Our Founder

Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do. - Brene Brown

Shela has worked in the early childhood profession for most of her 25-year career.  Originally from Ohio, when she was 18, she moved to South Florida. While attending college, she found a job as a teacher's aide at Oral Baudhuin Preschool. The preschool is for autistic children.  She worked full-time at the preschool while pursuing her undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts.  She was anticipating a career in Legal Studies and continued her education, pursuing her Master's in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a focus on systems analysis, conflict resolution & consulting.

After achieving her Master’s degree, Shela was interested in helping make a difference and took a position with a non-profit in South Florida. The nonprofit taught young women to advocate for themselves through character development classes.  She managed a grant as the Lead Program Coordinator.  Shela and her team taught classes at over 20 middle and high schools in Miami-Dade County, Bringing the curriculum to hundreds of young women in South Florida. During this time, She also worked with the Miami-Dade County Restorative Justice Program teaching adult classes for the District Attorney's office.

In her personal life, Shela married her husband, Reza, and had her first child, Farah.  This was a busy time in her life then.  Shela and her family moved to Montgomery, Alabama, for her husband's career. Shela was hired as the Executive Director of the Nellie Burge Community Center, an United Way agency. This was her dream job; the non-profit had a family literacy program( that she created), a GED program for teen mothers, a USDA home nutrition program, a full-day preschool for low-income families, and an after-school program for at-risk youth. 

This was the turning point in her career when she knew her passion was non-profit work, specifically in early childhood. In the short time there, Shela and her team were able to obtain funding to start several teachers on the path to high education (similar to the TEACH program); they introduced a research-based curriculum in the preschool, received grants to get new transportation for the after-school children and started a family literacy program, with collaboration with HIPPY USA. 

Once again, her husband's career moved her family, this time to Texas  However, her son, Farid, was born two months before this.  There is a saying, "if you marry a Texan, you end up in Texas."  Shela’s husband of 20 years, Reza, was raised in South Dallas.  She married a Texas!  Shela and her family settled in Plano, Texas. Shela and her family still live there, where her two beautiful children, Farah and Farid, attend High School.  

In Texas, Shela transitioned leadership roles in her non-profit career and took a Human Resource Director position for ChildCareGroup, one of the oldest nonprofits in Dallas. She has been introduced to Head Start & Early Head Start best practices and the love for high-quality early childcare. She has been educated on Relationship Centered Childcare, a concept founded by CCG focused on building relationships and setting up the environment of the centers to help children feel at home and comfortable. As the HR director, she introduced several innovative HR strategies, including a Standardized Salary Scale for all employees, a team member mediation program, a monthly Manager Brown bag training series, and full-day professional development conferences. Shela worked with all six childhood centers & main office to provide on-site training. She assisted the director in maintaining NAEYC standards for professionalism and staying in compliance with all federal, state & licensing requirements.

In 2007, with the economic conditions, Shela took her first for-profit, corporate job.  As a Human Resource Executive for Target, she learned best practices in HR management. Shela worked with nine super-target stores and solved team member relations issues for all managers and employees. 

In 2010, she was not fulfilled in corporate America. So, she returned to her passion and took a Director position for the First United Methodist Weekday Program in Plano. While there, she was able to help the school go through NAEYC accredited two times, become a Texas Rising Star certified (4 stars), implement Conscious Discipline 3-year plan, and help the program gain financial security and be legally compliant with HR practices. Learning about Conscious Discipline and Social-Emotional Learning has motivated her to share this knowledge with all early childhood professionals.

Shela’s knowledge about early childhood development, program assessments, coaching/mentoring, and nonprofit leadership has grown over the years through her various roles. However, she is constantly evolving and developing through her passion for learning. She is always looking for the newest research on these topics to stay current in the field. She is working on her Ph. D in Early Childhood Education Leadership and Advocacy.      

