2024 Research · Leaders Developing Leaders
What effective Leader-Developers in ECE actually do — and how you can practice it too.
EYLDI interviewed 17 Leader-Developers across 7 U.S. states to find out what effective developmental relationships look like in practice. This is that research, organized so you can use it in your own work.
Why This Matters
Great leadership doesn't just happen. Someone develops it.
EYLDI's first study, in 2021, found that ECE leaders — especially those from marginalized backgrounds — often lacked access to developmental relationships with more experienced leaders. The 2024 research picks up from there, asking what those relationships actually look like when they work. Read about the 2021 study →
A Leader-Developer invests
An experienced ECE leader builds a real developmental relationship with a rising leader — guiding, understanding, and enabling their growth.
A new leader grows
That rising leader becomes more confident and effective — and more representative of the communities ECE serves.
Programs strengthen
Better-led programs mean stronger teams, higher educator retention, and more consistent, higher-quality care.
Children benefit
Because leadership quality is linked to program quality, children and families ultimately feel the difference.
Developing better leaders isn't a side project or a luxury; it's the work that makes all the other work possible.— Pomerantz, 2025, cited in EYLDI's research
Click to Explore
Five competencies that predict effective leader development
This grouping is a real research finding, not just a design choice: one foundational competency nearly every leader showed, three relational competencies that drove the strongest outcomes together, and one rarer competency most predictive of impact.
Foundational — nearly universal
Relational cluster — together drove the strongest outcomes
Most predictive — and rarest
Select a competency above to see its definition, ways to practice it, and a real participant quote.
Start with GO — the universal foundation.
The Data
Who we studied, and what we found
Leader-Learners in the 2024 study were female
Leader-Learners were Black, Latina/o, Asian & multiracial
Competency prevalence in practice
Of 34 developmental-relationship stories analyzed, researchers rated each for overall effectiveness:
Enabling Others — the rarest competency — was concentrated among the most-effective stories.
Leader-Developers themselves (n=17)
Recruited from EYLDI's professional network and 2021 study participants; interviewed March–July 2024 across 7 states.
Troubleshooting
Developing other leaders isn't always easy
Common challenges Leader-Developers described, and what to try. Most of the friction was interpersonal, not technical or systemic.
In Their Own Words
Quote Bank
A sample of real language from the 2024 study's participants.
Coming Soon
Join the Conversation
We're exploring what a community of practice for ECE Leader-Developers could look like — a space to share real practice, ask questions, and learn from each other between studies. This is early, and may become part of EYLDI's future Lab work.
Say Hello →Tell us you're interested, or share a practice story — we're listening before we build.
About This Research
Who did this, and how
The Early Years Leadership Diversity Initiative (EYLDI) conducted 17 in-depth, Behavioral Event Interviews with Leader-Developers across 7 U.S. states between March and July 2024, to understand what effective developmental relationships actually look like in practice. This study builds directly on EYLDI's 2021 founding research.
Research led by Meredith Callanan, Candice McKinnon, PhD, and Dina Kapengut, PhD. Meet the full team on the About EYLDI page →
Full report publishing soon. In the meantime, read the 2021 founding study that shaped this research.