Jani Kozlowski, MA, is a technical assistance specialist with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects working to support system change in topics such as early childhood inclusion, professional development, family engagement, and collaborative partnerships.

As part of our FPG profile series, we recently spoke with Kozlowski to learn more about her work at FPG. Here’s what she had to say.

Tell us a bit about your professional journey―and what brought you to FPG?

Early childhood has always been interesting to me. Being around children just makes me happy! My very first job was working as a nanny for two preschool-aged boys. Yes, I was Jani the nanny.  From there I went on to teach a very spirited group of four-year-olds in an inclusive child care classroom. My first job out of graduate school was working as the education and disability services coordinator for a large Migrant Head Start program in Michigan. Later I supported Head Start grant recipients as a technical assistance (TA) specialist in the mid-west region. 

In 2003, my husband and I decided to move to North Carolina with our preschool-aged son to be closer to family. It felt like the great unknown—and pretty intimidating too. Our state has a reputation in the early childhood education (ECE) world, and I worried about making it in the big leagues. Would I be able to have a career in ECE in a place where the ECERS and ITERs were born? Was I enough? Somehow, I found the contact information for Pat Trohanis online and reached out. Yes, *THE* Pat Trohanis. He was so supportive and kind on the phone and made me feel like North Carolina was about to get a gift when Jani Kozlowski rolled into town! 

My work here in North Carolina began as the early childhood specialist with the North Carolina Partnership for Children, and then I moved to a leadership role within the Division of Child Development and Early Education. In 2013, I began working as a TA specialist for national TA projects at Zero to Three funded through the Office of Child Care and the Office of Head Start. Before coming to FPG, I served as the inclusion lead for the Head Start National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. That was when I knew that working to include children with disabilities in early childhood was my true passion. 

I was encouraged by FPG’s Pam Winton and Tracey West to present a keynote for FPG's International Early Childhood Inclusion Institute using my perspectives as a person with a disability, parent of a child with a disability, and daughter of a parent with a disability. In 2020, as we were all reeling from the pandemic, I came full circle back to the Trohanis Technical Assistance Project as a TA specialist with ECTA. My early years at FPG were a true whirlwind, because during this time I also wrote my first book, Every Child Can Fly: An Early Childhood Educator's Guide to Inclusion, and then a companion guide for families called Empowering Your Child to Fly: A Family's Guide to Early Childhood Inclusion. 

What do you do at FPG—describe your job, walk us through a typical day, and tell us about the projects you're currently working on. 

I primarily work with the ECTA, providing TA to state early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) system leaders. Along with my colleague from Denver University, Alissa Rausch, my role involves leading our learning community to connect state leaders while sharing current research and helpful resources. The meetings are organized using the Indicators of High Quality Inclusion. These inclusion indicators offer key strategies and guidance for those working in ECE environments, programs and communities, as well as at the state level. Additionally, I lead the personnel workgroup, which focuses on strategies for the recruitment and retention of personnel serving young children with disabilities.

I also co-lead the Early Learning Consortium (ELC) as part of my work with ECTA. The Consortium works to increase national awareness and recognition of how early intervention and early childhood special education programs can be intentionally included within broader early childhood initiatives and early childhood systems building. The ELC serves as a community of national partners that share resources and problem-solve to support the larger goal of building high-quality early care and education systems that will effectively support all young children.

What do you like most about your job?

My favorite part about my job and work at FPG in general is the opportunity for creativity. My work at ECTA is super creative and thought provoking, and I learn a little bit each day. But another fabulous thing about working at FPG is that I am able to grow as a professional in a variety of ways. For example, in 2023 I led a proposal writing team to apply for a large national early childhood TA project. We didn't get the award, but I learned a great deal, and next time we will win it! 

The other recent excitement for me professionally is an upcoming trip to study the use of the Inclusion Indicators in Japan, through the Richard M. Clifford Fund for International Collaboration on Early Learning Environments. FPG has supported my interest in international partnerships and I'm excited to see where this next chapter will lead us.

What do you find most challenging?

Our work is just about 100 percent remote. While I value the flexibility, I miss the spontaneous, informal connection-building that happens during in-person meetings. At the same time, I recognize the tremendous value of remote work for expanding workforce access for people with disabilities, ensuring we all benefit from diverse perspectives. Fortunately, we have become very skilled at using Zoom and have found ways to build relationships and connection through virtual meetings.

How does your work further the mission of FPG?

Relationships are at the heart of what we do. It is through these relationships with state leaders that we are able to create a shift in our systems. Inclusion must be the vision for our state systems, if it is ever going to be a reality for children and families. EI and ECSE leaders are working on behalf of young children and families in creative and consequential ways. They work across sectors, because they know that relationships are necessary to build meaningful partnerships so children with disabilities can be served in the setting where they would be if they didn't have a disability. 

Through this work on inclusion, we are advancing knowledge to transform children’s lives. FPG has a long history of leadership in early childhood, and I am so proud to be a part of this phase of leadership and discovery in the field.

What do you hope to have accomplished five years from now?

In five years, I hope to be in a position to share lessons learned from my international work and continue to share exemplar practices and programs with ECE leaders across the US. Our TA work at FPG is second to none and I can only see more exciting opportunities ahead.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about your work/working at FPG?

Aside from all of the professional opportunities and adventures, FPG is also just a place of amazing people. Starting with Pat Trohanis and his helping hand from many years ago, Dick Clifford and his legacy of enhancing learning environments, Pam Winton and Tracey West and their vision for the Inclusion Institute, to our current FPG leaders who show a "sky is the limit" approach to creativity and discovery. The people here at FPG and the relationships we build create real impacts for children and families in North Carolina and around the world.