“Movements are born of critical connections rather than critical mass.”
― Grace Lee Boggs, The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century
CS3 Updates
Registration is LIVE for Partner Plan Act Conference!
Equity from the Start: Strengthening Relationships for Systems Change
As part of Illinois Action for Children’s 55th Anniversary year, we are thrilled to share that this year’s Partner Plan Act annual conference theme is Equity from the Start: Strengthening Relationships for Systems Change.
This year, we will focus on relationships, the core building blocks of early childhood education and care (ECEC) collaborations and systems change. Strengthening relationships allows for true empathy and authentic connections to develop in collaborations, further opening conversations to voices that have historically been excluded. It creates space for innovative solutions as those most impacted by the ECEC system are empowered to use their lived-experiences and knowledge to inform systems change.
Introducing Our Keynote Speakers!
Opening Keynote Speaker: Maria Hinojosa
Maria Hinojosa is the Pulitzer Prize-winning founder of Futuro Media based in New York City. She has written four books, won multiple awards, and is the Anchor and Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino US. These days her focus is deep accountability investigative journalism. Click here to learn more.
Closing Keynote Speaker: Stacey Abrams
Political leader, business owner, and bestselling author Stacey Abrams is heralded for her candid insights on politics, leadership, entrepreneurship, social justice, and being a true force for change. A tax attorney by training, Abrams served eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Minority Leader, and became the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018 and 2022. She has launched multiple nonprofit organizations devoted to democracy protection, national and local voter engagement, tackling social issues, and building a more equitable future in the South. Click here to learn more.
Stay tuned for more information and announcements!
CS3’s Illinois Early Childhood Community Collaboration Profile
CS3 is excited to collect details on your collaboration to include in the online directory & interactive collaboration map. Please complete all the fields in the form and submit by Monday, April 1.
Once the online directory is live, a link will be shared with all collaborations statewide. To view the sixth edition of the collaboration profiles, click here. For questions, contact Project Manager Yolanda Ortiz.
CS3’s Annual Training Needs Assessment 2024
The CS3’s yearly Training Needs Assessment is now live! The survey takes 2-3 minutes to complete and will help inform the future content of our On-Demand Learning courses, Partner Plan Act conference sessions, and trainings.
Please share the Training Needs Assessment with other community collaboration members. We want to hear from as many people as possible to ensure we are responding to the community’s training needs.!
For questions, contact Community Impact Data and Knowledge Manager Hannah Miro.
Resources
On-Demand Consultation
On-Demand Consultation is a support for early childhood collaborations tackling a specific, short–term issue. Collaborations are paired with a consultant based on the need and collaborations can receive up to 20 hours of consultation. Below are some topics that collaborations can receive support around:
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Governance
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Data
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Equity
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Systems thinking
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Family engagement
To see the complete list of topic areas, learn more, and request this support, complete the form here.
Printing Support
The CS3 team is excited to offer a new support in partnership with American Color Labs for printing services. If your local early childhood education and care collaboration has marketing materials that you’d like to have printed, please complete this Request for Support form.
The printing support can include flyers, annual reports, marketing collateral, stickers, banners, posters, and more. Please reach out to our team if you have questions about this support. For questions, please contact the CS3 team.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a service provided specifically to ECEC collaborations. We unfortunately will not be accommodating requests for individual programs.
Online Modules
In addition to our trainings, CS3 offers several online modules on the Partner Plan Act website that allow participants to learn at their own pace. To access the modules, sign up for an On-Demand learning account. This month we are highlighting our Community Systems Development for Early Childhood Collaborations module:
Shared intake (also commonly known as coordinated intake) is a Community Systems Development (CSD) strategy that provides families with a single point of entry where their needs for support can be assessed and they can be referred to local services and programs that best fit the family’s needs. This course explores benefits of shared intake, implementation and implementation challenges of shared intake, and how to create a plan for shared intake.