In 2016, Shela left her Director position to work part-time to be able to be with the children through their teenage years. However, Shela again felt that her passion for serving others and early childhood was not fulfilled. In 2017, with her family's support, she decided to form a nonprofit, Be the Seed of Change (BSC). 

The mission of BSC is to fill the gap for early childhood education programs that want to increase quality through program needs assessments, professional development, and mentoring/coaching, and other projects as needed. The vision is to improve quality in the early childcare education profession, one child, one teacher, and one school at a time. Be the Seed of Change works to obtain private and public funding to help early childhood education programs that want to increase the quality of our children to create a better future for the next generation. Be the Seed of Change is slowly growing, and plans to branch out to help more programs with more funding and to hire additional staff. However, volunteers are always welcome and needed for various projects.  

Qualifications & Abilities:

Founder of Nonprofit dedicated to helping increase quality in all early childhood programs by providing professional development, program assessments, coaching/mentoring, advocacy, and resources. She is known for her passion for the early childhood profession and collaborates with a variety of teams at all levels. She has over 20 years of professional experience focused on leadership, multi-center management, all areas of workshop design across industries. Experience in high-quality results by using practical and theoretical approaches to conflict resolution, early childhood development, and human resource management best practices, including the child-focused learning environment, organizational effectiveness, employee relations, staffing/recruiting, benefits management, social/emotional development, performance management, employment practices, Texas Rising Star tools, NAEYE tools, and staff coaching strategies. 

Professional Work Experience:

Be the Seed of Change, Nonprofit, Plano, TX 2016-present

Founder & Trainer- Texas Training Registry since 2015. Able to design and present various training on human resources management, brain states, social-emotional regulation, Conflict resolution strategies, developmentally appropriate curriculum, and practices, new hire orientation, annual service training to meet Minimum Standards requirement, creating safe environments, increasing quality. (see attached list)

· Work with Directors to create needs assessments of programs and set timelines to implements changes to increase quality. 

· Utilizing NAEYC and Texas Rising Star tools to help directors and teachers increase quality. 

Certifications:

Childcare Health Consultant, 2020- Present

Infant Toddler Specialist, 2021- Present

First United Methodist Church Plano, Plano, TX 2010-2016

Director, Weekday Program- Provide leadership for Nationally Accredited preschool (NAEYC) program. Serving infants thru 7th graders at a child development center through Supervision of staff. Works closely with church staff in collaboration of services.

·4 star Texas Rising Start Provider

· Implemented Conscious Discipline Curriculum through a 3-year strategic plan

·Designed and facilitated monthly professional development training to ensure all pre-service and annual training for staff of over 40 met annually and new hire training. 

· Implemented 5-year program strategic plan to provide financial security to program, align Human Resource practices with current laws and best practices, and collaborate with Board of Directors on oversight. 

· PTSA- representative and helped facilitate collaborations with Parents and school- raised 30k for a new playground; 50k for new buses and started savings for schools future needs 

· Supervised 40 teachers, admin staff, drivers, and volunteers 

Target Corporation, McKinney, TX   2007-2010    

Executive, Human Resource Manager (HR-Executive Team Leader) -Oversee 65 million dollar Super Target daily human resource functions. Provide daily leadership to the executive team by aligning corporate goals with human resource goals. Led employee relations in multi-store setting (13 General and Super Target Stores) by providing training, termination review, and technical support- over 2500 employees 

· Supported opening of three super Targets through staffing, on-boarding to training, and retention. 

· Decreased turnover by 50% in one year

· Nominated great team hero several times and received region and district recognition for leading human resource managers. 

· Led Region in highest Human Resource metrics for Scheduling, attendance, overtime, and employee relations collaboration. 

