UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Start Management Fellows Program: 25 Years of Making a Difference

By Paul Feinberg

In 2015, the nation is celebrating 50 years of Head Start. At UCLA Anderson, we celebrated 25 years of the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Start Management Fellows Program. “We have accomplished so much in the past 25 years, and it has truly been an honor for all of us connected with the Fellows Program to have taken this journey with you,” UCLA Anderson senior associate dean and founder of the Fellows Program Al Osborne wrote in a letter to the Johnson & Johnson Fellows. “The Fellowship we have created and sustained for over 25 years will continue, and we will continue to make a difference in the management and leadership capabilities of Head Start directors.”

One of the hallmarks of the J&J Fellows Program is the participation of current UCLA Anderson students as teaching assistants. These TAs work with participants on class projects and act as a bridge between the faculty and the Fellows.

One of 2015’s TAs was Elizabeth Pratt (’16). Pratt is currently earning a dual degree, her MBA at Anderson and a master’s degree in public policy. She was also the recipient of a John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship. “The program came highly recommended to me,” Pratt says. “I heard great things from the Net Impact leadership.

“The tenets of the program are why I came to business school, to learn to manage organizations. I’ve met a lot of leaders of nonprofits who didn’t have the skills. I want to be able to run an organization the right way and this program does exactly that. It helps people in the community and that’s aligned with what I want to do,” she says. In the program, Head Start directors from around the country convene at UCLA Anderson for a two-week, comprehensive management training program taught by Anderson faculty in the areas of finance, accounting, strategic planning, organizational development, marketing and operations.

Participants in the program tackle actual issues they are facing at their own Head Start facilities. “Anderson MBA students are able to contribute because of the role they give us as strategic consultants. As (the Fellows) develop improvement plans they’re taught in a way that’s novel to them,” Pratt says. “And we’re in the middle of learning the skills they are learning in class. We’ve had a little more depth and more rigor, but having recently learned the same concepts we can help them overcome barriers, and as students we’re able to develop rapport.

“I used to be a teacher, with students three-years-old to those older than I was, so I have some pedagogical experience,” Pratt says “And nonprofit is my passion so I understand why they’re motivated the way they are; I’m committed to doing the best job I can because of my nonprofit interests.”

Pratt says she’s learned from the Fellows as well.

“I’ve learned actual content knowledge, like how complex the situations are that they have to negotiate along with the various parameters and thresholds they work with,” Pratt says. “In terms of personal growth, they taught me there’s a lot of different ways to solve certain problems, seeing how people at literally 20 different sites with the same missions are doing the same job in such different ways, adapting to their communities. It’s inspiring: they’re super committed, they accept that there is no one cookie cutter way to handle problems, and I really appreciate that.”