Celebrating 55 years
As part of Illinois Action for Children’s 55th Anniversary year, we are thrilled to share that this year’s Partner Plan Act conference theme is Equity from the Start: Strengthening Relationships for Systems Change.
Our Mission: We envision a future where local communities work together to provide holistic, equitable support for children from birth to age five, centering family voice and equity. While the early childhood landscape is complex and fragmented, community collaborations and early childhood leaders don’t have to navigate this environment alone.
This directory acts as a reference guide to help you understand a bit about each early childhood community collaboration in our state. Use it to connect with a collaboration in your area or to connect with others doing similar work.
In our past conferences, we centered racial equity as a core value in community systems development. We put this into action by shifting power to those most impacted by the early childhood education and care (ECEC) system, specifically parents and families, direct service providers, and community members. We identified obstacles and opportunities in transforming these power dynamics.
As part of Illinois Action for Children’s 55th Anniversary year, we are thrilled to share that this year’s Partner Plan Act conference theme is Equity from the Start: Strengthening Relationships for Systems Change.
Building relationships requires time, intentionality, tenacity, and a willingness to keep showing up, yet the investment is deeply rewarding. It grounds us and deepens our roots in communities and partnerships, nourishing and sustaining us in our work in creating long-lasting equitable changes in our local ECEC community systems.
We hope that our audience of collaboration leaders, early childhood care and education providers, school district officials, parents, community members, regional and community stakeholders, and partners will take away from the conference a renewed sense of commitment, motivation, and hope to continue advancing racial equity in their local collaborations.
To launch our conference, Maria Hinojosa will give the opening keynote address. 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.
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.