Wednesday | April 30
April 30 | 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | Breakfast Available & Registration Open
- First-Time Attendee Meet-Up (indicated by signage in Ballroom XL)
- Regional & Open Networking Tables
April 30 | 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Welcome
- Shannon Rudisill, Executive Director, ECFC
- Krystal Ivery, Membership Engagement Associate, ECFC
- Keami Harris, Chief of Equity and Strategy, ECFC
April 30 | 9:30 AM-10:30 AM | Connection & Reflection Activity | Defending Our Vision for Children and Families
We'll begin with an intentional reflection on this moment, when diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack, and consider how we can stand together. Through pairs and small groups, we’ll make new and deeper connections. How can we support each other to uphold a future that embraces our great strength—families with different racial and ethnic heritages, languages, and family structures? How do we work together to defend our vision where all children and families are supported to thrive?
Introduction by:
- Terrance M. McKinley, Vice President, Movement Building & Strategy, National Black Child Development Institute
Pair Share Introduction:
- Denise Castillo Dell Isola, Program Director, Early Childhood, Irving Harris Foundation
- Mica Whitfield, Co-President & CEO, 9to5; RJEF Grants Committee; RCCF Grantee Partner
♦ ♦ ♦ REFLECTION ♦ ♦ ♦
- What does it mean to be co-strategists (funders and grantees)?
- What would it mean to fund in ways that mirror the organizing traditions that we uplift?
April 30 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Topical Discussion Huddles
The Raising Child Care Fund and Racial Justice and Equity Fund grantee partners will host discussions on what’s happening in intersecting issues and communities.
Introduction: Leng Leng Chancey, Director, Racial Justice and Equity Fund, ECFC
Space 1 | Immigrant and Latino Families & Communities
Space 2 | Child Care and Head Start
Space 3 | Maternal and child health & birth justice
Ballroom XL
- Meeting Families' Basic Needs
- Rural Communities
- Elections, Voting & Civic Engagement
- Climate Justice & Childhood & Climate Justice
April 30 | 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Collective Power: Resilience & Winning in Difficult Times
We are constantly trying to quantify what power building means and how we affect systems change. Often, we gravitate toward large outcomes and forget to celebrate smaller wins along the way. The fallacy is that we over-promise and build expectations on the backs of those on the ground serving vulnerable communities every day.
Now more than ever, when grantees and communities are under attack, we need to examine what systems change means for our communities, and what it means to keep moving towards change.
Real systems change begins at the individual level, when individuals become politicized, by the issues that impact their lives, when they begin rallying others and building relationships person to person, person to neighborhood, and across neighborhoods and communities; building momentum for collective power.
Drawing on lessons and examples from grantee partners and ECFC members, this session will consider:
- How we define winning;
- Celebrating wins big and small;
- Allowing imperfect practices so we can continue to learn from every strategies we employ to move forward;
- If winning is the end goal, what will it take for us to get there?
Introduction: Rachel Schumacher, Director, The Raising Child Care Fund, ECFC
Discussants:
- (Facilitator): Teresa Granillo, Chief Executive Officer, AVANCE; Racial Justice and Equity Fund Grants Committee
- Sherrell Byrd, Co-Founder/ Executive Director, SOWEGA Rising, GA SOWEGA Rising Coalition
- Amy Jo Hutchison, Campaign Director, West Virginia, MomsRising
- Monica Hobbs Vinluan, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
♦ ♦ ♦ REFLECTION ♦ ♦ ♦
- In light of both the wins and challenges we’ve heard today, how are you thinking about building and sustaining collective power in your own work?
- What shifts are most needed to keep moving the needle on early childhood well-being?
April 30 | 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM | Collective Power Strategy Breakouts
Introduction: Rena Large, Program Director, ECFC
Space 1 | Investing in C4 Strategies | 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
As the 2024 presidential campaign makes starkly clear, the outcome of elections matter—not just who leads the top of the ticket, but who is positioned to champion and implement the policies that shape our lives. Investments in 501(c)(4) organizations provide necessary political power to support and extend the work of 501(c)(3) entities to inform, educate, and advocate for equitable change. Yet legal or organizational constraints often prevent funders from incorporating this strategy into their portfolios. This session will provide concrete tips on how any funder can begin exploring this crucial tool to advance systems change. Session hosts: Barbara Chow, Heising-Simons Foundation, Marie Hocker, Imaginable Futures, and Lisa Klein, Impact Fellows Action Fund.
Space 2 | Communications Strategies | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
In this moment, communication strategies are critical to amplify the narratives and stories that uplift the needs of children and families in ways that resonate in our current policy climate. Yet, we know that many funders and nonprofits lack communications capacity. In this session, we’ll explore examples of strategies designed to change narratives, uplift stories, and connect with local media. Discussion hosts: Shannon Cotsoradis, Buffet Early Childhood Fund and Sherice Brammer, ECFC Director of Communications will co-host this discussion, including strategy examples from Imaginable Futures and Couch Family Foundation.
Space 3 | Strategies to Partner with Power Builders | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Directors of ECFC's two pooled funds will facilitate conversation about challenges community-based groups experience in their work and what they value in philanthropic partners. Discussion hosts: Leng Leng Chancey, Director, Racial Justice and Equity Fund (ECFC) and Rachel Schumacher, Director, The Raising Child Care Fund (ECFC).
♦ ♦ ♦ REFLECTION ♦ ♦ ♦
- What is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned or discovered today?
- What important new question has been sparked for you by today’s conversations?