Video Library

CAYL Catalyst Ep. #56:
Reflect for Insight, Reset for Action! – Featuring Linda Smith

Recorded on February 5, 2026

On February 5th, join us to hear Linda Smith reflect on the policies and issues that shape our work. Her distinguished career included service as a Senate staffer, a deputy assistant secretary in the federal government, and as director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Early Childhood Development Initiative. Now serving as Director of Policy at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, Linda is an expert in early childhood financing, military, rural, and tribal child care, and workforce compensation.

Hosted by Dr. Valora Washington – CEO and President, The CAYL Institute

Featured Resources

From The CAYL Institute:

A Way Forward: Changing the Paradigm for Child Care Professionals (The CAYL Institute)

Buffett Institute

Panelist Resources:

States Investing in Child Care through Trusts and Endowments [Report]. Smith, L.K., Reef, G. (2025, July). Buffett Early Childhood Institute.

Rethinking Child Care Standards and Regulations [Report]. Smith, L. K., Reef, G. (2025, March). Buffett Early Childhood Institute.

In the shadows: What we know, don’t know and should know about the child care workforce [Report]. Smith, L. K., Belcher-Badal, K., Reef, G., & Owen, R. (2024, April). Bipartisan Policy Center. 

Top-down, bottom-up: building a state child care center workforce [Report]. Smith, L. K. & Osborn, C. (2024, March). Bipartisan Policy Center.

Invisible children, invisible families: A blueprint for supporting the child care needs of American Indian and Alaska Native families [Report]. Fabre, B., Grunewald, R., Smith, L. K., & Osborn, C. (2024, November). Bipartisan Policy Center.

For-Profit Child Care: Implications, Challenges and Opportunities [Panel discussion]. (2025, March 4). The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

What will it take to build a competent, stable child care workforce [Panel discussion]. (2024, March 4). Bipartisan Policy Center.

The business of child care: What it is – why it matters. [Virtual event]. (2020, October 8). National Press Foundation.

Spotlight on Education: Linda K. Smith. [Conference presentation]. (2015, February 19). Alabama Governor’s Early Childhood Education Leadership Summit, Montgomery, AL.

The Impact of Increased ICE Activity on the Child Care Workforce and Mothers’ Employment

Michigan Tri-Share Child Care

Why We Should Adopt the Child Development Associate Credential as the Entry Point to the Child Care Profession—Now