Barbie has worked in the Early Childhood Education field for over 30 years, she started out as a 3-year-old teacher and eventually became a Center Director. For the last 15 years, Barbie has worked for AECEA overseeing Vendor and Membership development, managing professional development training contracts, providing grass roots advocacy trainings, Early Childhood Conferences, several advisory committees and co-chairing Early Childhood Day at the Capitol for the ECE community. In 2021, Barbie became the Executive Director of AECEA.
AECEA works closely with State Agencies, the Legislature, the Governor’s office, U.S. Congress and other Early Childhood stakeholders regarding policies and practices concerning ECE. Her passion continues to be for Arizona families to have access to high quality early childhood programs and creatively strengthen workforce development for early educators and those desiring to enter the early childhood field.