This week, we are proud to feature Renata Bryant, who is currently the new Community and Advocacy Specialist with Imagine.

Meet Renata

She has spent most of her life advocating for child care and families, and now Renata is bringing her skills to Imagine in a new position designed to help providers get the help and support they need.

Renata Bryant is now the Community and Advocacy Specialist at Imagine and will serve as the voice between lawmakers and early learning providers. She will be helping providers share their concerns and suggestions to improve child care in Washington State. Renata has an extensive background in this field and is excited to start this new role.

“At the end of the day, I appreciate working with youth and kiddos. I’ve done child care before and I have that view of it and I believe in advocating for people who are experiencing barriers. That is where I’m in alignment with Imagine.”

bACKGROUND IN ADVOCACY

Renata is well-traveled and has experienced many different cultures. As part of a military family, she was born in Japan, and spent some time in Maryland before moving to Western Washington. Since then, she has worked for several community groups. In addition to family and child care advocacy, she has worked to find housing for people in King County.

Imagine’s Senior Director of Equity and Evaluation, Amelia Vassar, says the organization has been looking for someone to show off the work Imagine is doing, and she is excited to have Renata join the team.

“Renata has a strong track record of fierce and effective community advocacy and engagement. Her ability to work with community partners and organizations to optimize participant voice was important.”

Vassar says Renata has worked quickly in her first few weeks and has shown she is the right fit for this new position.

“Renata has already hit the ground running. Her initial month was spent mapping out opportunities for providers to meaningfully engage with stakeholders and getting to know who providers are … It is exciting to see where Renata’s talents will take the organization and we are looking forward to her work.”

Renata says she is excited to become a leader and a voice for people who provide child care in Washington. She hopes to be able to share their message with lawmakers, to help create more opportunities for early childhood development.

“I’d really like to speak to providers more directly. It would help align with the needs of the community.”

She says Imagine has a great reputation in the community, and with their constant growth over the past few years, Renata believes she can help further bridge the gaps in language barriers and community acceptance.

“It’s become really apparent that Imagine has become the go-to when it comes to rolling out programming to meet provider needs, and to pay a competitive wage, which is a rarity in the world itself.”

Thank you, Renata and welcome to the Imagine family!