ECFC’s Fall 2026 Member Meeting took us to North Carolina to explore lessons from more than 30 years of early childhood system-building across a politically diverse Southern state. As a state marked by significant regional differences, rapid rural population growth, and longstanding disparities in child and family well-being, North Carolina offers a compelling case study in both progress and contradiction: nationally recognized for business and economic growth while continuing to face persistent challenges in education and family outcomes.
We examined what is takes to build and sustain cross-sector partnerships in a complex and evolving landscape—including the role of philanthropy, bipartisan leadership, business engagement, and aligned investments in advancing whole-family approaches from prenatal through early childhood. Through candid reflection on both successes and setbacks, attendees explored how leaders across sectors have navigated competing priorities, shifting political dynamics, and uneven systems to create momentum for children and families.
Throughout the meeting, we explored how funders, advocates, community leaders, and organizations are building collective power, organizing for systems change, leveraging influence, and advancing equitable opportunities for children and families. Through conversations with North Carolina leaders and peers across the ECFC network, we reflected on the realities of long-term systems change: the importance of transparency about what has and has not worked, the value of persistent partnership across ideological divides, and the ongoing effort required to move from fragmented strategies toward more connected and equitable approaches that support young children and their families.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Our opening activity grounded us in ECFC’s BOLD framework, and invited attendees to consider where BOLD shows up in your work, and what's possible when we don't have to do bold work alone.
Speakers
- Keami Harris, Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, Chief of Equity and Strategy
- Sarah Robinson, Couch Family Foundation, Program Partner
Related Resource
North Carolina’s places and people tell a story of diverse identities, and evolution. In our opening session, we’ll explore the complexity of a state often described as “three states in one,” where diverse geographies, deep-rooted regional differences, growing rural and immigrant populations and shifting demographics intersect with both remarkable economic growth and persistent challenges in education, child outcomes, and family well-being. This opening conversation will provide context for understanding the opportunities and tensions that have shaped more than 30 years of early childhood system-building in a politically diverse, rapidly changing state.
Session Introduction
- Elizabeth Bruno, Brady Education Foundation, President
Speakers
- Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Professor, Department of Maternal and Child Health; Founding Director, Equity Research Action Coalition
- Mebane Rash, EdNC, CEO and editor-in-chief
- Amy Rhyne, EdNC, Correspondent; Former senior director of the Office of Early Learning at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
Related Resources
- Slide Deck
- North Carolina spent decades building an early childhood system. What will it take to sustain it?, by Amy Rhyne, premised on this EdNC timeline of the history and evolution of early childhood education in North Carolina from 1990 to 2026.
- Start with equity: Strengthening North Carolina’s early childhood system for the next 40 years, by Dr. Iheoma Iruka
- Smart Start Celebrates 30 Years, Governor Stein declares September Smart Start Month
How do place, history, and regional identity shape the systems that support young children and families?
Hear from community leaders on the realities of navigating challenges, building cross-sector partnerships and advancing innovations that reflect the unique needs of families and communities in a complex state.
Together, they will share lessons from their work about what has made progress possible and what it takes to continue building systems that support young children and families.
As we consider what comes next, we’ll also reflect on what it means for funders to build collective power, organize for systems change, leverage influence, and double down on equity in complex environments.
Moderator
- Ereka Williams, Dogwood Health Trust, Vice President, Education
Speakers
- Joy Spencer, Equity Before Birth, Executive Director
- CiCi Weston, The Christine Avery Learning Center, Co-Founder/CEO
- Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, El Centro Hispano, President & CEO
Related Resources:
- This is Us, Equity Before Birth (Video 1min46sec)
- CiCi Weston: A story of fortitude and legacy in child care, EdNC, August 2024
At the heart of every thriving community lies the health and well-being of its families. Too many families face barriers to care, and persistent disparities continue to put Black, Indigenous, and rural mothers and babies at higher risk.
Nurture NC brings together leaders across sectors to address the systems and conditions that shape maternal and child health. Its approach recognizes that improving outcomes requires more than health care alone. It also means addressing the social and economic conditions that influence whether families can thrive and strengthening connections among health, human services, early childhood, and family supports.
In this Innovator Spotlight session, learn more about how Nurture NC:
- Advances maternal and child health in North Carolina by targeting systemic policy changes through a collaborative framework focused on: strengthening the maternal health workforce; closing gaps in rural healthcare access; and driving smarter public policy optimization.
