Susan Gale Perry

Susan Gale Perry currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA).

Prior to returning to CCAoA, Susan served as Chief Deputy Secretary of Opportunity and Well-being for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). In this role, Susan led 15 divisions and offices, including Early Care and Education, Child and Family Well-Being, Aging and Adult Services, Economic Services, Public Policy, Communications, Government Affairs and Data Strategy. While at NCDHHS, Susan led the creation of a Governor-directed Early Childhood Action Plan, galvanizing support for measurable progress in early childhood health, learning and well-being; spearheaded cross-system action to address the complex behavioral health needs of those in the child welfare system; launched North Carolina’s Division of Child and Family Well-being; and managed multiple aspects of the state’s COVID-10 response, including developing strategy and building capacity to successfully support the state’s child care infrastructure and workforce so nurses, doctors, and others could provide essential services and developing one of the nation’s first pandemic-EBT programs in order to provide more than $2B in critical food assistance benefits to nearly 1.5 million of North Carolina’s children.

Susan’s greatest passion is uplifting the voices, inspirations, power and accomplishments of the diverse and remarkable professionals working across public and private early childhood settings to help every child grow healthy, resilient and independent in safe and nurturing families, child care programs and schools, and communities.