Sondra Ranum is the Director of ECE Workforce Policy at the Colorado Department of Higher Education. In this role, she is responsible for working closely with the Department of Early Childhood, the Governor’s Office, Institutions of Higher Education, and other relevant state agencies to provide dedicated expertise and effort to lead ECE workforce policy activities specific to postsecondary pathways and attainment.
With nearly 30 years of experience in early childhood, Sondra began her career as a toddler teacher and has additional experience as a preschool teacher, coach, trainer, and adjunct faculty in both 2-year and 4-year institutions of higher education. Sondra spent nearly 10 years on systems level work at the Colorado Department of Education as the Assistant Program Director for the Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care Initiative, the Early Childhood Training & Credential Manager, and the Director of Early Childhood Professional Development System. She was also a 2016 Fellow in the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) Leadership Academy. Prior to joining CDHE, Sondra was the Managing Director of Early Childhood Systems Leadership at Teach For America Colorado (TFA CO) where she launched TFA CO’s early childhood initiative focused on innovative approaches to recruit and prepare TFA corps members to serve in community-based early childhood programs. Sondra is also a Doctoral Candidate in the Leadership for Educational Equity doctoral program at CU Denver where her doctoral study is focused on exploring teacher leadership in a community-based early childhood program.