Catherine Goins is Senior Vice President of Early Learning, Health, and Human Development and a member of the agency’s senior leadership team. She is responsible for strategic business development for a diverse $45+ million portfolio of projects across such content areas as infant and toddler care, and resilient and healthy schools and communities. She leads and supports a 260+ person team focused on fulfilling a range of early care and K-12 education needs to improve outcomes for all learners.
Catherine served most recently as Assistant Superintendent of Early Childhood Education at the Placer County Office of Education (PCOE). She managed California Department of Education, Head Start, and Family Child Care programs focused on child development, family engagement, health, nutrition, and safety. She also implemented high-quality early learning programs and developed whole-child and family programs to advance equity and ensure that all learners have the foundation for success in school.
Before her work with the PCOE, Catherine served as President of the Child Development Policy Institute, where she convened early care and education professionals twice each year to discuss research-based strategies for creating and improving policies to improve outcomes for young children and families; provided research-based policy analysis; and testified at Senate and Assembly hearings. She has also served as a Senior Policy Advisor for First Five California.
As a diversity and equity educator, Catherine’s presented a variety of research-based, engaging, and informative workshops and trainings at various conferences, including the National Head Start Association, California Association for the Education of Young Children, and the Association for California School Administrators. She’s an accomplished speaker and has spoken around the country on LGBTQ+, race, gender, and culture issues, as well as anti-bias education and equity in early care and education.
She is a contributing author to the revised edition of Anti-Bias Education published in 2020 by the National Association of the Education of Young Children. As a consultant for Warner Brothers, Catherine advised on diversity, equity, and inclusion in children’s programs.
Her honors include being named The California State University Sacramento College of Education’s Educator of the Year and the Sacramento County Children’s Coalition’s Child Care Provider of the Year.
She contributes to education equity through her board service, including tenure as Chair of the Sierra Joint Community College Early Childhood Advisory Committee, and her many years teaching at the community college level.
Catherine holds an MPA from the University of San Francisco and an MA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College. She is completing her doctorate in International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco.