Scholarship Spotlight: Child Care Challenges

Effective mentoring, involving mutual respect and collaboration, requires availability, capability, activity, and proximity. Mentorship fosters trust, goal-setting, and understanding between mentor and mentee. The author, an experienced mentor, describes mentoring Eboni Bango, whose work focuses on early education access. She addressed the U.S. childcare crisis, exacerbated by high costs, insufficient subsidies, and post-COVID daycare shortages. The article advocates for enhanced funding and policies to ensure quality, affordable child care, which is crucial for closing the opportunity gap and fostering equity.