NAEYC’s Centennial

By Michelle Kang, Chief Executive Officer of NAEYC

Learning, Sharing, Connecting, and Celebrating

Paulette was just beginning her early childhood education career when I dropped my infant son off at a program in Rockville, Maryland, 18 1/2 years ago. When I returned to the program recently, now in my role as NAEYC’s CEO, I was thrilled to see Paulette was still there—still bubbly, energetic, amazing. When she saw me, she cried; when I showed her pictures of my son today, she gushed: “He’s so big! He’s a man now!”

In that moment, I reflected once again on the important role Paulette and her colleagues played in my son’s early care and development and how early childhood education programs everywhere serve as the launch pads that start our children on their journeys to lifelong learning. Like Paulette, you change lives every day, not only for children but also for families like mine. We have learned so much from you, and I am so appreciative that you have committed yourselves to lifelong learning as well.

So as NAEYC marks its 100th year, I hope you will join the celebration by continuing to access the latest learning opportunities through your NAEYC membership portal. Read about the latest research and practice in our peer-reviewed journal, Young Children (which focuses on 100 years of NAEYC’s impact in its Spring issue), and in this membership magazine, Educating Young Children. Explore our books and professional development opportunities, engage with your peers in our online community, HELLO, and tune in to our new podcast, Small Talk: Big Ideas About Little Learners.

I also invite you to join our “Year of Reflections” storytelling initiative to share your memories, challenges, successes, hopes, and advice. As we continue to build a strong community of practice, we are showcasing some of these reflections in this edition of EYC and on NAEYC’s website and social media channels.

I hope you will connect with peers close to home through your local Affiliate and continue to build the strong bonds that have been forged over decades in communities across the country, which bring enormous value to our organization as a whole. Ask your Affiliate how you can help as they host centennial coffee chats and virtual community conversations this year. Show up with your ideas and your energy to support each other and build your community.

This year, more than ever, I hope you will get involved as an advocate for the profession. Subscribe to our Advocacy in Action newsletter, and follow NAEYC on social media to keep up with the latest issues. Take action to inform policymakers on the needs of children and families and your needs as educators.

This is also a year of fun, so I invite you to dance to our centennial playlists, celebrate Week of the Young Child^®, and join us for NAEYC’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC, in December.

And as always, I ask you to continue centering children. It’s what you do every day, for every child, that has mattered most over the past 100 years and that will make all the difference in the next 100.

In gratitude,

Michelle

Copyright © 2026 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC.org/resources/permissions.