Cecilia Zalkind rose from a child welfare caseworker to shaping state policy on education, anti-poverty programs and child protection
, and the thousands of parents who can afford to work because state leaders agreed to expand a subsidized child care program.
Zalkind knows how to apply pressure by using data and people’s testimonials and delivering her message with a quiet earnestness — minus the snark and hyperbole that too often clutters political discourse, said Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, who chairs the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.
Zalkind, a 75-year-old grandmother from Montclair, said she’s been described as “tenacious,” which she interprets as “a polite way of saying ‘a persistent pain in the ass.’” She also believes that it’s her optimism and patience in the face of government’s grindingly slow pace that are key to her success.
Sure, there have been times when she wanted to shake lawmakers and educators who didn’t get how important preschool is to setting up children for success throughout their lives, especially children of color. Some at the time called preschool mere “baby-sitting.” She recalled one legislator 15 years ago who thanked Zalkind and her ACNJ colleagues for “doing God’s work,” but there was just no way the state could afford preschool.on how preschool leads to academic success.
Cecilia Zalkind, left, and Mary Coogan, seen in this 2017 file photo taken at a political forum they hosted, are the president and vice president of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a prominent family advocacy nonprofit organization. Coogan will take over when Zalkind retires at the end of 2022.from her own parents’ difficult childhoods.
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