Ginger Ward is the founder and chief executive officer of Southwest Human Development. Founded in 1981 with a staff of only six serving 175 children and families, Southwest Human Development has grown to be Arizona’s largest nonprofit dedicated to early childhood development with more than 850 employees, serving 135,000 young children and their families each year.

Under Ginger’s direction, the agency has established a national reputation for leadership and high-quality services in the early childhood fields of education, mental health, family support, disabilities services, and training. Ginger has made a significant contribution to the early childhood field in Arizona by ensuring that the latest best practices and research are used to create programs and to educate parents, professionals, and policy makers about the importance of children’s earliest years to later development.

Ginger sits on a variety of boards and committees charged with forming policy on and improving services for children and families, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Arizona Chapter Board of Directors; BUILD Steering Committee; Children’s Action Alliance Health and Early Care and Education Committee; Educare Arizona Board of Directors; Educare National Leadership Council; First Things First South Phoenix Regional Partnership Council and Health Committee; Arizona Department of Economic Security Child Care Advisory Committee; Healthy Families Steering Committee; Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Task Force; Maricopa County Family Support Alliance Steering Committee and Capacity Building Subcommittee; and the ZERO TO THREE National Board of Directors.