Karen Davis Platt

Karen provides coaching, training, and technical assistance to community-based programs service DC Pre-K children. She has served in various educational roles encompassing military child care, early childhood program quality improvement, training and technical assistance, and child care facility administration.

Most recently, Karen worked with the Navy Child and Youth Programs to develop comprehensive operating manuals for its youth programs. Before joining our organization, Karen was a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children Academy, where she developed a deep understanding of the standards, criteria, and reasoning behind best practices. She regularly conducted accreditation site visits, facilitated the review and evaluation of program submitted materials, and supported programs pursuing accreditation.

Previously, Karen led a division supporting families and child care providers with information and resources to make quality child care affordable and accessible to all children. She led operations of the fee assistance programs for each of the Military Service Branches and the Office of Child Care’s national child care resource hotline and website for families and providers. She was also responsible for oversight of the day-to-day operations of a call center, long term planning and vision of the department, and maintaining relationships with government funders.

Karen developed and implemented a technical assistance project for a local Child Care Resource and Referral agency and implemented a focused quality improvement program to increase the quality and quantity of community-based programs across the country. She also has experience in state child care license regulations and federally subsidized child care policy and has assessed early childhood environments using various tools, including the Environment Rating Scales and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System.