Gayle Headen is Executive Director of Wake County Smart Start (WCSS), a nonprofit organization that serves children, birth to five, and their families. It is the second largest partnership of the Smart Start network across North Carolina. WCSS works collaboratively with community partners to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of child care, provide preventive health and early intervention services and offer family support services—all delivered as part of a strong, diverse integrated early childhood system. As Executive Director, Gayle serves as a catalyst for community partners, funders, and government entities to collaborate, agree upon, and work toward common goals.
Gayle brings a blend of corporate and nonprofit leadership experience with her. She honed her financial management and analytical skills as well as established and implemented visionary business strategies for nearly a decade at Procter & Gamble, where she was twice awarded for her contributions to the company.
Then, after “finding her passion” in early childhood education, she entered her nonprofit career at Union Baptist-Harvey Johnson Head Start in Baltimore, Maryland and soon after became its Executive Director. While there, she gained meaningful experience in family engagement, community health, health disparities research, and social determinants of health. After 15 years with Head Start, she relocated to the Raleigh area and became Executive Director of Wake County Smart Start in 2019.
Under Gayle’s leadership at Wake County Smart Start, the organization has adopted a strategic plan that focuses on advancing racial and ethnic equity, enhancing family engagement and leadership, and improving data driven decision making. She believes in the power of systems level approaches, the strength of families, and sees the community as a resource for families. Gayle holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Howard University and is a Weinberg Fellow, a UCLA Head Start Management Fellow, and a National Black Child Development Institute Policy Fellow.
Besides her passion for happy and thriving children, and their families and communities, Gayle is also known for her love for her alma mater and can be found supporting it enthusiastically with her husband and daughter, who are also Howard University alumni.
