Jessica Klos Shapiro

For two decades, Jessica Klos Shapiro has been one of Albany's most persistent voices for New York's youngest children and the workforce that cares for them. As Senior Director of Policy and Community Education at the Early Care & Learning Council, she builds the partnerships and drives the advocacy behind funding and legislation that shape the state's child care system — work that peers describe as unmatched in its expertise after more than 20 years in the field. As one colleague put it simply, "she's one to watch!"

Over the last several budget cycles, Klos Shapiro has helped push billions of dollars into New York's child care system, with a particular focus on sustaining and stabilizing the child care workforce. She was instrumental in securing funding for ECLC to administer the state's new child care substitute pool and in directing grant dollars toward provider workforce support and development — tangible wins that peers say she pursued relentlessly. Most recently, she helped lead ECLC's response to the state's move toward universal child care, continuing work that began by helping providers survive the pandemic.

Klos Shapiro also serves on numerous legislative and policy committees focused on children and youth and is a 2026 Early Childhood Policy Fellow at Bank Street College of Education — proof that even after 15+ years at ECLC, she's still building toward the next stage of impact for New York's families.