ABOUT US

We’re a network of diverse organizations brought together by our passion for building an equitable child care system that works for everyone. A broad cross-section of child care leaders dissatisfied with how child care in America doesn’t work for those who need it most agreed it was time for a new kind of justice-centered collaboration, and the Network was born.

OUR STRUCTURE

Our Coordinating Committee shapes and advances the Network’s priorities.

OUR STRUCTURE

We seek a transformed national-to-state system that results in universal access to equitable, accessible, high-quality, affordable, and culturally relevant child care across the U.S. with a diverse, well-paid, and well-supported workforce.

Parent/Family and Provider Working Groups collaborate closely with the Coordinating Committee to ensure the voices of those most directly involved drive the Network's overall direction.

Four Working Groups—Communications + Narrative Strategies, Federal + State Policy Strategies, Base Building + Field Mobilization, and Research Strategies—support the development and execution of different core strategic domains of work.

Parent / Family Constituency Group
  • Rachel Ramirez, Erin Moore, Shereese Rhodes, and Kristel England (UPLAN)
  • Danielle Atkinson (Mothering Justice)
Provider Constituency Group
  • Keisha Nzewi (CA Resource and Referral Network)
  • Lucy Recio (NAEYC)
Federal & State Policy Working Group
  • Julie Kashen (The Century Foundation)
  • Whitney Pesek (National Women’s Law Center)
  • Courtney Verronneau (Family Forward Oregon)
Policy Implementation Subgroup
  • Tiffany Ferrette and Christine Johnson-Staub (CLASP)
  • Maisha Cole (Child Care Law Center)
Communications & Narrative Working Group
  • Danielle Atkinson (Mothering Justice)
  • Erika Washington (Make It Work Nevada)
  • Jill Appelgate (National Women’s Law Center)
  • Nina Perez (MomsRising)
Base Building & Field Mobilization Working Group
  • Sade Moonsammy (Family Values @ Work)
  • Leng Leng Chancy (9 to 5)
  • Dominique Countee (Community Change)
Research Working Group

Working group leads to come.

Network Design Group

Over the course of the planning process this group has included 9to5*, The Center for American Progress*, The Century Foundation, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)*, Child Care Aware® of America, Child Care Law Center (CA)*, California Child Care Resource & Referral Network*, Community Change*, ECE Organizing Network*, Family Forward Oregon*, Family Values @ Work*, Make it Work Nevada*, MomsRising/MamásConPoder, Mothering Justice (MI)*, National Association for the Education of Young Children*, National Women’s Law Center*, Parent Voices (CA)*, Service Employees International Union, United Parent Leaders Action Network (UPLAN)*, ZERO TO THREE*.

 

*Member of Reconfigured Group After Feedback Sessions with 60 State and Local Leaders

Member organizations participate within Working Groups and prioritize child care, while allies support the Network's purpose, approach, and values and take targeted action.

Join us in our work for universal, equitable, accessible, high-quality, affordable, and culturally relevant child care across the U.S.:

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OUR DIRECTION

In our first three years, we will build a shared political analysis and long-term strategic pathway to achieve our ultimate purpose—one that aligns and builds power at and across local, state, and national campaign efforts to achieve shared nationwide policy demands.

Understand
We will deepen our shared analysis of all those acting in the child care space and related movements to identify where we have capacity, where our capacity must be grown, where more coordination is needed, and where critical gaps exist.
Advocate
We will collectively craft and/or advocate for federal and state policy proposals and funding levels that align with our core values and provide a pathway to transformative change.
Organize
We will build political power by developing a strong constituency of child care voters (and supporters) and by supporting a movement of leaders across the country who are making transformational demands.
Act
We will help coordinate and fill gaps to ensure that transformative policy changes are won and effectively implemented at the local, state, and federal levels.
HOW WE WORK

Six core principles guide the way we work:

1 Expertise
We have a broad, inclusive, and diverse understanding of what constitutes expertise, and that informs our work and vision. We explicitly value the input and leadership of parents and providers as experts based on their lived experiences.
2 Organizing Power in Our Movement
We believe it is essential to shift, share, and build the power of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and low-income communities to change our movement's priorities and strategies, engage new constituencies, and ultimately win. Local and state efforts, especially organizing efforts, are therefore key to our strategy and need our investment.
3 Bold & Proactive
We prioritize bold, proactive strategies that champion our ultimate goals without privileging political expediency. We do so in order to shift what is possible toward transformative change and equity.
4 Experimentation
We are willing to question what has been done before and will invest in strategies and ideas that are new. Experimentation and continual critical reflection are necessary, encouraged, and valued. Not every new strategy will work, and we will engage in honest evaluation to optimize our success.
5 Span Local to National
We hold local, state, and national perspectives and approaches when setting goals, strategies, and structures. We seek equitable distributions of resources across the country to meet the needs of families and providers. We know equal distribution is not the same as equity, and we must right the historic deficits that have resulted in greater gaps for key constituencies and regions of the country.
6 One Team
We are one team of allies from across the country grounded in these shared values and working toward a shared vision.

Join us in our work for universal, equitable, accessible, high-quality, affordable, and culturally relevant child care across the U.S.:

JOIN US NOW