Serving Families In
Marin Since 1979
Founded in 1979, Marin Child Care Council is a 501(C)(3) non-profit agency that offers a variety of services for parents, child care providers and the community that are essential to the delivery of quality child care in Marin County.
Our History
1985
Alternative Payment Program established
1998
Welfare Reform and CalWORKs
2007
Aideen Gaidmore hired as
Executive Director
2011
Parent Voices start Children's Investment Initiative
2016
HEAL program/
Impact and QRIS quality work begins
1979
1990
2006
2009
2015
MC3 founded by a community based committee of child care providers, parents, representatives of family serving agencies and concerned citizens in response to a growing need for a central agency for information, referrals and coordination in the areas of child care and early education services.
Agency name changed from Project Care to Marin Child Care Council
Parent Voices established and CCIP Program begins
MC3 celebrates 30 years
Centralized Eligibility List established
Access to Quality Care Program begins
Meet The Team
Board of Directors
We are fortunate to have a very talented board of directors to help guide and accomplish our mission. They bring experience and expertise in a variety of areas to ensure that Marin Child Care Council is providing the high-quality services that families need and desire.
Marin Child Care Council plays an integral role in quality child care in Marin County. As a non-profit agency, our Mission is to improve the availability, accessibility, and affordability of quality early childhood education and care
Jaimee Modica
Board President
Jaimee is a litigation associate with Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery. Jaimee’s practice focuses on business & commercial litigation, real estate litigation and product liability defense.
J. Timothy Nardell
J. Timothy Nardell is the managing attorney for Nardell Chitsaz & Associates LLP, a law firm located in San Rafael. Tim’s practice focuses on civil litigation and providing counsel to small and medium sized businesses.
Laurie O’Hara
Laurie O’Hara is the founder and CEO of Olita Inc, an eco-friendly skincare company for the outdoors. Prior to going full time at her own business, she was the Director of Business Development and Marketing for Working Solutions for nearly seven years. She has over 20 years experience in marketing and acquisitions of credit products, having worked as a Director for JPMorgan Chase and Citibank in New York City.
She holds an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management and a BA from the University of Colorado. Laurie also serves on the boards of the Multicultural Center of Marin, the Marin County Childcare Council and Downtown Streets Team of Marin. Laurie lives in Marin County with her husband and four children.
Lisa Handley
Governance Chair
Lisa Handley's background has spanned the social impact sector. She is the Deputy Executive Director at the Bar Association of San Francisco, where she oversees membership, continuing education, and communications. Lisa has senior management experience in legal services, human services, education, and the arts.
In addition to extensive nonprofit leadership experience, Lisa managed a global Corporate Social Responsibility program and corporate foundation for seven years. Lisa is focused on investing in quality child care for Marin's children and for the phenomenal educators working in the profession, promoting the equity and recognition they deserve.
Andrea Henderson
Andrea Henderson is Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing for Bank of Marin. In this role, she oversees the Bank’s marketing and community relations strategies. Prior to joining Bank of Marin, Andrea spent more than 10 years in financial services developing and executing key marketing and strategic growth initiatives for Small Business, Middle Market and Corporate Banking business lines. Additionally, she has focused on business development and portfolio management within the sustainable technology sector.
Andrea is passionate about sustainability and promoting development of young people and entrepreneurs. Andrea grew up in Southeast Asia, has lived in Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, and is conversational in Mandarin. She currently lives in Novato with her husband and two children.
Molly Fivian
With 25 years of experience in Early Care and Education/youth development Molly has been a longtime advocate for high-quality, accredited Education (preschool and school-aged) programs with dedication to supporting teams and systems of professional development for leaders of all levels.
In her free time, Molly enjoys family and friends, biking the many local trails, playing, and listening to music, reading, or camping out. Molly and her partner have an amazing teenager who is also a budding Jazz saxophonist and composer, so their life seems to be all about camps and concerts now!
Heather Ravani - Lindsay Burton - Malia Moseley
What We Do
The Marin Child Care Council partners with parents and the community to provide services that support availability and access to quality child care.
We contribute to the quality of life in our community by providing leadership and support towards creating a comprehensive system of childcare. Our fundamental goal is to enable people to make informed decisions about childcare. Our work is characterized by competency, respect, integrity, and compassion.
Partnering with Parents
"We believe that our services should be available to and supportive of all families in our community"
Resource and Referral
We provide personalized help finding and choosing child care to families through our web and telephone based information and referral service. Parents receive information, and resources about early care and education issues including: licensing information, health and safety, what to look for in a quality program, different philosophies, and child development.
Alternative Payment Program (Subsidy Program)
Marin Child Care Council’s Alternative Payment Program (APP) offers full or partial child care subsidies to (need and income) eligible families through a voucher program. This program is designed to maximize parental choice in selecting child care; parents may select licensed centers and preschools, licensed family
daycare homes or license exempt in-home providers. The state contracts serve families in Calworks Stage 2 (working families who have been off of welfare for between three and twenty-four months), Stage 3 (working families who have been off of welfare for two or more years who still qualify for assistance with their child care costs) and Alternative Payment (AP) (low-income working families not served by the welfare system and those referred by Children and Family Services).
Centralized Eligibility List (CEL)
The Centralized Eligibility List (CEL) gives families access to many subsidized child care programs through a single application. All agencies operating subsidized early care and education programs in Marin County use the list to enroll families to their programs.
Parent Voices
Parent Voices is a chapter-based grassroots organizing effort around child care issues and an integral part of Marin Child Care Council’s advocacy efforts. Parent Voices involves parents in the budget process including: legislative hearings, press conferences, rallies, and trainings. Parent Voices co-sponsors the annual Equal Voice Academy with Grassroots Leadership Network of Marin. It involves parents in local initiatives for funding child care subsidies, and helps parents respond to budget cuts on a statewide level.
Partnering with Providers
"We believe that all children deserve quality child care and that quality child care directly benefits children, families, and our community."
Resource and Referral
We provide support to the child care community regarding licensing issues, parenting issues, child development concerns and more. We provided trainings and workshops aimed at improving quality child care in Marin. We maintain up-to-date information on licensed child care centers and licensed family child care homes.
Child Care Trainings
We provide support to the childcare community by offering training, professional development, and resources. Please check out our training and workshop calendar on our website for more details.
Striving For Excellence
Striving For Excellence is our annual conference for early childhood educators and professionals in Marin and surrounding counties. The conference enables people who are working with children, directly or indirectly, to obtain training in a comfortable setting.
Attendees include: licensed family child care providers, child care center staff, administrators, and other interested community members. The participants engage in stimulating learning opportunities and gain knowledge that directly enhances the quality of care provided in their programs.
Partnering with The Community
" We believe that educated and well-informed stakeholders are the very best advocates for quality child care."
Providing Solutions
Marin Child Care Council maintains an extensive database of licensed child care programs in Marin. We also track all parent requests for care and parents seeking financial assistance to help with child care costs. In addition to tracking all of this data in Marin, we also disseminate the information on the county-wide supply and demand for child care.
Educating and involving local communities and leaders, to understand child care issues and to plan effectively to address child care needs that are supportive of all families, is a vital role we play in this community. We are proud to work in partnership with a number of local and statewide organizations and groups on behalf of families and children.