The Alliance for Early Success is a 50-state resource for early-childhood advocates as they pursue the big, sustained impact that will ensure every child in every state, birth through age eight, has an equal chance to grow, learn, and succeed.
New Futures learned that many coalition partners did not engage in advocacy because many of their funding sources prohibited advocacy or gave unclear guidance on allowed activities. To overcome this barrier, New Futures developed their Advocacy Field Grant program with support from their Alliance for Early Success grant.
New Mexico’s Constitutional Amendment 1 passed with 70% of the vote. Advocates at OLÉ—part of the Alliance’s New Mexico Child Care NEXT coalition—worked with field partners at Vote Yes for Kids who had never worked on early childhood education issues before. But the staff and members understood what a victory would mean for the state’s communities and the country. The Constitutional Amendment authorizes a 1.25% increase in the annual appropriations of the fund, with 60% of the incremental revenue to support programs for children age 0-5.
The Alliance for Early Success is launching a new community of practice for state advocacy organizations to increase their capacity to engage in authentic and impactful partnerships rooted in lived experiences and the values of racial equity and shared power. The Centering Parent and Practitioner Power Community of Practice (CPPP) will be a nine-month experience dedicated to courageous conversations to deepen understanding, appreciation, and skills to equitably value the expertise of community members in policy and advocacy work.
Illinois advocates worked with the state legislature and the Pritzker administration to pass Public Act 102-926. The approved legislation includes proposals developed by the state’s Early Learning Council, with support from Start Early and Illinois Action for Children. The Council’s recommendations were informed by the lived experiences of parents who access early childhood services for their children.
Advocates at NC Child partnered with the NC Early Childhood Foundation to launch the EarlyWell Initiative in 2019 to lead the implementation of recommendations from the Pathways to Grade-Level Reading Action Framework. The EarlyWell initiative is informed by the voices of parents and caregivers to ensure that system best reflects the needs and lived experiences of North Carolina communities.
In April, the Alliance convened a peer learning group led by advocates who have been successful in building and leveraging local champions to shift priorities in states without strong track records in supporting young children and their families.
The Alliance for Early Success and ZERO TO THREE (ZTT) launched a new cohort of Emerging Leaders in Infant and Toddler Policy. The target audience for this community of practice (CoP) is leaders who are new to infant and toddler policy and advocacy, and who have limited access to peer-based professional development opportunities.
Nevada allies at the Children’s Advocacy Alliance (CAA) have convened parents since 2019 through their Strong Start for Children Parent Ambassador program, which mobilizes parents to become involved in early childhood policy and advocacy. The program relaunched virtually in 2021, transforming its outreach efforts to be more equitable and representative of Nevada’s communities.
Every two months, the Child Care NEXT state teams come together for a peer learning session on critical issues that
In 2019, advocates and community partners from around the state of Louisiana came together to make young children a priority issue in the governor’s race. In this webinar, we see how this diverse Louisiana early childhood coalition works — and its success in making early childhood a policy priority.
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