Open Doors Preschool CEO Rachel McIntyre interviewed by WGCU NEWS
Rachel McIntyre of Open Doors Preschools Named SBDC Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year 2026
Southwest Florida’s leading early childhood education CEO honored for 21 years of building the standard in licensed, accredited, community-centered early learning
Rachel McIntyre, founder and CEO of Open Doors Preschools / Early Learning Group, has been named the 2026 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year by the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Florida Gulf Coast University, the highest entrepreneurship honor awarded by the SBDC network in Southwest Florida.
McIntyre was recognized at the SBDC at FGCU awards ceremony on May 6, 2026, in front of the region’s business and civic leadership community. She was selected from a pool of 100 nominees across Southwest Florida. She is a mother of five children and a third-generation early childhood education professional who has spent her entire career building something she believes the industry has long needed: a proof point that quality, accreditation, and professional wages are not aspirations. They are standards.
“I built Open Doors so I could be with my own children and create the kind of environment I wanted them to grow up in. But I also know how critical it is when you do have to leave your child somewhere. You want to know that the place is transparent, licensed, and genuinely quality. We don’t just say we’re a quality program. We prove it. Gold Seal accreditation, Great Place to Work, always-on customer listening. These things are the solid evidence that we welcome independent evaluation.” |
For McIntyre, accreditation is not a credential to hang on a wall. It is a daily practice.
“Some people see accreditation as a goal to be achieved. We know it is actually an experience that you live every day.” |
What that means in practice: independent evaluation that holds Open Doors accountable to doing the right things for the right reasons. Clean, safe environments where children can focus on learning and growing. Teachers who are trained and empowered to adjust their approach based on each child’s individual needs. The outcomes speak for themselves. Research consistently shows that children who attend high-quality early education programs demonstrate stronger skills in math, language, and cognition, and are better equipped to build lasting interpersonal relationships.
“Accreditation is how we build trust with families and the community. It’s how a parent drops their child off in the morning and actually feels good about it, not just okay about it. That feeling matters. We earn it every single day.” |
Today, Open Doors / Early Learning Group operates five Gold Seal-accredited early childhood education centers across Southwest Florida, employing approximately 160 people and serving nearly 1,000 children annually. Open Doors holds Gold Seal accreditation, Florida’s highest designation for childcare quality, across all of its locations simultaneously, along with A.P.P.L.E. and NAC accreditation, and Great Place to Work certification, a distinction earned through rigorous employee feedback and culture standards.
“Winning this award matters to me because of what it means for my employees and for this industry. We have built our pay scale on actual data. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, regional economic trends, real numbers. We approach compensation intentionally, and it feels meaningful to be able to tie what’s happening in our economy directly to what our staff take home. Early childhood educators deserve that kind of intentionality. Most of them have never experienced it.” |
McIntyre’s long-term organizational vision, formalized as Open Doors’ BHAG,* is to empower 10,000 women by 2035 through careers, professional development, and community impact in the early childhood education sector.
“I’ve stayed in this industry for 21 years because I genuinely believe I can do it better than anyone else. That’s not arrogance. It’s conviction. Our industry lacks professionalization, and I am here to change that. Because when we professionalize early childhood education, everything improves: teacher compensation, family experience, child outcomes. Everything. That’s why I’m still here. That’s why I’ll keep going.” |
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