CONNECT25

November 5-7, 2025 | Salt Lake City, UT

Hundreds of advocates and early childhood policy experts gathered in Salt Lake City for CONNECT25, the convening of the Alliance network. Building the community that accelerates advocacy is what CONNECT is all about. We share strategies, successes, and setbacks with our peers from across the country. We catch up with each other and strengthen the relationships that we lean on throughout the year. And we continue to build our skills for working collaboratively in our own states, so we can continue growing the strength and diversity of voices for young children and their families.

There was a lot of great content shared at CONNECT25, and we’ve captured much of it on the session pages below. Click the session link for the downloads and resources for that session.

Session Resources and Downloads

Day One

Opening Celebration—Celebrating 20 Years: The Impact of Us

Comfort vs Courage: Disrupting Power to Center Family Voice and Belonging

Top 10 Actions Advocates Can Take in Response to the OBBB Act

Understanding Virtual Communities: How Moms, Momfluencers, and Online Educators are Shaping Opinions and Reshaping Advocacy

Administrative Advocacy: The Not-So-Secret Sauce to Move Policy and Drive Effective Implementation

All Politics is Local: Partnering for Change with Rural and Small Town America

Day Two

Charting the Path to Winning in a Tumultuous Political Landscape: A Community Meeting with Alliance Allies

WORKSHOP: How to Have Difficult Conversations (with Amanda Ripley and Hélène Biandudi Hofer from Good Conflict)

WORKSHOP: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Building Powerful Coalitions to Advance Early Childhood Policy (with Celesté Martinez from Celestial Alegria)