Rooted in Experience
GROWN — Built Around You
Practical coaching, consultancy, and mentoring for leaders, childcare business owners, and emerging entrepreneurs navigating leadership, licensing, compliance, and quality in Early Childhood Education.
ABOUT GROWN
One-to-one expert guidance and coaching with Alina Lopez Thomas.
Alina Lopez Thomas serves as the heart of the Greater Resource for Women Networks (G.R.O.W.N.), providing a bespoke and attentive pathway to professional excellence. Alina is the Founder/Owner, and Former Metro Boston Regional Director and Licensing Specialist.
As your expert consultant, Alina leverages over four decades of mastery in Early Childhood Education, spanning influential government oversight roles to strategic non-profit leadership. This independent practice allows her to mentor leaders personally through the intricacies of quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and team growth. With empathetic guidance and seasoned wisdom, Alina helps you refine your educational vision into a robust, high-quality, and sustainable program.
Your Roadmap to ECE Success
Grown was founded by a woman who has spent years working in early childhood education an industry built and sustained largely by women, and in particular, Black and Brown women whose labor, expertise, and care have shaped this field for generations. That contribution deserves to be named and honored, not overlooked, and it's part of why this work matters so personally to me.
While Grown proudly serves early education leaders of every background, I'm grateful to do this work in a field shaped by the women who came before me.
How We’re Different
Most child care consulting firms take a one-size-fits-all approach, applying generic best practices across states with very different rules. GROWN is different: I focus specifically on Massachusetts programs and the standards set by the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), so the guidance you get isn't generalized advice it's built around the actual regulations you're required to meet under 606 CMR 7.00. Every recommendation, handbook, and policy I help you build reflects real Massachusetts requirements, not a national template retrofitted to fit. I also work with you personally, one-on-one — not through a call center or a rotating cast of consultants. Whether you're opening your first center or working through a compliance challenge at an established program, you're getting direct guidance from someone who's spent years in this field, not a checklist handed off by a large firm.
Who I Work With
I work with new programs and start-ups navigating provisional licensure, established programs facing licensing challenges or non-compliance findings, and program leaders who simply want a second set of eyes on their handbooks, staffing structure, or daily operations.
New Programs & Start-Ups
If you're opening your first center, I know how overwhelming the path to licensure can feel the paperwork, the handbooks, the inspections, the sheer number of moving pieces before you can open your doors. I work alongside you from the very beginning, helping you navigate the provisional licensing process, build the required policies and handbooks from scratch, and set up an administrative structure that's ready for real day-to-day operation, not just ready for the application. My goal is to get you to opening day with confidence, not just paperwork checked off a list.
Established Programs & Leaders
Even experienced, well-run programs can hit a wall a licensing renewal that surfaces gaps, a non-compliance finding that needs a real corrective plan, or policies that simply haven't kept pace with how the program has grown. If that's where you are, I help you get a clear, honest picture of what's not meeting standard, build a plan to address it, and put systems in place so it doesn't happen again. This isn't about passing an inspection once it's about building a program that holds up over time. Sometimes you're not in crisis you just want someone with real experience to look at your handbooks, your staffing structure, or your day-to-day operations and tell you honestly what's working and what isn't. I offer that too: a straightforward, experienced perspective from someone who's been in the field, without a sales pitch attached.
Our Services: Mentoring & Strategic Consulting
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180 US dollars
Ended
200 US dollars
1 hr
150 US dollars
Why leaders trust Alina
Former Regional Director at the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, leading quality and regulatory oversight for 2,800+ child care facilities in the Boston Metro Region.
Hands-on background as a Program Supervisor and Center Based Licensing Specialist, with deep insight into classroom operations, safety investigations, and licensing requirements.
Creative Director for Greater Resource of Women Networks, combining entrepreneurship support with formal training in management and ECE leadership (B.S. in Management, Cambridge College).
Graduate of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice Core Social Impact Management and Leadership Program, bringing a strong equity-focused, social impact lens to every engagement.
Professional Rates
Transparent pricing for coaching sessions, consultations, and project-based consulting tailored to your program's specific needs.
Service
Discovery Consultation
Rate
Leadership Coaching
Free / 30 min
Four-Session Package
$150 / 60 min
Licensing Start-Up
$550
Center Walkthrough
$225 / 90 min (virtual)
Compliance Review
$200 on-site center walkthrough
Project-Based Consulting
$1,100 full day
$750–$2,500
Ready to build a stronger program?
Connect with us to schedule a complimentary 30-minute discovery consultation. We are dedicated to supporting early education leaders in Boston and beyond.
Grown is an independent consulting practice and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). All licensing decisions, inspections, and compliance determinations remain the sole authority of EEC.
Boston, Massachusetts
amlthomas71@gmail.com
Own your leadership with the expert guidance you deserve to thrive.
Resources for Early Education Leaders
These curated guides and tools help Massachusetts ECE programs with leadership, licensing, and compliance.
Leadership & Staff Development Guide
Build strong ECE teams and foster professional growth within your center.
Join the GROWN Network
Highlighting ways to join, connect, and collaborate within a supportive professional community designed specifically for women educators.
Join the Network
Connect with a growing group of early education professionals dedicated to excellence and collective growth.
Attend Events & Workshops
Participate in specialized training and networking sessions designed to sharpen your leadership and compliance skills.
Share Your Voice
Contribute to the conversation and stay informed with the latest insights from the GROWN community blog.