- Brings together senior leaders from government, healthcare systems, professional associations, insurance providers, academia, philanthropy, and private business to develop a coordinated, multisector approach to maternal health.
- Engages communities in shaping its strategic plan, ensuring the families most affected by disparities have a voice in defining priorities and solutions.
Session Introduction
- Elizabeth Star, HopeStar Foundation, President and Founder
Speaker
- Elizabeth Tilson, Nurture North Carolina, Executive Director
Related Resource
Families often navigate multiple public benefit programs, including SNAP, Medicaid, early learning, food, and services for immigrant communities. When these programs are accessible and well-functioning, they foster community stability and economic mobility. However, navigating complex eligibility rules and administrative processes can be challenging for families, impacting their access to essential services. In this evolving policy landscape, ensuring timely information flow and reducing administrative burdens is critical for equitable access.
In this session, we’ll learn how the North Carolina Public Benefits Collective is working to strengthen the exchange of information between community-based organizations, advocates, and public partners to identify barriers, share solutions, and align strategies for systems change and policy advocacy.
Care Share Health Alliance, backbone support for the Collective, and members of their newly formed Collaboration Committee will discuss the challenges that prompted the initiative, how its community-led structure will guide its work, and how collaboration across programs can help shift narratives around public benefits and reduce stigma for families who rely on them.
Participants will leave with a working model for community led cross-program collaboration and a chance to reimagine how similar approaches could help make public benefit systems more coordinated, accessible, and responsive to families’ needs.
Moderator/Speaker
- Katherine Warner, Care Share Health Alliance, Executive Director
Speakers
- Madison Allen, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Senior Program Officer
- Gabriela Plasencia, FIEL-NC
Related Resource
- NC Public Benefits Collective Announces Collaboration Committee, October 12, 2026
Across North Carolina, grandparents, relatives, friends and trusted neighbors play an essential role in caring for young children. Yet family, friend, and neighbor (FFN ) caregivers often have limited access to the resources, training, and financial support available to other child care providers.
Smart Start of Transylvania County (SSTC) will share the real story behind its Family, Friend, and Neighbor Network and Thriving Providers Project (TPP) initiative, a guaranteed income and economic stability initiative supporting home-based and license-exempt child care providers, including what is working, what has proved challenging, and what makes supporting this often-overlooked caregiving workforce unique.
This session will explore the TPP's efforts to understand the levels and consistency of financial support needed to help sustain reliable care, and how payment structures affect caregivers’ financial stability and the availability of care for children and families.
Drawing on this locally rooted example, participants will examine the equity and access challenges facing trusted caregivers, particularly in rural communities, and consider how coordinated public and private investment can strengthen FFN care as part of a more inclusive early childhood system.
Introduction
- Jenna Barnes, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC Foundation, Director, Youth Mental Health at Blue Cross NC Foundation
Speaker
- Eileen Mouyard, Smart Start of Transylvania County, Executive Director
Related resources
- Invisible Child Care With Real Costs: Understanding the Costs Associated With Grandparent-Provided Child Care, Home Grown, August 2026)
- The Care Next Door, An Afrofuturist Celebration of Black Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care, National Black Child Development Institute (YouTube, 30 minutes)
- Smart Start of Transylvania County Thriving Providers Project, announces participation in the Thriving Providers Project (TPP) as an implementation site, in partnership with WeVision EarlyEd, an initiative of the Bainum Family Foundation. TPP, a Home Grown
North Carolina has spent the last several building some of the nation's most ambitious infrastructure for connecting Medicaid, community-based organizations, and cross-sector systems around the needs of children and families. Through initiatives including the Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP) and NC Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK), the state has explored how Medicaid innovations can better support families with complex, interconnected needs. Bringing together perspectives from family leadership, community-based implementation, and health care and Medicaid innovation, this session will explore how North Carolina’s experience can inform the next generation of whole-family systems change.
Drawing on experiences from NC InCK, the Healthy Opportunities Pilots, and direct work with families, panelists will explore:
- What it takes to move from identifying a need or making a referral to ensuring that families actually receive meaningful support, including the role of trust, navigation, community capacity, and lived experience.
- What changes when systems look beyond a single child or adult and consider the needs and strengths of the whole family.
- How we should define success when outcomes such as trust, continuity, family experience, and benefits across household members may not be captured by traditional health care measures.
