Sheila Hoyle has served as Executive Director of Southwestern Child Development Commission Inc. (SWCDC) since 1987, and is responsible for all programmatic and fiscal operations of the private non-profit agency serving the seven western counties of North Carolina and the Qualla Indian Boundary.

Southwestern operates 10 child development centers and serves approximately 2,000 children per day through direct service and contracted services. Several centers are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and several are Certified Developmental Day Centers by the NC DCDEE. The agency operates the Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agency for Region 8, and is one of three partners in the North Carolina CCR&R Council providing R & R services for the State of NC via a contract with the NC DCDEE. Southwestern employs approximately 250 staff, including part-time and temporary staff, with funding derived from a diversity of grant programs and from state and federal funding sources. The agency is also the fiscal manager for all subsidized child care money for the seven departments of social services in the region. More recently, contracts have been awarded to Southwestern for the management of subsidized child care administration in Buncombe, Rutherford, McDowell and Yancey Counties. In 1999, the Subsidized Child Care Unit was awarded the statewide Smart Start Award for subsidized child care delivery system. In addition to managing the federal child care funds for these counties, Southwestern also manages the Smart Start Child Child Care Subsidy Funds for the same counties. Several community college systems in the region contract Child Care Grant Programs and the Community College Child Care Funds.  Southwestern was the fiduciary agent for the successful needs assessment campaign of the Region A Child and Youth Planning Council, Our Children: Today and Tomorrow. In 1993, Southwestern was the applicant agency for the successful award of The North Carolina Early Childhood Initiative, Smart Start, for Region A. The agency provides leadership to business and industry and other community human service agencies in the area for Early Childhood Education. The agency was awarded a demonstration grant by the North Carolina Division of Child Development in 1998 to study placement of children with special needs in Family Day Care Homes and the support systems to enable home providers to provide this service.

Sheila was appointed to the State Smart Start Board of Governors in January 2009, has served on the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (now Child Care Aware of America), served on the N.C. Partnership for Children board from 2009-2016, serves on the Subsidy Advisory Committee for the NC DCDEE from 2002-present, and was the recipient of the Jim and Carolyn Hunt Early Leadership Award in 2004, as well as many other service and awards and memberships. Sheila holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Social Work from Western Carolina University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Western Carolina University. She is a Charter Member of the Early Childhood Leadership Fellows at UNC-Chapel Hill.