Carol Austin
Carol Austin is the Executive Director of First Up, where she leads the organization in fulfilling its mission to empower and equip early childhood professionals, families, and other adults influential in young children’s lives, with the knowledge, capabilities and resources they need to positively impact the educational and developmental outcomes for young children. First Up serves nearly 6,000 early childhood education (ECE) practitioners every year, whose work reaches approximately 50,000 children in Southeastern Pennsylvania. First Up has graduated 97 new advocates of its ECE Fellowship since the program began in 1997. Additionally, the organization’s technical assistance and coaching models have brought dramatic quality improvements for center and home-based childcare providers, serving almost 200 programs annually throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. Prior to joining First Up, Carol served as a senior executive at Philadelphia non-profit organization where she worked for more than fifteen years on high school education reform and youth post-secondary success. In that capacity, Carol worked with schools, non-profit organizations, Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and other stakeholders, to design collaborations that result in expanded opportunities and positive outcomes for young people. She holds a Master’s in Education from Temple University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Rosemont College.