- What should be preserved when time-limited initiatives end, and how public funding and philanthropy can work differently to build lasting community relationships and infrastructure.
The conversation will consider not only which services to invest in, but what underlying capabilities and relationships are needed to make a whole-family approach possible and sustainable.
Session Introduction
- Gerry Cobb, JB and MK Pritzker Family Foundation, Director, Pritzker Children's Initiative
Speakers
- Chandrika Brown, NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified Program at UNCG, Family Collaboration Coordinator
- Rushina Cholera, North Carolina Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK)
- Darren Boice, Impact Primary Care Network, Senior Clinical Director
Thursday, October 29, 2026
PEER EXCHANGE ROUNDTABLES
Early relational health (ERH) funders are invited to nourish your mind and soul at this casual breakfast meet up to compare notes, exchange ideas, and build connections for future collaboration.
Peer Exchange Co-Hosts
- Ira Hillman, Einhorn Collaborative, Deputy Director & Strategy Lead, Bonding
- Ann Marie Healy, Philadelphia Health Partnership, Executive Director
Related Resources:
Ten organizations and one year of what trust-based funding makes possible. Meet ECFC’s Racial Justice and Equity Fund team and bring your ideas and questions about what is possible when a well-resourced ecosystem addressing intersectional and holistic needs of children and families. Hosted by ECFC's Racial Equity and Justice team and grantee partners.
Peer Exchange Co-Hosts
- Karina Aguilar, Asheboro Latinxs Services, Co-director
- Leng Leng Chancey, Racial Justice and Equity Fund, Early Childhood Funders Collaborative
- Tania Jimenez, Asheboro Latinx Services
- April Luong, ECFC / Racial Equity and Justice Fund (RJEF), Program Manager
Related Resources:
How are immigration policies and enforcement affecting our youngest learners and their families? Have there been increases in anxiety, children not attending programs, or a need to increase investments towards basic needs? What are you seeing in your community, and where philanthropy may have a role to play? Bring your questions and ideas to compare notes and gain inspiration from colleagues.
Peer Exchange Host
- Araceli Sandoval Gonzalez, LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment, Government Relations Officer
A surge of guaranteed income pilots, and other local and state initiatives are building evidence of the benefit of no-strings attached money on improving family economic stability and child development. Connect with peers to share what you are learning, or what you want to know, about direct cash assistance strategies.
Peer Exchange Host
- Marcia Egbert, The George Gund Foundation, Program Director
Related Resources:
- ECFC Co-Sponsored Webinar: Funder Strategy Session on Unrestricted Cash for Parents, November 4, 2026
- ECFC Field Library, Resources on Cash Assistance & Guaranteed Income Strategies
- Guaranteed Income: A Primer for Funders, Asset Funders Network, the Center for High Impact Philanthropy, ESP, Springboard to Opportunities
How can policy ensure that AI serves children, families, and their flourishing in ways that innovation and competition, left alone, will not? Bring your curiosity, concerns and ideas to compare notes with colleagues and learn about new AI Principles for Policy from Capita and ZERO TO THREE.
Peer Exchange Host
- Joe Waters, Capita, Co-founder, CEO
Related Resource
- First Years, New Frontier: Policy Principles for Children and Families in the Age of AI, ZERO TO THREE and Capita
Sustaining movement for policies and systems that center children and families might require a new kind of advocacy. From birth equity to child care and everything in between, what are we learning about approaches, relationships and strategies needed to build and sustain momentum for change? Bring your ideas, challenges and wins to compare notes with other funders wading into community organizing and other movement building strategies.
Peer Exchange Co-Hosts
- Melissa Litwin, The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation, Program Director for Early Childhood
- Jared Boone, Schumann Fund for New Jersey, Program Partner
Related Resources:
Some assume investing in narrative change means committing to write the whole epic yourself — decades in the making, at blockbuster budget, or don't bother. Even if it is just a chapter, a scene, even a single line, any funder can contribute to telling a larger, better story on early childhood. (After all, Homer wasn't just one person, either!) Bring your questions, ideas, and half-formed plotlines, or just stop by to swap notes with other funders on narrative change and power.
