Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has created a promising new Office of Early Childhood, and this office has a new leader, Kristin McSwain.

The office will “advance the administration’s commitment to universal, affordable, high-quality early education and care for all children under five,” by:

• expanding access to early education and childcare programs

• investing in Boston’s early education and care workforce

• accelerating “the creation of a universal pre-K system that stretches across Boston Public Schools (BPS), community-based organizations, and family-based childcare programs”

• expanding high-quality, affordable options for infants and toddlers, and

• serving as “a central point-of-entry for residents looking for information on early education and childcare programming and wraparound services for young children and their families”

Mayor Wu, the mother of two young boys, sums up the vital importance of this work, saying, “Every bit of investment in our children and families to close gaps in early education and care is an investment in our collective future.”

McSwain, who will join the Office of Early Childhood next month, is stepping down as the founding executive director of the Boston Opportunity Agenda. She “started her career as a teacher and has spent decades working in and around government,” The Boston Globe reports, adding that McSwain takes on this new role at a “crucial time” when:

“Very few Boston families are happy with their child care options, a recent city report revealed, with both availability and quality of child care presenting major problems. COVID-19 further undermined an already struggling system, leaving families with few good choices.”

McSwain tells the Globe:

“I think the pandemic has made really clear what people in early childhood have known for a really long time, which is that the sector is critical for employers and for families, and for young children, for economic development reasons, for health and knowledge reasons, and growth.”

The Globe adds:

“One of McSwain’s first tasks will be creating a multilingual website where families can find open early education seats among the city’s public schools, private centers, and home-based providers. McSwain said she expects that resource to be up and running in a year or sooner.

“Other early priorities will be increasing and strengthening the workforce for early childhood providers, McSwain said, starting with recruitment and apprenticeship programs.”

Here at Strategies, we’re excited to welcome McSwain, we look forward to working with her.

“We are thrilled that Mayor Wu has appointed Kristin McSwain to this position,” Amy O’Leary, executive director of Strategies for Children says. “Kristin is an innovative thinker, leader, and thoughtful collaborator. We have enjoyed working with her in her role at Boston Opportunity Agenda, and we look forward to working with her in her new role with the city of Boston.”