Champion for Children & Families Award Winner 2025

Champion for Children & Families Award Winner

Introducing Erin Lyons our esteemed awardee for this year’s Champions for Children Award, recognizing her outstanding efforts in the community. We are pleased to award Ms. Lyons’ efforts during this Child Abuse Prevention Month and commend her dedication to addressing the intricate web of poverty and creating a brighter future for children in our community. 

Erin Lyons is the Chief Executive Officer of Child-Parent Centers Inc., the Head Start and Early Head Start grantee for Southeastern Arizona encompassing five counties. She brings a wealth of experience in education, child welfare, behavioral health, and nonprofit leadership, making her a dedicated advocate for early childhood development and family services.

Before joining Child-Parent Centers in October 2014, Erin served as Senior Regional Director for First Things First, Arizona’s statewide early childhood initiative. In this role, she collaborated with Regional Partnership Councils in Pima and Santa Cruz counties, as well as the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Tohono O’odham Nation. She oversaw the planning and implementation of annual budgets that allocated nearly $100 million in grants and contracts for early childhood and family education services across Southeastern Arizona.

Erin’s career began in the classroom, teaching preschool students at Marva Collins’ Westside Preparatory School in Chicago. She went on to teach at various grade levels, from first grade through high school, gaining firsthand experience in education. Her professional journey also includes managing adolescent residential facilities and engaging in community and organizational development initiatives.

In addition to her leadership in education, Erin has been actively involved in the nonprofit sector in Tucson. She has held senior administrative roles and contributed as a volunteer to organizations such as COPE Community Services, the Behavioral Health Coalition of Southern Arizona, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona’s First Focus on Kids Impact Council, and the Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children. Her expertise spans community partnerships, strategic planning, budgeting, quality assurance, compliance, and organizational development.

Erin pursued her undergraduate studies at Yale University before completing a Bachelor of Science in Education at Northwestern University. She later earned her Master of Public Administration from the University of Arizona’s Eller College.

A longtime Tucson resident, Erin is deeply committed to strengthening early childhood education and community support systems in Southeastern Arizona. She has developed strong connections with many programs and individuals in the Tucson community and is highly respected among her colleagues for her professionalism,

Call For Nominations & Award Ceremony

Award Winners have been selected for 2025. Please email development@cfraz.org for more information regarding future nominees.

Click here to learn more about Child Abuse Prevention Month.