Carla Bryant

Dr. Carla Bryant has over thirty years of national experience creating culturally competent policies, programs, and procedures for comprehensive early learning, P-3, elementary, family support, and after-school programs. She is the creator of the Center for District Innovation and Leadership in Early Education (DIAL EE) at Cultivate Learning, University of Washington. DIAL EE focuses on supporting school districts to succeed in creating and implementing effective early learning structures that assist children from communities with less social, political, and monetary capital to build a strong educational foundation.

Previously as the Chief of the Early Education Department for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Dr. Bryant was successful in implementing a P-12 vision, aligning curriculum and instruction across grades, P-3. Dr. Bryant oversaw the development and implementation of Transitional Kindergarten (TK) in SFUSD and integrated community-based and district early education practices through strategic partnerships. During Carla’s tenure, SFUSD’s kindergarten readiness benchmark improved from 37% to 55% in three years.

Before going to SFUSD, Dr. Bryant was a strategic advisor for the City of Seattle where she co-created the Seattle Early Education Collaborative (SEEC), a community-based early learning system that joined disparately funded programs (federal, state, local, and private) into one system that included joint assessment and accountability, professional development, and transition processes. SEEC was an integral part of the Seattle Public Schools P-3 model and was highlighted by the National League of Cities as one of four cities with progressive plans to align the early learning and K-12 education systems.

Dr. Bryant received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in special education, M.Ed. in early childhood education from Georgia State University, and B.B.A. from the University of Central Oklahoma.