Meet Lisa

Lisa Plotkin, M.Ed. has been involved in Early Childhood Education (ECE) since 2004, as a classroom teacher, administrator, professional development director, and facilitator in Washington, DC, Boston, MA, and Richmond, VA.  She earned her Master degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, a Post Master’s Certification in Early Childhood Practice, Policy, and Research from UMass Boston, and she is pursuing her doctorate at American Jewish University in Los Angeles.  She is grateful to have met some of her most influential mentors and colleagues in Boston who helped shape her pedagogical approach which continues to evolve.  Between 2018 and 2021, she was a proud participant in the Jewish Community Center Association (JCCA) Sheva Center Leadership Institute (SCLI) which further shaped her values-based approach.  SCLI brought her to preschools in Israel, the profound Reggio Emilia Study Group (2019), and multiple constructivist early childhood centers in the US. 

Lisa’s desire for creative expression fuels her art business, The Art of Blue, and she consults, presents, and facilitates for educators and programs across the country.  She ventured into higher education as an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 2021.  She is involved in The Paradigm Project, a national grassroots initiative to multiply and nurture the seeds of excellence in Jewish ECE. She collaborates with colleagues on the Stories from the Field project, an initiative to elevate the reflective process for educators and leaders in ECE, and Shma Koleinu, Hear Our Voices, focused on early childhood advocacy for families, educators, and early childhood programs.  Following an inspiring adventure to Capitol Hill to advocate for the rights of early childhood educators and families with young children, she founded Virginia Early Childhood Advocates (VECA) which exists for educators to educate and support one another about the current state of early childhood policy in Virginia, builds upon our relationship with our elected officials and representatives, and helps support our individual and group advocacy efforts for children, educators, families, and programs.

Lisa believes…

  • Children are born with the rights to discuss, feel, express, and wonder.  

  • Children deserve time and space to discover themselves as they navigate the world around them.

  • Educators are always learning alongside children and colleagues.

  • Educators deserve and need quality dialogue and reflection outside of the classroom.

  • We must reflect on our experiences to genuinely learn and grow.

  • We can and must do hard things.  Some of the best growth happens when we challenge our own beliefs and practices!

  • Equity, social and civil rights, kindness between humans, and learning about each other are ways to foster understanding within relationships and make the world a better place today and for tomorrow.

Lisa thrives on learning, inspired by child and human development. She explores values of integrity and connection, and navigates why we do what we do in our work each day.  She can often be found taking walks outside, gardening, and greeting animals along her way.  Connection and Zing are two of her core values.  Connections between ideas and experiences, between people and things, between people and people, often bring a sense of grounding and wholeness.  Zing is her self-defined value for the beautiful sense of joy and awakening, or hit’orerut in Hebrew, she feels when engaged in inspiring professional development with colleagues or children, in Nature, or amidst gratitude in the many forms it takes.

What Clients Are Saying

Lisa is a skilled facilitator who brings intentionality and authenticity to her professional learning sessions.  Our faculty was deeply engaged and came away inspired by the way she shares the joy of this powerful and meaningful work. She is a remarkably thoughtful and caring thought partner for educators, administrators, and pedagogical leaders, and we feel immense gratitude for the opportunity to learn with her.

— Tiffany H., Director,
Shalom Children's Center