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Sherri Sutera, United Way of Connecticut (UWCT) Senior Vice President of Child Care Services, has more than three decades of experience in the nonprofit early childhood sector. She is responsible for the oversight and management of UWCT’s Child Care Services Division, consisting of two major state funded programs — Care 4 Kids, the state’s child care subsidy program, and 211 Child Care, a resource and referral service for parents and caregivers.
Sherri first came to the nonprofit and early childhood field in a roundabout way. She was working in corporate communications for the Ames Department Store Headquarters in Rocky Hill with the sister of one of UWCT’s employees. When Ames started downsizing, our employee reached out to let Sherri know that United Way of Connecticut was looking for someone experienced in corporate marketing and who was familiar with desktop publishing to help market an enhanced child care referral product to large CT corporations. Lucky for UWCT, the rest is history!
Sherri says that “it was not an easy transition for me moving from a large for profit (2000+ staff) to a small social service environment – we had approximately 30 employees at the time and managed six regional offices that delivered what is now 211 Health and Human Services and 211 Child Care. Over the past 33 years I’ve had the opportunity to grow with the organization and help shape the direction, expansion and service delivery model for our Child Care Services division.”
“Child care is a hot topic right now - both nationally and in Connecticut,” Sherri shares. “The disruption to child care during and post pandemic really reinforced how fragile and important the child care industry is to children, families, the workforce and economy. The reliance on parents to pay the cost of quality child care and early care professionals to work for low wages is not a sustainable business model. Families can’t afford to pay the fees and early care workers can’t afford to stay in the profession for the low wages they receive. Governor Lamont recently commissioned a Blue Ribbon Panel of early care and business experts to recommend solutions and the infrastructure necessary to achieve them. The work of this panel and other national groups is looking at alternative mechanisms to fund and support the early care industry and parents’ access. Some recommended solutions include significant increases in funding for the programs, workforce and families through additional state, federal, corporate and philanthropic funds. UWCT hopes to have the opportunity to play a part in bringing some of these proposed solutions to fruition.”
Sherri explains that the most fulfilling part of her job is being able to problem solve and dive into operations and new program development with an amazing team of people whom she has had the privilege of working with for many years. “Knowing that the work we do has such a profound impact on the lives of families and particularly the opportunity to promote the healthy safe development of our young children is extremely rewarding,” she says.
Sherri holds a BA in Communications with a marketing concentration from the University of Connecticut. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her two grown sons and her network of friends. She loves to take time off to visit her family members in South Carolina and to take as many leisure vacations as she can.
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