Lynette Fraga has 20 years of experience as an educator, program director and executive leader working on behalf of children and families.
She served as the Executive Director of Child Care Aware® of America for 10 years. Before joining Child Care Aware, Fraga served as Vice President of Early Care and Special Populations for Care.com, where she led the development of public-private partnerships to support services for children with special needs and a lifespan of care options for military-connected families.
As Chief Program Officer at ZERO TO THREE, the leading national nonprofit working on the healthy development of babies and toddlers, Fraga raised significant funding for its mission. She spearheaded several projects during her tenure at ZERO TO THREE including Military Family Projects.
She also led the development of many national programs including the Early Head Start Family Child Care Initiative, which was the first U.S. Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care Joint Demonstration Project; Coming Together Around Military Families; and the Pathways to Prevention infant mental health initiative.
Fraga began her career in early childhood as a teacher. She later brought first-hand experiences from her work as a child care center director and trainer to pilot early childhood programs. Her community-based work fueled her commitment to child and family-centered approaches and became the basis for her later research.
Fraga holds a doctoral degree in Family Studies from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma, and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from the University of Arizona.