Join Us May 7th & 8th!

Maria Hinojosa will open our conference with a 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.

Equity from the Start: Strengthening Relationships for Systems Change

In our past conferences, we centered racial equity as a core value in community systems development work. 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.

This year, we will focus on relationships, the core building blocks of ECEC collaborations and systems change. Strengthening relationships allow 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.

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, sustaining our work and nourishing our commitment in creating long-lasting, equitable changes in our local ECEC community systems.

We hope that our audience of collaboration leaders, school district officials, parents, community members, 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.

This year, we will focus on relationships, the core building blocks of ECEC collaborations and systems change. We’re so excited about this year’s keynote speakers: Maria Hinojosa, Pulitzer Prize-winning founder of Futuro Media, and Stacey Abrams, political leader and social justice advocate.