Founder of The Evolve Project
Cleta Paige-Cain-Executive Director of The Evolve Project
Cleta D. Paige-Cain is the Executive Director of Child Care Alliance and the creator of The Evolve Project. She has over 21 years of experience working with children from 6 weeks to 18 years of age. Cleta has received both a Bachelors and Masters in Special Education.
Cleta worked for the State of Tennessee for ten years as a Counselor with youth in a residential treatment facility. In that role, Mrs. Paige-Cain was an intricate part of the team of professionals who developed treatment modalities for children 6-18 years old who displayed severe mental health and behavior problems. Cleta facilitated skill streaming groups and developed individual goals for each client in her care. Ms Paige-Cain was also trained in Crisis Prevention Intervention, conflict resolution, problem solving, and mediation.
The program was excellent and speaks to our brand of being who you are and treating others with respect !
“Truly one of the best programs and it blends in seamlessly into our efforts to prevent bullying”
Mrs. Paige-Cain has been the Executive Director of Child Care Alliance for over 16 years. During that time she built a successful per-kindergarten and after school program. Cleta was also responsible for the largest after school transportation program in Nashville, which provided transportation for 21 inner city schools! The program then "evolved" into a performance art, anti bullying and positive self esteem initiative when national headlines along with technology necessitated a different approach to address the concerns of tolerance and bullying!
Cleta knows how it feels to be bullied as she was bullied all through middle, high school and her freshman year of college. “I was spit on. Children made animal sounds when I passed by. I found pictures of farm animals cut out and placed in my locker! Bullying affects every aspect of a child’s educational experience to the point children drop out of school or desire not to further their education because of bullying incidents. I wanted to create an anti bullying program which educates youth but does not cause them to tune out. The Evolve Project calls young people into action to not stand by and watch bullying happen.
“Growing up in Chicago, life presented many obstacles. One such issue resulted in having to sleep in my car. I believe my life has a very different positive outcome because I was fortunate to have some very caring people around me; people who revealed my individual intelligence and potential. I truly enjoy working with children and families and feel our role as adults is to create environments that allow our children to experience success!”