug-and-play toolkit to help business development representatives at Shine Early Learning build relationships with state systems leaders
50-state policy tracker - helped Lillio track key state level policies and programs regarding child care technology to drive company strategy
State prioritization framework - helped Lillio identify high priority markets based on comprehensive policy and market data
How I work:
I’m at my best when the work is important, messy, and hard to staff internally. I bring structure to complexity by listening closely, synthesizing quickly, and building tools to support action.
My approach is rooted in listening to the people most impacted - providers, families and frontline staff.
I like projects with enough structure to stay focused and enough flexibility to learn as we go. My goal is to leave teams with work they can keep using long after the project ends.
About me
I’ve spent my career working at the intersection of early childhood, civic technology, and innovation. Across roles, I’ve been drawn to the same kinds of questions: How do we make systems work for real people? How do we get more resources to caregivers? How do we turn good ideas into effective programs and services?
Career highlights include:
I co-founded and led Pie for Providers, a technology nonprofit that increased child care providers’ subsidy revenue by 30% by simplifying complex compliance rules.
When Pie for Providers was acquired by Lillio, I became Lillio’s first policy leader, launching its first state partnership.
At Promise Venture Studio, a field-building nonprofit, I helped launch new program areas by building partnerships with social entrepreneurs, funders, and public systems leaders.
When I’m not nerding out on early childhood policy, I’m in Chicago or nearby nature with my husband and two young children—ideally with a bike, a book, or a local IPA.
See an opportunity to collaborate? Let’s talk!
Email
csprayregen@gmail.com
LinkedIn