Network Meetings are a space for us all to connect, to share ideas and learn from each other’s experiences in a community setting. This is intended as an opportunity to welcome you to join other leaders of programs in reflection and conversation who are also supporting and leading family and group family child-care spaces.  If you’re available, we hope you can come! 

We start with a question for group reflection and then share topics that participants would like to discuss as a group for additional questions, experiences, and perspectives. All are welcome in this space, particularly leaders and providers of family childcare programs.

If you have any questions or would like support in registration, please email us at: leadershipinitiative@earlychildhoodny.org

We are proud to welcome you to our next Speaker Series event featuring Imani Missouri. She brings to us an opportunity to deepen our understanding of what unconscious bias is (and isn’t!) in an interactive session. Unconscious Bias is used often in our field, and together with Imani, we’ll talk about the differences between biases and racism. We’ll pause to reflect on our experience with the content and consider ways to attend to ourselves in these moments. This space may have moments where we sit bravely with productive, but transformative, discomfort.

All are welcome in this space. This time together will include experiences in small groups to learn with participants from across NYS. We aim for each participant to leave with the framework for a personal goal to increase their awareness of biases in their life and leadership role. Since this event includes interactions in small group break out rooms, we encourage you to register if you are interested and able to attend the full event. We hope to see you there!

Network Meetings are a virtual space for us all to connect, to share ideas and learn from each other’s experiences in a community setting. This is intended as an opportunity to welcome you to join other leaders in our field for reflection and conversation. Members who are support or directly leading early childhood learning spaces are all welcome. These conversations are held via Zoom. If you’re available, we hope you can join us!

Leaders and those aspiring to leadership roles in early childhood are welcome to join us! We're proud to offer a space where family child cares, child care specialists, community-based programs, and supporting organizations can all share space together. We start with a question for group reflection and then share topics that participants would like to discuss as a group for additional questions, experiences, and perspectives.

If you have any questions or would like support in registration, please email us at: leadershipinitiative@earlychildhoodny.org

This illuminating and powerful text will take us on a journey through hundreds of interviews across the U.S. to better understand the impact of public policy and infrastructure. Through this text, we’ll have the opportunity to consider the history behind systematic inequities in our communities and how they show up in our society today. This may be a new lens for readers to view the constructs of the communities we live and work in every day as leaders in early childhood. This book follows a hopeful narrative for ending a “zero sum” mentality and embracing abundance and equity for all.

The Early Childhood Leadership Initiative is proud to present the Playmaker Project, facilitated by Ant Toombs Sr. The Playmaker Project provides “play-based, trauma-informed training and support for early childhood professionals.” Playmakers offer a framework that enhances existing priorities and increases social and emotional wellness among kids and staff.

The Leadership Initiative encourages leaders to join with an open heart and mind, learning techniques to bring optimism, joy, and healing to themselves, to staff, and to children.

Optimism matters. An optimistic disposition enables us through everyday and extraordinary struggles  to look for the goodness in ourselves, in others, and in the world around us. For professionals working with young survivors of trauma, optimism isn’t just a critical tool; it’s the pathway to healing for kids in need. This inspiring, interactive presentation helps individuals discover the power of optimism to create safe, joyful, engaging environments where kids can grow, heal, and learn. Using research, humor, and personal stories from +30 years in the field, Playmaker Project Guides share how optimistic individuals can bring out the best in their students, colleagues, and leaders.