Kai-leé Berke is the CEO of Teaching Strategies. She is a lifelong early childhood educator, having taught and cared for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners in public, private, and Department of Defense programs.
Prior to her appointment as CEO, she held roles as Teaching Strategies’ Vice President of Curriculum and Assessment, Chief Product Officer and Chief Academic Officer, during which time she co-authored many of Teaching Strategies’ most impactful solutions, including the GOLD® assessment system, The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool, The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos, and The Creative Curriculum® for Kindergarten (in press).
Nationally known as an expert on early childhood education, child development, and developmentally appropriate practice, Kai-leé has spoken extensively on these topics at conferences for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Head Start Association, SXSWEdu, and many other organizations. She is a regular contributing author for The Huffington Post on a wide range of early education topics, and has been profiled by D.C. Inno through their “DC Innovators” series as one of the city’s most innovative leaders in the
D.C. area.
For nearly two decades, Kai-leé has specialized in supporting educators at all levels of experience, as the program administrator for a multisite preschool organization, through her local and national work as an early childhood trainer and consultant, and as an adjunct faculty member at Honolulu Community College and Pacific Oaks College. Kai-leé has focused her work on building the professionalism of the early childhood workforce, advocating for fair wages and working closely with early childhood policy organizations to ensure that early educators are respected for the critical role they play in the lives of young children and their families.
When asked about her leadership skills, Kai-leé replies, “Nearly everything important I’ve learned about leadership, I learned as a classroom teacher.” Her commitment to early childhood educators and her belief that the relationship between teacher and child is the foundation for all learning in the early childhood classroom is reflected in all of Teaching Strategies’ products and solutions.
Kai-leé is an accomplished athlete and ultra-marathon runner. She is the mother to two young children, ages 6 and 10, and lives with her family in Bethesda, Maryland.
