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| Billy Trung |
Men and Early Care and Education Committee
The Men and Early Care and Education Committee (MECE) hosted their fall conference on November 15, 2025.
East Los Angeles College was the site of a recent Men in Early Care and Education event. As expected, the fellas were pushing the envelope once again. Attendees arriving from as far away as Silicon Valley and Sacramento Valley were treated to another unique learning experience.
The Men and Early Care and Education Committee (MECE), under the leadership of committee chair Billy Truong, brought together a thought-provoking collection of speakers to address ways in which early educators can better serve children that have experienced challenging childhoods.
In what may be a first for CAAEYC members, attendees were greeted by a pair of Harley Davidson motorcycles at the entrance of their event, courtesy of Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA). BACA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to offering support to empower children that have experienced child abuse or neglect. BACA Members from Los Angeles and Orange Counties were present in force. Sonny (President of the Los Angeles Chapter) and Lil Trout (Agency Liaison of the Orange County Chapter) shared a powerful presentation on how they support children that have been abused, threatened or otherwise endangered. The children are provided with primary contacts in the BACA organization that they can call upon when they need support. BACA carefully vets prospective members. To learn more about BACA - https://bacaworld.org/
Mark Winkler was on hand to speak about Father-Con. Father-Con was founded to combat human trafficking, emphasizing the role that fathers play in building a solid sense of self-esteem and self-worth in their children. The importance of men having a positive, responsible, respectful and protective presence in the lives of children is a significant argument for male engagement and professional workforce development, and for a commitment by men to be deserving of the trust of the children in their lives. To learn more about Father-Con, visit https://www.fathercon.org/about
Donald Williams III has been a consistent supporter of the Men in Early Childhood Education movement for more than a decade. Originally implementing father engagement activities at a Head Start program in Los Angeles, he expanded his efforts. The DAD Project now offers services to families in Southern California and Louisiana and has been featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Donald Williams III is a wonderful collaborator and has actively supported a number of CAAEYC activities over the years. To learn what Donald and his team are up to - https://www.dadproject.org/about
The Men and Early Childhood and Education Committee also recognized two of their committee members, (recently retired early childhood education professionals) Dr. Dean Tagawa and Gregory Uba for their selfless work that has paved the way for many others to follow.
Dr. Dean Tagawa spent more than 35 years with LAUSD, last served as the executive director for the early education division. In fact, during Dr. Tagawa’s early career days – he was the substitute teacher for Billy Truong’s (MECE Committee Chair) very own fifth grade classroom. Dr. Tagawa was Billy’s first male teacher and later became his mentor. Dr. Tagawa has inspired so many of his students by being the great male role model and exceptional leader all throughout his career.
Gregory Uba has worked with children and families since 1981. He has been an early educator, youth mentor and an inspirational leader for men in childcare professions. Gregory has never been one to shy away from going against the societal norm when it comes to advocacy for his students and fellow educators. In fact, it was through Gregory Uba that Billy Truong was guided in the direction to support and eventually join the CAAEYC MECE Committee. He was also one of the biggest supporters during the inception of the DAD Project. Donald Williams III had met Gregory right before the DAD Project was created. It was during this meeting in 2014 that Donald, Billy and Greg first met and the synergy was undeniable. Since then, the collaboration has never ended.
Moving forward, the MECE Committee hopes to continue the work of supporting and recruiting more men into this field. We will have a few of our members presenting at this year’s CAAEYC conference from April 24-26 at the Pasadena Convention Center. If you are planning to attend this event, please come by and say hi! We are always looking to network with other education professionals and collaborate in any way we can.