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.
Parents know their children better than anyone. They are experts in their child’s well-being, understanding not only their daily needs
Peer collaboration and idea exchange among advocates is a big part of the Alliance network’s success, and that powerful effect is especially clear when it comes to Allies’ work to collaborate on fostering parent leadership in early childhood policy advocacy.
The Child Care for Oregon coalition has implemented a new process that sets its policy agenda by first asking parents and practitioners to name the barriers they face and describe the future they envision for child care in Oregon.
Missouri advocates learned from Alliance network peers in Ohio as they created the grassroots network that advances an early childhood agenda by placing those most directly impacted by state policy to the forefront of advocacy.
Your Voice Matters, South Carolina’s centralized community feedback initiative, is showing impressive family response rates, shaping policies, and engaging and educating state legislators on the impact of supporting early childhood programs and services.
Maine’s Right from the Start Coalition—a diverse, bipartisan group of organizations working for high-quality and accessible early care and education—helped pass a multi-faceted child care bill and helped defeat proposed budget cuts.
Statewide engagement is vital to building a strong early childhood infrastructure that is responsive to families’ diverse needs and where educators are recognized and supported. Advocates who want to see what this looks like in practice need look no further than North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, and Louisiana—where coalitions and organizations are transforming new statewide learning and relationships into tangible plans.
In partnership with the Alliance for Early Success, ZERO TO THREE has launched a collaboration community to support Alliance state grantees in elevating family voice and cultivating their leadership in advocacy and policy. A key focus of the community is exploring strategies to shift organizational culture and systems in ways that support meaningful partnership with families from the beginning of policy agenda development through the policy implementation process.
State allies in the Alliance for Early Success network recently gathered to discuss how they approach “community engagement” in their work. The group considered a range of questions as they shared their community engagement experiences and explored the nuances of authentic partnerships.
