The Alliance for Early Success launched its Family Voice Institute this summer to work with state-based policy advocates across the country to give family voice a central role in their agenda setting and advocacy. In support of this family voice effort, the Alliance is partnering with The National Center for Family and Parent Leadership (NCFPL), powered by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), to support the Family Voice Institute. Earlier this year, the Alliance published a Family Engagement Framework for state advocates, co-developed by NCFPL with input from the Alliance network.
As part of this initiative, the Alliance launched a Family Voice Capacity Building Mini-Grant, an opportunity for state advocates designed to help advocacy organizations strengthen their partnerships with families. The six-month $15,000 mini-grants provide flexible funding paired with customized technical assistance provided by NCFPL and other partners in Alliance’s Responsive Support Network to help advocates take steps toward equitable family engagement. The goal is to strengthen the structures and practices needed to share power with families and ensure their expertise and lived experiences help shape policy solutions.
Through the grant and technical assistance, organizations can work to:
- Strengthen practices that elevate family voice in decision-making.
- Develop or refine structures that support ongoing, reciprocal family partnerships.
- Shift internal culture, norms and expectations around power-sharing.
- Create or improve processes that compensate, support and protect families participating in policy work.
- Build a shared understanding of authentic family engagement and how to embed it within organizational practices.
The first round of Family Voice mini-grants is supporting eight organizations across the country as they strengthen family engagement, expand parent leadership, and build more meaningful opportunities for families to shape policy and advocacy. They include:
- Advocates for Children of New Jersey
- The Schuyler Center (New York)
- Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS)
- Children’s Action Network (Hawai’i)
- Maryland Family Network
- Early Futures Partnership (First Five Nebraska)
- Children’s Alliance (Washington State)
- United Way of Central Indiana
These organizations are demonstrating what it can look like to move beyond engaging families to sharing leadership and decision-making power with them. The lessons and practices gained from this work will help inform the Alliance for Early Success and NCFPL as they continue to support stronger family partnerships in early childhood advocacy efforts in states.