Mernell King, BSEd

Mernell King is the Early Childhood Programs Director at Central Missouri Community Action Program in Columbia, Missouri. Mernell has spent the past 16 years working with Head Start in various executive capacities. She has assisted the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute as a consultant providing training and technical assistance to the Head Start program teams that have been a part of the Institute over the past 11 years. Prior to joining the Early Childhood team at CMCA, Ms. King spent a year as a Trainer for the Training & Technical Assistance (T/TA) System serving the Office of Head Start. Her first work in Head Start began as the director for Douglass Community Services Head Start and Early Head Start Programs in Hannibal, Missouri. Under her direction, Douglass Community Services participated in the pilot study and first-year of the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute which has become a premier training program for families needing health literacy education. Earlier in her 35 years of public service, Ms. King worked in the fields of mental health, disabilities, and as an elementary teacher in Missouri’s public schools.

Ms. King is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Region VII Head Start Association, and the Missouri Head Start Association (MHSA) currently serving as the Association President, is a member of the Missouri Coalition for Oral Health and has served as President of that organization. She has also served on numerous boards, coalitions and work groups of organizations in Missouri and for state and national agencies that serve young children and families. In 2009, Mernell was awarded the National Leadership Award from the National Head Start Association (NHSA) for her national efforts on behalf of Head Start programs.
Education

Mernell is a graduate of the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Management Fellows Program. Ms. King graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from Southeast Missouri State University. She is currently working on her Masters Degree in Public Policy Administration.