• Investigated all EEO/AA complaints in conjunction with department leads.
• Supervised staff of 5

Solis Women’s Health/Office, Plano, TX   2006-2007  

HR Consultant/Operations 

· Oversaw/plan/executed administration of Annual Benefit enrollment for 5 multi-city centers

· Assisted in project management in opening multiple centers

· Worked with VP of operations on multiple projects  

ChildCareGroup, Dallas, TX 2004-2006

Human Resource Director      

• Developed procedure for entire Human Resource department to align with organizational strategic vision using knowledge in social systems and human systems consulting. 
• Assisted Center Directors in the NAEYC accreditation process
• Visited multi centers to connect teachers with corporate offices 
• Group administrator of benefits (health, retirement, leave, payroll, workers comp, tuition) 
• Designed and executed employee mediation process for employee relations issues.
• Supervised staff of 3  

Nellie Burge Center, Montgomery, AL   2003-2004

Executive Director 

• Directed Early Childhood Center for 200 children and staff of 30 teachers, cook and bus drivers  
• Analysis and Reorganized entire organization structure based on needs assessment, interviews, and organization missions based on the philosophy of the United Methodist Church. 
• Developed/Conducted training for staff on employee policies and procedures and employee orientation
• Directed financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, treasury, budgeting, and administrative functions. Wrote Employee handbook and aligned center with state legal requirements 
• Managed  USDA Food and Nutrition Program for County providers and Center 
• Increased support/revenue for non-profit by 30 percent in less than a year 

ReCapturing the Vision, Miami, FL 2001-2002

Supervisor 

• Wrote work plans for state and federal grants funded  through the Florida Department of Heath
• Managed staff of 5 coordinators
• Program founded to break generational cycles of at-risk behaviors among youth. RTV's three-tiered approach to prevention and teen empowerment impacts youth at School, at Home, and in the community to instill the core values that will empower them to make healthy choices. 
• Wrote curriculum for teens on Conflict Resolution Skills 

Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 1997-2001 

Teacher & Administrative Assistant

· Teacher of Autistic pre-school age children with multi-layer disorders- Oral Baudhuin School

· Worked with Families on implementing PECS and other new interventions  

· Administrative Assistant- Center for Retired Professionals 

· Organized all speakers and trips and payments 

CERTIFICATIONS/TRAINING ATTENDED: 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Conscious Discipline Summer Institute, 7/14

Texas Training Registry, Master Trainer 2015-current

Texas Director Certification 5/10, 5/12, 5/14, 5/16

Mediator, 09/01

Qualified Arbitrator, 04/01

Childcare Director Certification 12/03

Certified Trainer, 03/01

Fundraising Training, 02/04

SPHR 3 Day workshop, 04/06 

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP /PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS/ AWARDS: 

• President, Treasurer, CCCaeyc, 2017- current
• Collin County Early Childhood Coalition, Member, 2018-current 
• Help Me Grow North Texas, Committee Member, 2020-current
• President, VP Membership, Secretary, Young Men's Service League, Plano Chapter, current
• Member, NAEYC 2003-2006, 2010-current
• Community Outreach, Plano West PTSA, 2018 
• VP of Programs Plano West wrestling boosters, 2018
• Plano ISD, PTSA, Community Membership 2017-2018
• Shepton HS PTSA, Cultural Diversity 2017-2018
• Shepton Stallion Club, V.P. Programs 2017-2019
• Frankford Middle PTA, V.P. Programs 2017-2019
  • Fabulous Falcon Chair
  • Cultural Diversity Chair
  • 7th-grade social Chair
  • 8th-grade celebration Chair 
• Director of Year, Collin County Association of Young Children, 2015
• Frankford Middle PTA, V.P. Membership 2014-2016
• Hightower Elementary PTA, Room Representative and Workroom 2006-2014 
• Hightower PTA, Diversity Chair 2009-2014
• Hightower PTA, Yearbook Chair 2012
• McKinney ISD Strategic Planning Committee Member 2009-2010 Destination Imagination Coach 20o9-2014 

EDUCATION: 

Masters of Science, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

Bachelor of Science, Legal Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl