Last week, we hosted the summer convening of The Early Childhood Agenda on Wednesday, June 28 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thank you to all those who were able to join us!
Here’s a quick recap:
The Early Childhood Agenda Continues
Earlier this year, the Early Childhood Agenda named 10 priorities for the next two years. On June 28, Strategies for Children shared an exciting announcement: we are partnering with organizations across the Commonwealth to launch seven workgroups. These emerging workgroups will work in tandem with the established coalitions to address all 10 priorities of The Early Childhood Agenda. We envision two pathways of engagement for partners moving forward:
• Join an established coalition and help advance the priority of your choice. The Agenda names multiple coalitions as lead advocates. These coalitions are Massachusetts-based alliances with advocacy agendas that are aligned with some of The Agenda’s priorities.
• Join an emerging workgroup and let’s work together to develop recommendations and advocacy next steps for the priorities without a lead advocate. The Agenda also highlights gaps in our system and opportunities to lead. We are launching workgroups for seven of our priorities so that our partners can come together and work on equitable and impactful solutions.
Special thanks to our partners who will be facilitating workgroups #2, #4, #6 and #9. Updates coming soon on the workgroups that will address priorities #5, #8 and #10B.
· Priority #2 Workgroup: Amy O’Leary, Strategies for Children
· Priority #6 Workgroup: Eve Gilmore, Edward Street
· Priority #4 Workgroup: Carla Therriault, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley
· Priority #4 Workgroup: Kate Barlow, Massachusetts Act Early
· Priority #9 Workgroup: Allison LeBlanc, Child Health Equity Center at UMass
· Priority #9 Workgroup: Alex Chu and Janet Boswell, Reach Out and Read
Both of last week’s morning and evening sessions, in English and Spanish were recorded to accommodate our growing community of almost 600 partners across the Commonwealth.
Both recordings are available on the Agenda’s YouTube playlist
Click here to view the presentation slides – English
Haga clic aquà para ver las diapositivas de la presentación – Español
The Agenda is available online at www.earlychildhoodagenda.org
The main action you can take this week is to click on the orange button to:
Please complete this sign-up form if you are interested in joining a workgroup for The Early Childhood Agenda. We welcome individuals, organizations, coalitions, and businesses as partners. If you have something to say about early childhood we want to hear from you! After you submit the form, the workgroup facilitator will reach out with further instructions.
| Action | Events | News State Budget Conference Committee Advocacy Priority #3A: Include the $600 per dependent Child and Family Tax Credit Action Alert Learn more about the Healthy Families Tax Credit Coalition Priority #3B: Include 10% cash assistance grant increase starting July 2023 Action Alert Learn more about the Lift Our Kids Coalition Priority #10A: Include universal school meals in the state budget for next school year Action Alert Learn more about the Feed Kids Now Coalition Events Priority #1: Common Start Family-Friendly Rally for Child Care on July 13 at 11 a.m. Massachusetts State House RSVP Learn more about the Common Start Coalition |
| GroupMap Activities Please complete this GroupMap Activity and share your questions and how you have used the Agenda!  |
Please complete this GroupMap Activity and help us identify new partners for The Early Childhood Agenda!  |
Basecamp Access: Over the next few months we’ll use Basecamp to stay organized, develop recommendations, share resources, and communicate outside of workgroup meeting times. You’ll find all the Early Childhood Agenda resources you need in one place. If you haven’t already, you will receive a login invitation from us in the next few weeks. For now, these short tutorial videos will make you a Basecamp pro in no time!
Interested in becoming a Workgroup Facilitator or Lived Experience Leader?We are still looking for partners who are willing to step into leadership roles within The Early Childhood Agenda. Please review slides #12 for more information about these opportunities and email Marisa Fear, Director of Policy at Strategies for Children to share your interest.
Website Coming Soon!
The Early Childhood Agenda website is down while we rebuild and improve the platform. We will share another update as soon as we relaunch. For now, you can view The Agenda on our SFC website.
For general questions or assistance, please contact: info@earlychildhoodagenda.org.
Thank you for your continued participation and support!