About Dolen

- Hi! My name is Dolena, and I'm 30 years old. I started caring for children when I was 11, helping with my younger cousins, and as the oldest of 11 siblings, I've been surrounded by kids my whole life. At 19, I began working professionally with children, and for the past three and a half years, I've been a childcare director. My family runs a childcare center in Portland and is also a foster care family, so caring for little ones has always been a big part of who we are. In fact, childcare runs deep in my family history-my grandmother was a nanny and cared for children in orphanages in what is now South Sudan. Along with childcare, I love creative activities like crocheting, knitting, painting, beading, braiding, and nail art (I'm currently in nail tech school!). I enjoy learning about coding, geography, history, plants, and wildlife-things I often share with kids to spark their curiosity.