Families, Parks and Recreation

Mayor's Children and Education Initiative

Contact Us

"For every child... health, education, equality, protection. Advance humanity."

Lisa Early

Office of Children and Education
407-246-4320
400 S. Orange Avenue
P.O. Box 4990
Orlando, FL 32802-4990
e-mail

Lisa Early, Director of Children and Education

Prior to her November 2003 appointment as the City’s first Director of Children & Education, Lisa Early worked helping children in the United States and abroad. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University in 1981, Ms. Early moved to the Dominican Republic, where she worked with UNICEF to develop preschool education programs for children living in rural villages. Next, she worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, overseeing programs to improve the health of mothers and children living in poverty. Upon her return to the United States in 1990, Ms. Early developed and became Executive Director of The Howard Phillips Center for Children & Families, which under her leadership grew from a $1 million organization to a $12 million entity helping Orlando’s children overcome developmental delays, protecting them from abuse, providing them healthcare when uninsured, and offering hope to HIV-positive women, children and families. Ms. Early is fully bilingual in English and Spanish and also speaks some Swahili.

According to Ms. Early, “The mission of the Office of Children & Education is to improve the well being of Orlando’s children and the quality of education in City schools. We aim to engage a community-wide coalition, strategically leverage and target resources to expand proven practices that improve child well being, and systematically consider, protect and advance the best interests of Orlando’s children.”