Over the past four centuries, racist policies in our country have been central to the creation of pervasive systems, practices, and perceptions that rob and constrain children of color from birth—generation after generation.
So we at the Alliance for Early Success believe the only way we’ll achieve our vision is through policy changes that dismantle the structural racism that causes disparity from the beginning. As we work toward our mission of creating an early childhood policy advocacy community that secures the policies and investments essential for every young child to thrive, we know we must center racial equity.
Allies for Antiracism is our commitment to centering racial equity in our strategic planning and in the community building that is central to our work.
Our Allies for Antiracism initiative has three pillars:
We will continually name the racism that permeates all aspects of the opportunities to succeed for many of our nation’s children and families.
We will continually learn and self-assess as professionals and as an organization.
We will continually collaborate with state allies and the national organizations that support their work to hear where they are and what they need, and will follow through with technical efforts to help them pursue policies that dismantle racism and undo racial disparities.
The Alliance began this journey in 2015 when we convened a racial equity advisory group to guide the revision of our policy framework, and we are continuing the learning, conversation, and practice that will help us — and the early childhood allies in our national community — get increasingly effective in centering racial equity.
Additional components of the work currently include:
In this statement released to its national network, the Alliance for Early Success denounced the terrorist acts of January 6, 2021, and the racism evident in the entire crisis.
Experts from Child Trends offer a critical look at data and racial equity in early childhood policy, as well as a dive into how to incorporate racial equity principles into early childhood policy advocacy work.
“Racial inequity is a problem of bad policy, not bad people,” says best-selling author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. On the heels of the election, we’ll hear about racist and antiracist policy, and will get answers to questions posed by state early childhood advocates about state policy.
A national workgroup of early childhood advocacy organizations convened by the Alliance for Early Success has released the Build Stronger Child Care Policy Roadmap, a comprehensive guide to help child care advocates across the country focus and align their priorities as state governments and federal agencies work to rebuild the nation’s child care system.
This Alliance for Early Success National Issues>State Action featured dynamic presentations by Allison Blake, CEO of Child and Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut and former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families and Jeremy Kohomban, President and CEO of The Children’s Village and President of Harlem Dowling. Both are leading figures in child welfare practice and policy.
In a keynote presentation and then in a smaller discussion group with state early childhood advocates, nationally recognized birth-equity voice Dr. Joia Crear-Perry spoke powerfully on structural racism as a key driver of high rates of Black infant and maternal mortality.
EDITORIAL Alliance for Early Success Senior Policy Director Karen Howard reflects on the late Rep. John Lewis and how 1965’s “Bloody Sunday” should inspire us to pursue antiracist policies in early childhood advocacy.
Led by Alliance staff, speakers from the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, the Education and Civil Rights Alliance, and the National Black Child Development Institute, this call demonstrated how advocates can center equity in early childhood advocacy.
Advocates from several states recently began a “beneficiary voices” project that focuses on incorporating deep listening as a crucial component of policy solution development. Dana Hepper, Policy Director at the Children’s Institute (Oregon), recounts the project kickoff — a site visit to the incredibly diverse town of Clarkston, GA.
