Rebecca is a globally known leader in policy and systems change for ECD, with nearly 30 years of experience working in public policy and education for governments and nongovernmental organizations. As part of her role at SmartStart, she has been seconded to South Africa’s Department of Education as Senior Technical Advisor on ECD for the past three years. Since SmartStart’s inception in 2014, Rebecca has contributed across multiple areas, including strategy, policy research and advocacy, platform and program design, and monitoring and evaluation. She has extensive knowledge of the policy and regulatory regimes for ECD in South Africa and has assisted the government in developing new policy, legislation, and funding approaches.