We are pleased to announce the selection of our President & CEO, Michael Olenick, as one of the 2018 San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s 200 most influential leaders! The Valley 200 is an annual list that distinguishes leaders who have built successful businesses and organizations. Each influencer has positively impacted and shaped the San Fernando, Simi, Conejo, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys – where more than 1.75 million people call home!

Dr. Olenick has served as CCRC’s President & CEO since 2003. His role involves oversight of a $300 million dollar budget and more than 20 programs, projects and services designed to strengthen 55,000 children, families and early childhood educators every month. He is a governor’s appointee to the State Advisory Council on Early Learning and Care, the Speaker of the Assembly’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education, the CA Child Welfare Commission, and was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of Zero to Three, the nation’s premier voice for babies. Under Dr. Olenick’s leadership, CCRC has tripled its impact, funding, and number of staff. The agency is at the forefront of policy, advocacy and research and currently serves a 22,500 square mile area of Northern Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties.

Prior to coming to CCRC, he served as Senior Vice President of the California Community College Foundation where he developed child, youth and family development education programs. He also served as the Chief of Emancipation Services for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (LADCFS). He received his Ph.D. from UCLA writing his dissertation on, “The Relationship between Child Care Quality and Selected Social Policy Variables.” He taught child care policy at the university level and served as public policy instructor for the California Association for the Education of Young Children Leadership Program.

See his feature below.