Peer Exchange Co-Hosts
- Jenn Clark, Imaginable Futures, Strategic Communications, US
- Ashley Ahlers, John Rex Endowment, Director of Partnerships and Communication
Related resource:
- ECFC webinar archive: Changing the Story: Building the Infrastructure for Narrative Change, September 24, 2026
Research shows that we are getting our news differently and that who is delivering that message matters. Come chat about how to develop non-profit leaders and early educators’ communications capacity to develop effective content to amplify messages around ECE systems changes needed and the impact of H.R. 1 on children and families. Share lessons learned and join us to work through opportunities and challenges of super-charging this work within and across states to build a narrative change network of trusted messengers.
Peer Exchange Co-Hosts
- Christina D’Allesandro, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Initiaitive Lead Early Childhood and Families
- Sarah Robinson, Couch Family Foundation, Program Partner
- Sara Vecchiotti, Couch Family Foundation, Executive Director
Come hungry for breakfast and food for thought as you join members of the ECFC Revenue Work Group for a conversation proving that taxes have never been this fun (or this important for kids)—exploring how philanthropy can use smart tax-linked strategies to improve early childhood outcomes. Grab a plate, bring your curiosity, and stick around for a fun raffle—your chance to win a prize while helping shape the conversation!
Peer Exchange Host
- Ami Nagle, Tax Equity Funders Network, Director
Related Resources:
- ECFC Revenue Workgroup Overview & Archives (requires member or workgroup login)
MOMSRISING PANEL & STRATEGY DISCUSSIONS
Across health, human services, early childhood, education, and economic supports, there is growing recognition that families and parents must be more than recipients of services or voices consulted along the way—they must be partners in shaping the systems designed to support them. Meaningful family engagement can help policymakers, funders, and community leaders better understand what families need, identify where systems are falling short, and build strategies that are more responsive, coordinated, and effective.
With MomsRising North Carolina's parent and family engagement in 100 counties as a backdrop, we’ll explore strategies that engage parents, families and communities to move beyond consultation to shared decision-making and shared ownership. The conversation will consider what it takes to build the relationships, structures, and practices that make family engagement a sustained part of systems change—not simply an invitation to participate.
Session Introduction
- Christina DAllesandro, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Initiaitive Lead Early Childhood and Families
Speakers
- Daphne Alsiyao, National Association for Family Child Care, Policy Strategist
- Beth Messersmith, MomsRising NC, Senior Director, North Carolina
- Sheila Arias, MamásConPoder/ MomsRising NC, NC Campaign Director/ Mamás Con Poder
Speakers
- Sheila Arias, MamásConPoder/ MomsRising NC, NC Campaign Director/ Mamás Con Poder
- Jessica Aguilar, MamásConPoder/ MomsRising NC, Community Organizer/Volunteer Leader
Related Resource
- MomsRising Immigration Campaign
Speakers
- Beth Messersmith, MomsRising NC, Senior Director, North Carolina
- Daphne Alsiyao, National Association for Family Child Care, Policy Strategist
Related Resources
- MomsRising Workplace Justice and Early Care & Education Campaigns
Speakers
- Mary Beth Cochran, MomsRising NC, Member
- Tina Sherman, MomsRising, National Director
- Tomeka Isaac, MomsRising North Carolina, Member
Related Resources
- MomsRising Health Care and Maternal Justice Campaigns
SITE VISITS
North Carolina faces a growing early childhood homelessness crisis. An estimated 32,000 infants, toddlers, and young children experience homelessness each year, with a 54.2% surge in infant and toddler homelessness over the past three years. Nationally, children under age five are the age group most likely to live in households facing eviction, underscoring the deep connection between housing instability and healthy early childhood development.
Discover how Family Moving Forward work (FMF), Durham's largest provider of housing and support services for families experiencing homelessness, extends well beyond emergency housing and transition to stable housing. One of only two family shelters in Durham, FMF’s emergency shelter can serve up to 20 families (up to 9 individuals per family) at a time. FMH serves 75–85 families and approximately 160–200 children each year through their emergency shelter and case management program, while ensuring all types of families remain together during times of crisis.
FMH’s comprehensive two-generation model includes strengths-based, trauma-responsive services for children from birth through high school, as well as adult education and coaching that builds financial stability, parenting skills, communication, and other life skills. Individualized case management and connections to community partners, while in the shelter and up to 12 months after families secure stable housing, focus on educational, vocational, health, and family goals to help families achieve lasting stability. Last year, 94% of families leaving FMF's emergency shelter did not return to homelessness within one year.
