An educator and program coordinator dedicated to strengthening the circle around young children through engaging learning and family partnerships. This article explores her work in early childhood education, the power of play-based learning, and her mission to help school communities and families build lasting educational impact.
Her Story
About Miriam
Miriam Maina is an Educator and Program Coordinator based in Washington State, with more than ten years of experience in education and nonprofit settings across East Africa and the United States. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Kenyatta University in 2014. She is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and a member of the Project Management Institute. Her project management training strengthens the planning and coordination she brings to education programs.
Throughout her career, Miriam has focused on strengthening the circle around young children by working with school owners, teachers, and parents. She has facilitated professional development, supported school improvement planning, and helped strengthen family and community engagement. She has seen school owners make room for play, teachers create opportunities for children to explore, and parents carry playful learning into everyday moments at home. Her work reflects her belief that children benefit when educators and families work together and follow their curiosity.
Miriam is also a children’s book author. Look, Learn, Play! a bilingual English–Swahili picture-book series inspired by playful games at home and her daughter’s curiosity. She shares the books with families to encourage language learning and joyful discovery through play. Guided by honesty, respect, and a willingness to keep learning, Miriam encourages women entering the field to stay curious, seek mentors, and build professional connections beyond the classroom.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Miriam
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to keeping young children at the center of my work and strengthening the circle of adults who support them. By working alongside school owners, teachers, and parents, I help them build the confidence and skills to make learning engaging and meaningful for children, both at school and at home.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received was from one of my teachers in the university. She told me that when you have education, you have wings to fly wherever you want to go. That is when I saw my world open up.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Continue learning and enter this career with an open mind. Get a mentor and network because education is beyond just being in the class. Be open to learning and networking.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is how to start and penetrate the field of education, and how to get information. Opportunities include networking places, mentors, and the wide scope of education beyond the classroom.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being honest with yourself and the people you are talking to, respect to the people around you, and the willingness to learn. These values have helped me move forward and reach out.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Miriam
When School Communities Grow Stronger, Children Feel the Difference
Strengthening the Circle Around Young Children Through Engaged Educators and Curious Families
Across my career, I have focused on the circle around a young child: educators who make learning engaging and families who carry curiosity beyond school. When that circle grows stronger, children feel the difference. For more than a decade, I have worked with school owners, teachers, and parents to strengthen it.
I am an educator and program coordinator with experience in education and nonprofit settings in East Africa and now in the United States. My work has brought me alongside private school owners, teachers, and parents. I have facilitated professional development, supported school leaders as they planned improvements, and helped build stronger networks and partnerships among the people responsible for children’s education. My aim has been to help school communities turn shared priorities into organized, sustained action.
My professional success has come from helping school communities build the capacity to improve and sustain their work. I have seen stronger professional learning for school owners and teachers, more active family and community partnerships, and clearer shared responsibility for children’s education. One pattern I observed was a growing place for play in learning: school owners made room for it, teachers offered children more opportunities to explore, and parents incorporated play into home life. That connection helped make learning a shared experience centered on the child.
My focus is early childhood education, especially the value of learning through play. Play gives young children a natural way to explore ideas, follow their curiosity, communicate, and learn through experience. Language helps them connect what they notice to the people and world around them. When educators make room for purposeful play and families are welcomed as partners, learning can feel more connected across school and home. At home, a parent’s words, attention, and willingness to follow a child’s curiosity can keep discovery going long after the school day ends.
My recent achievement is publishing Look, Learn, Play!, the first book in our bilingual English–Swahili picture-book series. It was inspired by playful games my husband and I began at home, and I’m sharing it with parents as an invitation to follow a child’s curiosity, explore language, and turn ordinary moments into opportunities for learning. The series is one way I am extending my experience beyond school communities and into family homes.
Earning my Certified Associate in Project Management credential has strengthened the planning and coordination skills I use in education programs. It helps me organize people and ideas so that good intentions can translate into work that is carried through to completion.
I believe influence is not only about what one person accomplishes. It is also about what becomes possible for others because they have gained the confidence, knowledge, and partnerships they need to act. My work has been to help educators and families build those conditions around children. Through stronger school communities and playful learning at home, I hope more children will experience education as engaging, supportive, and full of possibility. I also hope my journey reminds women that the skills and passions they develop can continue to grow into new ways of serving children and families.
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