Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/journeys-in-leadership-saying-yes-to-love/5025236/
Recently I had a delightful conversation with Holly Elissa Bruno who throughout her long and varied leadership journey has served as an associate professor, an assistant attorney general, a public television commentator, a dean of faculty, and a well-loved speaker and author of books for early childhood educators.
“So,” I asked her, “what brought you to want to spend the majority of your career with early childhood educators?”
Holly Elissa did not miss a beat. “I am in ECE,” she said, “because I kept saying ‘yes’ to love. That is different than saying ‘yes’ to success, achievement or status. I feel I am meant to support people who are actively creating sanctuaries of acceptance that support children’s genius. I want to honor the sacredness of what they are doing as early educators, and especially help them know they are not alone.”
Holly Elissa told me the story of how she started as a high school English teacher in an inner city school in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was given a “challenging” class. Her supervisor told her, in all seriousness, “Just read to them, because they cannot really learn.” Holly Elissa asked if it would be all right if she tried doing projects with her ...