Gemma O’Neil
Placed at Washington Family Engagement
What excites you about being part of the Pathwaves Fellowship? What are you hoping to gain from the experience?
I am most excited to fellowship with my cohort, and build foundational relationships with one another that will surpass our 20 months together and flourish throughout our careers. Having the camaraderie of the fellowship and of our mentors is an empowering and stabilizing heartbeat to this body of work and knowledge. I am hoping to gain the tools, language, resources, and network that comes with the Early Learning advocacy space. I want to gain more knowledge of the legislative systems that exist in this political world, so that I am able to participate more effectively within them.
Share a little about your journey and why you are excited about early childhood policy work.
I began my journey as a nanny, 8 years ago. Through nannying, I found a job at a Montessori preschool, where I began assistant teaching. During this time, the pandemic hit, and lockdown was initiated. I had so much more time on my hands, because our school was not operating in person, and we were still figuring out how to navigate remote teaching/learning. I had a hunger for learning, and for expanding my brain, so after a decade break from college, I decided to re-enroll in college, and finish my Associates Degree at Seattle Central Community College. From there, I didn’t want to stop learning, so I researched potential Bachelors degrees at the University of Washington. My work with children has always been a joyful and inherent skill, and I couldn’t see a future for myself that didn’t involve working with or for our youngest learners. I applied for, and accepted into the University of Washington’s Early Childhood and Family Studies program, where I learned more about child development, and the importance of stable, supportive figures and systems in a child’s life during those first few years (and beyond). I began to be able to distinguish discrepancies between learning environments; I worked at a beautiful, resource rich preschool where children had the space and educators to thrive, but not every child in our state, country, and world, have the same privileges or opportunities to learn at such a space. I want to strengthen early learning policies so that quality childcare is available to all children, and so that families are supported in advocating for their needs within their child’s education system.
What are you looking forward to doing at your placement site?
I am looking forward to participating in our Institute for Parent Leadership and Advocacy course (IPLA), as well as partnering with other organizations who share our vision of early learning advocacy and family engagement.
What are two things that most people don’t know about you?
- I am a daily and long distance runner.
- I am also an artist, and have been painting since I was little. I’m currently learning to paint with oil paints, as opposed to acrylics, which I grew up using.
