DEEL Staff Spotlight: Contracts Unit
This month’s newsletter spotlights our Contracts unit, who manages all aspects of DEEL’s contracting process in service of Seattle children, youth, and families.
 Image above: (Top, L-to-R) Mimi Somsanit, Interim Contracts Manager; Blaine Wolde, Sr. Grants & Contracts Specialist; Coral Powers, Sr. Grants & Contracts Specialist; Wysteria Oliver, Sr. Grants & Contracts Specialist.
(Bottom, L-to-R) Tracy Saeteurn, Grants & Contracts Specialist; NaKeesa Frazier-Jennings; Sr. Grants & Contracts Specialist; Cilla Longoria, Sr. Grants & Contracts Specialist.
Our Contracts unit is responsible for overseeing all of DEEL’s contracts with schools and community-based organizations that fund birth-to-five, K-12, and post-secondary programs for Seattle youth and families. This high-powered team is key to managing DEEL’s entire contracting process including writing contracts, processing invoices and providing technical assistance to DEEL’s partners. Each year, DEEL’s Contracts Specialists share a portfolio of over 400 contracts and vendor services agreements and process up to twelve invoices for each contract!
As a steward of public funds, DEEL is committed to ensuring contracting processes are transparent and equitable. DEEL strives to achieve accountability and equity in the contracting process to ensure all contracts yield high-quality programming and are accessible to education and community partners. DEEL practices consistent process improvement by routinely evaluating how contracting can be improved and implementing new ways to make contracts more efficient and equitable.
The Contracts unit was instrumental in making emergency funding available to schools and child care providers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under an extremely short timeline, this nimble team pivoted to a paperless contracting process to keep emergency contracts moving to support families and children throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
In addition to all these important responsibilities, several members of the Contracts team offer their expertise in collaboration with other units within DEEL and participate on important committees that further DEEL’s mission, such as DEEL’s Race and Social Justice Change Team.
We’re grateful for the valuable skills the Contracts unit brings to DEEL in service of Seattle youth and families – thank you, Contracts Specialists, for all that you do!
Fall Pre-Service Institute Convenes 270+ Early Learning Professionals
In late August, DEEL hosted the 2021 Fall Pre-Service Institute to prepare preschool and birth-to-five educators, administrators and staff for the new school year. This year’s theme was “Leading With Equity: Building an Adaptive Lens That Is Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist, Inclusive, and Culturally-Responsive". This two-day virtual training provided early learning educators and birth-to-five providers with an opportunity to learn about emerging topics in the field of Early Learning Education, network, and share best practices. Workshop topics included health trainings, how to talk to children about COVID-19, and how to observe and document children’s development through a culturally-responsive lens.
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