Tamara Johnson

Tamara’s primary and full-time job is serving as the Executive Director of Malaika Early Learning Center. As the executive director she has the pleasure of leading a state-of-the-art facility that focuses on children birth through age eight in its early childhood and elementary school programs.

She has held director positions at Milwaukee Public Schools (District Parent Involvement) and COA Youth and Family Centers (HIPPY/HIP). She has an Associate Degree in Child Development, Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services and has a Master’s in Early Childhood Administration. Additionally, she has earned certifications such as a Certificate in Early Childhood Leadership and many others.

Tamara has held positions on the Board of Directors of the Black Child Development Institute (BCDI)-Milwaukee Affiliate, Metropolitan Milwaukee Alliance of Black School Educators (MMABSE), Parents Plus Inc. and many other organizations. More recently, Tamara was named to the governing board for NAEYC for a 4 year term beginning in June 2017.

Previous accomplishments include but are not limited to; 2005 fellow of the Children’s Defense Fund Emerging Leaders Project, 2005 participant of the National Women’s Law Center PLAN (Progressive Leadership and Advocacy Network) and 2007 participant in the White House Project. Additionally, she is a contributing author to the article “Leadership Development for a Changing Early Childhood Landscape” in the NAEYC Young Children magazine in May 2015. Tamara is also the 2020 recipient of the Milwaukee Times Black Excellence Award.

Additional experiences include participation in the Marquette University College of Professional Studies, Future Milwaukee Program and the Early Childhood Leadership Credential at UW-Milwaukee, and being selected as a 2013-14 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Legacy Leader Fellow.

Delechia Johnson

Delechia Johnson has been in the field of Early Childhood for 25 years. She worked in birth to three as a volunteer, assistant teacher, lead teacher, director and educational coordinator. Before taking a position with the Next Door Foundation as an instructional coach, she was a master instructor at 4C for Children for 16 years, which allowed her to work with those who work directly with children and their families to improve as professionals. Delechia is also a part of the “Master Cadre” for Wisconsin’s Pyramid Model Initiative and a lead trainer for the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards and a host of other trainings and workshops that promote the development of quality practices. She holds an MS in early childhood development from the Erikson Institute.

Dr. Tanya Johnson

Dr. Tanya Johnson has been in the field of early childhood for 30 years in a variety of early childhood programs teaching, leading and advocating for young children.

She began her career as a Head Start teacher where she learned to understand the importance of providing high quality and equitable programming. Additionally, Dr. Johnson has held positions as a K4 teacher (regular and special education), kindergarten teacher, special education resource teacher (SERT), curriculum generalist, child care director of an NAEYC-accredited program, Head Start center director, charter school principal, school director for Educare Milwaukee and early childhood manager and training consultant. Currently Dr. Johnson is a professional development and training specialist for Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) focusing on the 53206 Early Childhood Initiative, early childhood adjunct instructor with Concordia University and one of the cofounders of J3 Solutions LLC (consulting).

Dr. Johnson is a lifelong learner, as she has a bachelor’s in early childhood, a master’s in curriculum and instruction, a master’s in education leadership, a certificate in special education, and a doctorate in educational leadership. She’s currently working on the Infant Specialist Certificate at Erikson Institute.

Dr. Johnon’s professional goal is to provide educational leadership and training to early care and educational professionals to ensure all students receive intentional, developmentally appropriate and equitable programming.