Dr. Janessa Bixel is the Executive Director of the South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children (SDAEYC). She has worked in early childhood education for over 25 years. She has over 15 years in non-profit organization leadership. Her husband retired from the Air Force in 2017, and South Dakota is now home.

 

Over the years, she has had the opportunity to work with children ranging in age from birth to age twelve in various educational settings such as Head Start, university and military child development centers, public elementary schools, and her own home-based part-day preschool program for eight years.

 

 Janessa holds a BA in Psychology, an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education, and an Ed.D. in Leadership and Innovation in Education.  She is a mother of three (two grown sons and a daughter in college), a brand-new Grammy (Mimi), a Master Gardener, a prolific volunteer, a lover of nature, and an engaged member of her community of Box Elder.