Following a tour of the FMF facility, we’ll talk with FMH to learn more about their two-generation approach to serving children and their families strengthens ties their community and ensures that families have supports to help their children thrive. We’ll also learn about and talk with state and community partners collaborating to understand and respond to young child and family homelessness, including the NC DHHS Action Plan for an Early Childhood Homelessness Support System, McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance program partners that ensures homeless children - PreK-12 - can enroll in school even if they lack an address, proof of residence, or school records, and the Durham Collaborative to End Family Homelessness, a coordinated local initiative connecting service providers to make family homelessness rare and brief.
Speakers
- Elizabeth Erickson, THRIVE Family Health and Education Center, Co-founder
- Khari Garvin, Family Services of Forsyth County, President & Cheif Executive Officer
- Tasha Melvin, Families Moving Forward, Executive Director
- Cheri Neal, Guilford County Department of Social Services, Continuum of Care Program Manager
- Sara Shaw, SchoolHouse Connection, Child Trends, Senior Research Scientist
- Erin Patterson, SchoolHouse Connection, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships
Related Resources:
- Infant and Toddler Homelessness Across 50 States: 2023-2024, School House Connection
- Understanding Homelessness Among Families in Home Visiting, a SchoolHouse Connection and James Bell Associates brief.
- The Children's Services at FMF are part of their two-generation approach to assisting families with children experiencing homelessness in Durham, NC. Watch to learn more breaking the cycle of poverty through FMF Children’s Services. (YouTube, 3 min)
- The NEST (Neighbors Experiencing Success Together) is Families Moving Forward's Emergency Shelter Program for families with children in the crisis of homelessness. Watch to hear Tia's story. (YouTube, 3.48 minutes)
Book Harvest holds a simple and powerful vision: that every child grow up with an abundant home library of books that they own, starting at birth. The launchpad for realizing that dream is as close as the hospital.
Nearly all of North Carolina's estimated 122,000 newborns each year are born in a hospital, and just 11 health systems deliver most of these babies. That makes the birthing floor the one place where we can reach virtually every family with books, at the very moment a child's brain and a parent's confidence are both taking shape.
In a recent statewide survey of 500 parents conducted by Book Harvest and Capita, 92% of parents have told us that reading to their children every day matters to them. They also told us that they don’t always have the books to be able to do so.
Four in 10 North Carolina parents in the survey reported having fewer than 25 children’s books in their home, and 7% reported having fewer than five. Scaled across the state, that’s more than 500,000 NC families with young children going without an adequate home library—not because they don’t value reading, but because books cost money. Almost one in two parents said their children went without receiving or owning any books before their first birthday.
Book Harvest’s Books from Birth program removes the barriers to building a home library on Day One. Through partnerships with hospitals, Books from Birth equips parents with a starter home library of ten new board books and with information to enable them to continue building their home library by enrolling in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library or by accessing the resources of Reach Out and Read, The Basics Insights, and local book provision initiatives. The message to every parent is simple: you are your child's first teacher, and this begins now.
Books from Birth is part of Book Harvest's continuum of book provision programs over the first decade of life, which have put more than 3.4 million books into the hands of children and families since the organization was founded in 2011. Our goal is statewide - working with North Carolina's hospital systems so that book ownership and shared reading from birth becomes a standard of care for every newborn, and a model that other states across the country can adopt.
Thanks to partners in philanthropy and health, we are on our way. In 2027, Books from Birth expects to reach more than 15,000 North Carolina newborns - one in every eight babies born in our state. And hospital systems outside of North Carolina have joined the Books from Birth network - in South Bend, Indiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Astoria, Oregon; and Decatur, Georgia.
During this site visit, you’ll receive a sample Books from Birth starter home library, and you will see firsthand how Book Harvest is advancing its mission, including a tour of our Family Space and volunteer and book processing center. Partners who are making a vision of a home library for every child starting at birth a reality, will share strategies for bringing the literacy resources of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and The Basics Insights to families receiving the Books from Birth starter home library, and embedding early literacy in the birthing floor and the NICU. Parent leaders will share the impact of having a home library from their child’s earliest days. We’ll also be joined by the Leon Levine Foundation, which made a major five-year bet with its Book Abundance Initiative strategic grant.
