Cortaiga Collins is the founder and Executive Director of Good Shepherd Early Learning Center, with locations in Warrenton and North St. Louis, Missouri. Cortaiga obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, her Bachelor of Science in Child Development and Teaching certificate from Central Methodist University, and her MBA in Business Administration and Management from Webster University, all while raising her children. She is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Missouri – Columbia pursuing her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.

Her own experiences with low-quality childcare facilities and providers encouraged her academic and entrepreneurial pursuit of early childhood education. She opened the doors of Good Shepherd in 2009 and grew the business to a million-dollar enterprise. In 2014 she expanded her service model to address the needs of families and caregivers through the establishment of her non-profit organization, the Foundation for Strengthening Families. 2023 was the year she expanded Good Shepherd to Warren County and it was the inaugural programming year for her Show Me Family Zone. The Show Me Family Zone is a 5-block development with facilities and programming to encourage family-centered economic empowerment, including the region's first all-male preschool designed to meet the unique academic and social needs of boys living in poverty. Cortaiga holistically addresses early childhood education in and outside of the classroom, with specific attention to the historically disinvested communities of Warren County, Wells-Goodfellow, West End, and Hamilton Heights.

Cortaiga is senior pastor of Good Shepherd Community Outreach Church a non-denominational church in St. Louis. She and her husband live in west St. Louis County with their only daughter. They have five adult sons and four granddaughters.