New Mexico Learning Tour
April 30 - May 2, 2024
MEETING MATERIALS
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Welcome & Connecting to Our ECFC Community
- Shannon Rudisill, Executive Director, Early Childhood Funders Collaborative
- Krystal Ivery, Membership Engagement Associate, Early Childhood Funders Collaborative
- Mary Nell Wegner, Executive Director, Brindle Foundation; Chair, NM Early Childhood Funders Group
ORIENTATION TO THE HISTORY AND PEOPLE OF NEW MEXICO [All Speaker Bios]
Dr. Joseph Suina, Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico’s College of Education; former Governor of Cochiti Pueblo; and former Director of the Institute for American Indian Education.
- Related Reading: And Then I went to School by Dr. Suina, shares his experience going to school in Cochiti Pueblo at a time when total assimilation was again the official policy of the government, and provides examples of the culture conflict that school created for children.
POSTER GALLERY WALK OF UNIQUE ASPECTS OF NM:
- Timeline of Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy Milestones
- Tribal Areas and Indigenous Languages of New Mexico
- NM Kids Count Profile, NM Voices for Children
- Keres Children's Learning Center, Cochiti Pueblo NM
NM EARLY CHILDHOOD POLICY AND ADVOCACY LANDSCAPE
Power - Community Power - Community Power Building
On April 30, we explored the the New Mexico early childhood policy and advocacy landscape – a story spanning more than 20 years, with many twists and turns, lifting community voices, and surfacing many champions along the way. We learned about the ebb and flow of momentum, tipping points, and other lessons learned about engaging and lifting up community voices. To preface our panels, we considered different parts of the the eco-system that supports building power in communities and movement building, and how philanthropy and partners can work together to build and sustain that eco-system. Learn more about what we mean by power, community power, and power building.
PANEL PART 1: Early Childhood Policy and Funding Landscape in New Mexico: Discussion with state leaders & champions [All Speaker Bios]
- (Facilitator) Claire Dudley Chavez, Senior Policy Advisor, The Office of Speaker Javier Martinez
- Speaker Javier Martinez, 31st Speaker of the NM House; New Mexico House of Representatives, District 11
- Representative Gail Armstrong, New Mexico House of Representatives, District 49
- Elizabeth Groginsky, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department
- Jovanna Archuleta, Early Childhood Community Outreach Director, LANL Foundation; and formerly the nation’s first Assistant Secretary for Native American Early Childhood Education and Care
Related reading:
- How the New Mexico Land Grant Permanent Fund Works, Invest In Kids NOW Coalition
- New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, 2023 Accountability Report: Early Childhood
- New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Annual Outcomes Report for Fiscal Year 2022
Part 2: Building Power and Community Voice: The movement behind the work, discussion with grassroots leaders, organizers, community leaders [All Speaker Bios]
- (Facilitator) Shannon Cotsoradis, Director, Policy & Strategy, Buffett Early Childhood Fund
- Growing Up New Mexico (GUNM)
- Kate Noble, President and CEO
- Valeria Holloway, Owner/Educator, Best of the Southwest Daycare, Las Cruces, NM; and Facilitator, GUNM THE (Training Home Educators) Accelerator, and Peer Coach peer coach with Growing Up NM
- OLÉ
- Miles Tokunow, Deputy Director, OLÉ
- Ivydel Natachu, Preschool Teacher, Albuquerque, NM; and Community Organizer, OLÉ
- Somos Un Pueblo Unido
- Anna Martinez, Community Organizer, Somos Un Pueblo Unido
Related Reading:
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
[See Full Site Visit Descriptions]
- Keres Children's Learning Center, Cochiti Pueblo.
- Read: KCLC Visitor Observation Guidelines
- Watch: Keres Children’s Learning Center (2.5min) A snapshot of parent, student and staff perspectives on the Keres language immersion school which uses the Montessori approach in service of the revitalization of the Keres language. (Produced by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians).
- Kha'p'o Community School, Santa Clara Pueblo (followed by lunch at The Feasting Place)
- Santa Fe Community College, Early Education Center of Excellence (EECOE) & Kids Campus
- EECOE Site visit PowerPoint Overview - Kids Campus, First Born and more.
- Santa Fe Recovery Center, Mom & Baby Residential Program and Therapeutic Child Care Center** Followed by either return to hotel (with Capitol Tour/Visit option), or continuation to San Felipe Feast Day
Related Reading: San Felipe Pueblo & Feast Day Visitor Etiquette
Afternoon Capitol Visit Tour:
For Santa Fe site visit attendees returning to the hotel after morning site visits, you will have the option of joining our site visit host Mariana Padilla, Executive Director, NM Children’s Cabinet, in the Cabinet Room in the Office of the Governor for discussion on work in New Mexico around prevention, healthy child well-being and education. See site visit overviews for more details.
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Building Partnerships in a Diverse State
NM’s diversity in people and place holds many lessons for building authentic partnerships with the community to grow and sustain systems that serve young children and families. In our closing discussion, we’ll consider some unique partnerships that have evolved in NM and lessons that can inform funders working in other places, communities, and cultural settings. Participants will hear from peers about their experiences and reflections from the first two days within an informal reflection panel discussion.
Facilitator: Olivia Roanhorse, COO/ Research and Evaluation Portfolio Lead, Roanhorse Consulting LLC
Funder Reflection Panel [Speaker Bios]
- Jennifer Duran-Sallee, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
- RJ Martinez, Early Childhood Program Manager, LANL Foundation
- Kawin Nunnery, Program Associate, JF Maddox Foundation
- Mabel Muñoz, Senior Program Officer, Early Childhood Development, US; Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Following our reflection panel, we used Open Space technology, we created an agenda for in-depth small group discussions to close our meeting.