Moderator/Speaker
- Mary Mathew, Book Harvest, National Director of Advocacy
Speakers
- Aleta Alade, Book Harvest, Parent Leader
- Laura Bilbro-Berry, North Carolina Partnership for Children, Literacy Manager
- Gillian Small, The Leon Levine Foundation, Program Officer in Education
- Joe Waters, Capita, Co-founder, CEO
- Ginger Young, Book Harvest, Founder/Chief Executive Officer
Related Resources
- A Book Is Never Just A Book (1:24 mins, YouTube)
- Born to Read, The Books from Birth Story (1:24 mins, YouTube)
- What American Parents and Families Say About Book Ownership and Reading at Home with Children, Findings from the National Children’s Book Ownership Survey, an inaugural Book Harvest and Capita study, September 2026.
- The Smart Start Network and Book Harvest Expand Early Literacy and Family Support Initiative in Four NC Counties (Press Release, September, 22, 2026)
- The Leon Levine Foundation Commits $10 Million to Advance Early Literacy in Underserved North Carolina Communities (Press Release, February 4, 2026)
- Books from Birth at Book Harvest (web page)
- Nobody Asked Me If I'd Read the Books, Ginger Young (October 29, 2026 opinion piece)
- More Books for American Families, What American Parents and Families Say About Book Ownership and Reading at Home with Children, Capita (September 2026)
Most of us do not spend a lot of time thinking about diapers. But if you are a parent, grandparent, or caregiver without enough of them, they can become a major source of stress, guilt, and desperation. Public safety net programs do not cover the purchase of diapers, often leaving families with a difficult decision between buying diapers and other necessities with their limited funds.
One in every two families struggles to afford diapers. Working parents are faced with the stress, guilt, and desperation of not being able to afford a healthy supply of diapers. In North Carolina, 76% of families receiving diapers through Diaper Bank of NC programs are working 1-3 jobs.
Discover how the Diaper Bank of North Carolina (DBNC) is providing basic essential needs for kids and families at all stages of life, from diaper distribution and infant formula assistance, to period product access, and adult incontinence supplies.
Through community-based Essentials Hubs, DBNC delivers hygiene products not covered by public benefits directly into under-resourced communities, reducing access barriers through locally designed distribution models. DBNC is also North Carolina's statewide provider of diapers and other hygiene essentials during disasters, working with emergency management and local partners to rapidly distribute essentials to families during hurricanes, floods, and other emergencies.
Participants will explore how DBNC’s locally designed distribution models connect to broader family support networks, address whole-family economic stress, engage communities in volunteer roles, and provide essential infrastructure for responding to urgent needs.
Moderator/Speaker
- Michelle Schaefer, Diaper Bank of North Carolina, CEO and Founder
Related Resources
- Supporting Families in Need, Diaper Bank of NC (YouTube, 2.05 min)
- More than one in 10 families report not having enough diapers for their young children. A RAPID Survey fact sheet presents national data from parents and child care providers of infants and toddlers, defined as birth through age 3, who participated in surveys in July 2025 and March 2026. The fact sheet documents caregivers’ experiences accessing diapers, formula, and essential baby equipment, including cribs, bassinets, strollers, car seats, changing tables, baby gates, and high chairs. These items are critical to young children’s health, development, and well-being.
Discover how Wake County Smart Start is creating a more connected, family-centered system of care through Wake Connections, a coordinated referral and intake network that links pregnant individuals and families with young children to a broad range of home visiting programs, family support services and community resources. Overseen by the North Carolina Partnership for Children, the network relies on 75 local nonprofit partnerships to support families across all 100 counties in North Carolina.
Wake Connections brings together multiple community-based organizations through a single access point, helping families navigate services related to parenting support, child development, behavioral health, school readiness, pregnancy and postpartum care, and other critical needs.
In addition, Wake Connections promotes a more effective local system of care by bringing partners together in a Community of Practice to solve problems, identify community needs, share best practices, and provide mutual support.
Through conversations with local leaders and partners at the Lucy Daniels Center, attendees will explore how Wake Connections reduces barriers to services, strengthens coordination across systems, and creates a more seamless experience for families.
This session highlights a community-driven approach to advancing whole-family wellbeing by connecting families to the right supports at the right time, while leveraging partnerships and shared infrastructure to build a stronger, more integrated early childhood ecosystem.
