Brian Gutman leads Learning Care’s federal, state, and local advocacy, working with policymakers, regulators, and early childhood education organizations to address access, affordability, quality, and reliability for children and families. His work spans the full policy landscape that shapes early learning — funding and subsidy reform, workforce compensation and credentialing, licensing and background check modernization, and the design of mixed-delivery systems that preserve family choice. He represents Learning Care in legislative hearings, regulatory proceedings, and coalition tables across the country, translating the operational realities of running more than 1,000 schools into concrete recommendations policymakers can act on.

At the heart of that work is a simple conviction: early childhood education is one of the highest-return investments a society can make. The first five years shape how children learn, relate, and thrive for the rest of their lives, and the ripple effects extend across generations — to the parents who can work, study, and build careers because their children are in safe, nurturing care, and to the communities and economies that depend on a strong workforce. Child care is both a developmental imperative for children and essential infrastructure for the people who raise them.

Brian serves as Policy Co-Chair of the Early Care and Education Consortium, helping steer the consortium’s national advocacy agenda alongside peer providers committed to expanding access to high-quality early learning. In that role, he works to align the early childhood education sector around shared priorities and to bring a unified provider voice to federal and state policy conversations.

Before joining Learning Care, Brian held senior policy and external relations roles at The Education Trust, the New York City Council, and the Committee for Public Counsel Services, building a career at the intersection of education policy, government, and legal advocacy.

Brian holds a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.A. in political science and American public policy from Western Michigan University. He is admitted to the bar in New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan.