Maria Rao recently joined the Preschool Promise team as the Education Project Manager. Maria, a 2006 graduate of the University of Dayton with a degree in Political Science, brings over 20 years of experience in program and project management, both in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Maria comes from a family of educators, and as a mother of third-grade and Kindergarten-aged daughters, she knows firsthand how important a high-quality foundation is for future academic success.
Currently, Maria is focusing on building out the pipeline of early childhood educators by cultivating relationships with teacher academies and continuing the high school summer internship program. The internship program gives students work experience as teacher’s aides during their junior year, and as seniors, they are employed by Preschool Promise providers. Maria’s goal is for 15 students to participate with placement in several partner sites. We look forward to watching the program grow under Maria’s tutelage.