Welcome & Overview
- Gayle Headen | Executive Director, Wake County Smart Start
- Amy Cubbage | President, North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC)/Smart Start
Discussion with Wake Connections & Parents as Teachers
- Sasha Gomez | System Improvement & Public Engagement (SIPE) Manager, Wake County Smart Start
- Claudette West | Parents as Teachers Parent Educator, Project Enlightenment, Wake County Public School System
Panel discussion moderated by: Sasha Gomez | System Improvement & Public Engagement (SIPE) Manager, Wake County Smart Start, with:
- Ashley Ahlers, Director of Partnerships and Communication, John Rex Endowment
- Ana Maria Hernandez | Parents as Teachers Coordinator, Project Enlightenment, Wake County Public School System
- Caroline Janes | Systems and Family Support Specialist, Wake County Smart Start
- Emily Odjaghian | Clinical/Executive Director, Lucy Daniels Center
Related Resource
- Wake Connections Impact Video (YouTube, 4min17sec)
What does it take to ensure that all children have access to the benefits of high-quality outdoor learning —where a natural outdoor learning environment is not a privilege of geography, income, or circumstance? At A Safe Place Child Enrichment Center in Raleigh, we’ll explore how improving the physical environment and supporting nature-based learning can become one of the most effective and low-cost strategies to promote children’s healthy physical, cognitive, and social development. The research confirms that quality outdoor and nature-based learning opportunities has benefits for children's social and emotional resilience, academic achievement, fostering children’s sense of agency, creativity, and ecological kinship, providing opportunities to safely and intentionally navigate risk with implications for physical and mental wellbeing throughout life. At A Safe Place we can see firsthand how outdoor spaces can transform under-invested and nature-deprived communities and become a community hub for children and families.
With its emphasis on natural outdoor spaces, reconnecting children to fresh food, creative play, and hands-on exploration, A Safe Place offers a tangible example of the power of designing a space to support children’s and a community’s health. We’ll consider outdoor learning not simply as an early childhood practice, but as an issue of child rights, community investment, and the built environment—including the policy changes, capital improvements, and professional resources required to create and sustain access to high-quality outdoor learning for all children.
We will be joined by the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI) at NC State University College of Design to examine what it takes to move from individual exemplary sites to broader systems change. NLI’s work in North Carolina has demonstrated how naturalized outdoor learning environments are advanced through design assistance, professional development, research, partnerships, and changes to policy and licensing. North Carolina’s experience—including the evolution from “playgrounds” to Outdoor Learning Environments in childcare licensing—offers a case study in how policy, practice, and physical infrastructure can reinforce one another and the need for a comprehensive approach. NLI will share lessons from North Carolina and other states that are working to expand access to nature-based learning and build the infrastructure, partnerships, and policy conditions needed to bring these approaches to scale.
This site visit invites funders to consider what does it take to build outdoor learning into the systems and places where children spend their time: Who has access to high-quality natural spaces? What capital investments are needed? What policies and regulations enable—or constrain—those investments? And what roles can philanthropy play in connecting early learning, health, community development, landscape design, professional development, and public policy to make outdoor learning a more equitable part of childhood?
Speakers
- Berkeley Bryant, Blue Sky Funders Forum, Director of Programs and Membership
- Nilda Cosco, Natural Learning Initiative, Research Professor, Director of Programs
- Kathleen Doffermyre, George B. Storer Foundation, Senior Programs Officer
- Kimberly Shaw, A Safe Place Child Enrichment Center, Founder and President
Related Resources
- We Change Culture Here, A Safe Place (Youtube, 3 minutes)
- A Safe Place is one of is one of 16 Wake County, NC centers implementing the Preventing Obesity by Design (POD) strategy developed by the Natural Learning Initiative. POD-Wake Co.
- 2019 NLI/NC Cooperative Extension A/V production: A Safe Place Virtual Field Trip
- Natural Learning Initiative, North Carolina University School of Design
National resources:
- Natural Start Alliance, Compilation of Outdoor Nature Based Early Childhood Education Resources, including an ONB Early Learning Policy Tracker
- Blue Sky Funders Forum, a dynamic collaborative of funders and supporters, united in the belief that investing in meaningful outdoor experiences for everyone builds stronger, healthier communities everywhere. We aspire to spark connections and collaborations for a stronger, more unified outdoor access and environmental education movement.
Friday, October 30, 2026
Speakers
- Eric Buchanan, Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Vice President
- Ann Marie Healy, Philadelphia Health Partnership, Executive Director
Related Resource
How do states build—and sustain—the momentum needed to create lasting change for young children and families? While grounded in North Carolina’s experience, this session explores broader lessons about the relationships and trust needed to build collective power, advances systems change, and sustain progress through shifting political and policy environments.
