Strengthening Rural Child Care in New Hampshire: Evergreen Start Names First Executive Director
Strengthening Rural Child Care in New Hampshire: Evergreen Start Names First Executive Director
Child care is more than a family issue. Across New Hampshire, it is infrastructure that allows people to work, businesses to grow and rural communities to thrive.
Evergreen Start is taking a big step forward with the appointment of Airole Warden as the organization’s first Executive Director.
Warden brings more than a decade of experience in early childhood education, rural community development and child care systems. Her appointment comes as Evergreen Start expands its approach to one of New Hampshire’s real challenges: Making quality child care available to families while making it sustainable for the people and organizations providing it.
Leadership Grounded in Child Care Experience
Airole started her career in the classroom before moving into leadership roles focused on early childhood systems, public policy and sustainable solutions for child care providers and families.
Most recently, she has helped lead the formation of Evergreen Start while coordinating the Coös County Directors Network and consulting with the Childcare Network Collaborative. Her work has included financing new child care projects, developing public-private partnerships and helping providers strengthen operations and long-term financial stability.
“I’ve always believed that strong child care systems are built through collaboration,” Airole said. “Providers, families, employers, communities, philanthropy and government all have a role to play. Evergreen Start exists to strengthen the systems that allow child care providers to thrive, so families have reliable care, businesses have a dependable workforce and communities can grow.”
Why Rural Child Care Needs a Different Approach
Much of the conversation about New Hampshire’s child care shortage has focused on creating more spaces for children. Capacity matters, but adding classrooms alone doesn’t solve the problem.
Child care providers also have businesses to run. They must recruit and retain employees, manage finances, meet regulatory requirements, maintain facilities and keep tuition within reach of working families.
For small and rural providers, those responsibilities can be especially difficult. A center may not have the resources for dedicated financial, human resources or administrative staff.
Evergreen Start was created around a straightforward idea: if child care is essential community infrastructure, we need to invest in the infrastructure behind child care.
Rather than operating child care centers directly, Evergreen Start works alongside providers through shared services that can include operational support, financial management, compliance assistance, workforce coordination and strategic planning.
This helps providers build stronger organizations while allowing directors and educators to spend more time serving children and families.
Child Care Is Workforce Infrastructure
Child care also plays an important role in our rural New Hampshire economy. When families cannot find dependable care, parents may reduce their hours, turn down jobs or leave the workforce. Employers face their own challenges recruiting and retaining workers.
Those problems can be greater in rural communities where both the workforce and the number of child care providers are smaller.
A sustainable child care center supports more than the families who use it. It helps local employers and makes it easier for communities to attract and retain working families.
That is why Evergreen Start works with child care providers, businesses, communities and foundations.
Building the Systems Behind Child Care
Airole’s appointment marks the next stage of Evergreen Start’s development. As Executive Director, she will lead strategic growth, fundraising, partnerships and community engagement while expanding the organization’s shared-services work in northern New Hampshire.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Airole as Evergreen Start’s first Executive Director,” said Amy Graham, Chair of the Evergreen Start Board of Directors. “She brings the combination of firsthand child care experience, systems thinking and collaborative leadership that this work requires.”
“Airole understands that strengthening child care means strengthening the infrastructure behind it,” Graham added. “She has already helped shape Evergreen Start’s vision, and we are confident she will build the partnerships needed to help providers, families, businesses and communities succeed together.”
A New Model for Rural New Hampshire
There is no single solution to New Hampshire’s child care challenges. Opening new centers without addressing workforce and financial sustainability will not be enough. Neither will asking already stretched directors to take on more administrative responsibilities.
Evergreen Start is working on an important part of the solution: helping child care providers build stronger, more sustainable businesses.
“As communities across New Hampshire continue to struggle with child care shortages, we have an opportunity to think differently,” Airole said. “When we strengthen the systems behind child care, we strengthen local businesses, working families and entire communities.”
With its first Executive Director in place, Evergreen Start is ready to build on its approach and strengthen rural child care for the long term.
