LOS ANGELES, CA (October 30, 2025) – First 5 LA President and CEO Karla Pleitéz Howell has been appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to serve as a member of the State’s Early Childhood Policy Council. Pleitéz Howell joins a distinguished and diverse group of national experts, practitioners, and parents, who will help advise the Governor, State Legislature and State Superintendent for Public Instruction on the implementation of California’s Master Plan for Early Learning.
In this volunteer, appointed role, Pleitéz Howell will bring a focus on the needs of L.A. County’s youngest children and their families to help advise decisionmakers on policies and practices to improve and strengthen statewide early learning, care and overall development of every child in California, especially those whose families have experienced historic inequities.
“Every child deserves the chance to be healthy and to thrive in nurturing, safe and loving communities. And in times like these that call for urgency, that commitment matters more than ever,” said Pleitéz Howell. “I am honored to be selected by the Governor to serve in this important role to support our state lawmakers in decision-making to strengthen California’s early childhood system and center the needs of young children and families.”
The Council provides recommendations on all aspects of the state’s early childhood system, including support for the demographic, geographic and economic diversity of the state’s children and families. As well as ways the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care and the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education’s final report can be updated and improved. The Council will hold at least four public meetings per year and prepare a formal annual report.
Pleitéz Howell joins newly appointed Council members including, Claire Ramsey, Chief Deputy Director at the California Department of Social Services and newly appointed Council Chair; Ristyn Woolley, Director of the California Head Start Collaboration Office at the California Department of Social Services; Stephen Propheter, Director of the Early Education Division at the California Department of Education; and Diana Ramos, California Surgeon General and Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine.
For more than 20 years, Pleitéz Howell has championed equity through strategic advocacy, coalition building, systems change, and working in partnership for collective impact, ensuring that public investments are directed toward the communities and families most in need. Her work has consistently focused on lifting the voices of those often left out of decision-making and driving transformative change in policies and systems that impact young children.
As Pleitéz Howell takes on this new volunteer leadership role for the state, she will continue as First 5 LA President and CEO, leading the organization’s vision to ensure every child in Los Angeles County is born healthy and thrives in a nurturing, safe and loving community.
To view the official announcement from Governor Newsom’s press office, visit: Governor Newsom announces appointments 10.28.25 | Governor of California.
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