Through a candid conversation with funders and advocates, participants will examine how relationships and cross-sector partnerships advance a shared vision, long-term investment, and adaptive strategies centering young children, their families, and communities.
Participants will leave with an opportunity to reflect on the conditions, partnerships, and strategies that have fueled change in North Carolina and consider what is driving—or could strengthen—systems change in their own states and communities.
Speakers
- Amber Payne, AP Community Partners, President
- Cyndi Soter O'Neil, ChildTrust Foundation, Director, Strategic Philanthropy
- Ricky Hurtado, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Program Officer
Related Resources
- Slide Deck
- A 10-year plan for North Carolina's youngest children: 'Invest Early, Build Together', EdNC (October 14, 2026)
- ‘Invest Early, Build Together’ is a 10 Year Plan, developed collaboratively by Invest Early NC, a state level collaborative bringing funders together to align investment, relationships, and advocacy around shared priorities for young children and families.
Discussion Co-Hosts
- Amber Payne, AP Community Partners, President
- Meka Sales, The Duke Endowment, Director of Special Initiatives
- Ereka Williams, Dogwood Health Trust, Vice President, Education
Related Resources
- Slide Deck
- A 10-year plan for North Carolina's youngest children: 'Invest Early, Build Together', EdNC (October 14, 2026)
- ‘Invest Early, Build Together’ is a 10 Year Plan, developed collaboratively by Invest Early NC, a state level collaborative bringing funders together to align investment, relationships, and advocacy around shared priorities for young children and families.
Discussion Host
- Cyndi Soter O'Neil, ChildTrust Foundation, Director, Strategic Philanthropy
Discussants
- Tosh Acosta, NC Early Childhood Foundation, Statewide Strategist
- Samantha Cole, NC Department of Commerce, Child Care Business Liaison
- Kristi Maida, NC Child / ExCEL NC, Director, ExCEL NC
More about our discussants:
ExCEL NC is a coalition of business owners, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders advocating for solutions to stabilize the state’s child care options, strengthen our workforce, and create a more prosperous economy.
- Learn more about how ExCEL NC is driving positive change for North Carolina’s children, families, and business community.
- Learn more about how ExCEL NC engages with and informs legislators and policymakers to share about the critical toll the child care crisis is exacting on our businesses and promote sustainable, statewide solutions.
- Report: A Roadmap to the True Cost of Care (July 2026)
Samantha Cole was named the first Child Care Business Liaison at the North Carolina Department of Commerce in April 2024. Announced in December 2023 and officially filled in April 2024, this grant-funded role was established through a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), and Invest Early NC, a state level collaborative bringing together North Carolina funders to align investment, relationships, and advocacy around shared priorities for young children and families.
- Learn more about the North Carolina Department of Commerce Task Force on Child Care and Early Education
Discussion Co-Hosts
- Ricky Hurtado, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Program Officer
- Jenna Barnes, BlueCross BlueSheild of NC Foundation, Director, Youth Mental Health
Discussants
- Bonnie Dobson, We Are Down Home, Operations Manager Development
- Jovonia Lewis, Empowered Parents in Community (EPIC-NC), Founding Director
More about our discussants:
Empowered Parents in Community (EPIC) is a community-rooted, collaborative, strength-based organization unapologetically committed to transforming outcomes for children, who are systematically underserved in education, and ensuring their success at school and in life. Serving all families, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age. Together, we are creating access and opportunities for children to thrive.
- Listen, Educate, Advocate: Empowering Educators and Parents to End Exclusionary Discipline, EPIC, September 2025
- National Spotlight on EPIC's work: Jovonia Lewis was featured in a new Associated Press investigation on how the Trump administration is scaling back civil rights protections in schools nationwide. The piece points to the 2018 discrimination settlement over suspension practices in Durham Public Schools — the same fight for fairer discipline policies that fuels our push to end K2 suspensions today. Read the full AP story here: Trump administration limits attention on systemic racism in schools
Down Home is building power with poor and working-class people in North Carolina’s small towns and rural communities. Down Home works with families in 73 of 80 NC counties to have more than a seat at the political table when decisions about our communities are made – we want to be making the decisions ourselves.
- Meet the first cohort of the Down Home Candidate Academy, a 10-week training session to prepare a multiracial, working class team of our members to step into ring as candidates for local elections.