Upcoming Events

Webinar — Introduction to Facilitating Effective Community System Development Meetings: A Handbook for Collaboration Leaders

Watch this webinar to learn how our new handbook, Facilitating Effective Community System Development Meetings: A Handbook for Collaboration Leaders can build your facilitation competence. Learn how it is unique, who can benefit, an introduction to the contents, and additional related supports.

Collaboration Highlights Lunch & Learn Series

September 24, 2024, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Featured Speaker: Southern Illinois Coalition for Children and Families

December 3, 2024, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

March 18, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

June 3, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Get inspired by the groundbreaking work happening across our state in our Community Collaboration Highlights Lunch & Learn series! This series offers four opportunities to hear directly from partners who are leading the way in innovation and excellence in early childhood community systems. Discover the successes of community collaboration partners making a significant impact, take away fresh ideas and strategies to implement in your own organization, and connect with a network of professionals dedicated to advancing community collaboration.

Stay tuned to find out who will be featured at each event!

Collaboration Learning Mini Cohort: Fiscal Sustainability

October 1, 2024, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

October 8, 2024, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

October 15, 2024, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

If you are an early childhood community collaboration leader or partner, we invite you to join our 3-part Fiscal Sustainability Collaboration Learning Mini Cohort as a representative of your collaboration! Participants must have the approval of their collaboration and attend all three sessions, so please only register if you are able to do so.

Are you ready to fortify your community collaboration’s financial foundation? Our exclusive 3-part Collaboration Learning Mini Cohort on fiscal sustainability is designed to equip you with the essential tools and strategies for long-term success.

What to Expect:

• Engage with Experts: Interact with funders, grant writers, and fiscal backbone support agencies, along with experienced leaders from stand-alone 501(c)(3) collaborations.
• Interactive Learning: Bring your questions and insights to each session. Our workshop format will allow you to apply this knowledge through hands-on activities, with real-time support from our trainers.
• Tailored Support: Receive personalized guidance on your collaboration’s unique fiscal challenges, ensuring you leave each session with actionable insights.

Enhancing Racial Equity in Early Childhood Collaborations and Systems

Part 1: October 10, 2024, 10:00am – 1:30pm

Part 2: October 24, 2024, 10:00am – 1:30pm

This two-part training is designed to help participants understand and embody equity within the context of Early Childhood Collaborations (ECC) and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It aims to empower participants with an understanding of racial equity, providing them with the best practices to integrate these principles into their professional activities and daily lives. Attendees will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to foster and sustain equitable environments in early childhood systems.

Session 1 – Foundational Knowledge Objectives:

• Understanding Racial Equity: Define what racial equity looks like in our context.
• Identifying White Supremacy Characteristics: Recognize and address traits of white supremacy in ECEC and specifically collaborations.
• Exploring Historical Context: Examine the history of childcare, including the impacts of slavery and the undervaluation of people of color in the workforce.
• Building Perspective: Acquire essential knowledge about racial equity and its significance in early childhood settings. Foster self-awareness and personal growth related to racial equity.
• Aligning Core Values: Define and align with core values, vision, and mission of equity in ECEC.

Session 2 – Application of Knowledge Objectives

• Aligning Core Values: Define and ensure alignment with core values, vision, and mission of racial equity in EC systems.
• Creating & Evaluating Equitable Policies: Learn to develop and evaluate policies to advance racial equity.
• Racial Equity in Practice: Gain knowledge and practical skills essential for embedding racial equity in everyday collaboration work.
• Applying Skills: Implement newfound knowledge and skills to create more equitable and inclusive environments in EC collaborations and systems.
• Professional Development: Enhance personal and professional self-awareness to better apply equity principles.

This training will be facilitated by Dra. Alexandra Escobar and Artishia Hunter.

Introduction to the REVISED CS3 Family Engagement Framework for Early Childhood Collaborations

November 12, 2024, 10:00am – 12:00pm

June 13, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm (Repeated)

Join us as we go over the revised CS3 Family Engagement Framework and how to use it!  Participants will receive information and tools to help them identify their collaboration’s starting point on the framework.  The training will also introduce a new tool to help collaborations choose which family engagement role(s) to carry out based on their community needs and resources.

Training Objectives

Participants will receive information and tools needed to:

• Become will become familiar with the revised CS3 Family Engagement Framework
• Assess a collaboration’s family engagement work and decide where they can start using the framework.
• Choose which family engagement role(s) to implement.
• Access CS3 Family Engagement Supports

This training will be facilitated by Janet Vargas, Ruby Flores, and Dra. Alexandra Escobar.

Leading Without Authority

Part 1: January 10, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Part 2: January 31, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Part 3: February 14, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Discover how to lead and influence effectively without formal authority in our 3-part series, Leading Without Authority. Designed for early childhood community collaboration leaders, this program will help you build trust, communicate effectively, and create a collaborative environment. Learn essential strategies for influence, problem-solving, and conflict resolution to make a meaningful impact in your organization.

Through interactive sessions and practical applications, you’ll develop a personal leadership plan, set actionable goals, and assess your strengths. Whether you’re looking to enhance your current role or prepare for future opportunities, this series will equip you with the tools to lead with confidence and purpose. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your leadership skills and make a lasting impact on your collaboration. Join us and take the next step in your leadership journey!

Training Objectives:

• Equip participants with the knowledge and skills to lead without formal authority:
  • Provide a comprehensive understanding of leadership without formal power, including the exploration of different leadership styles and the development of essential leadership skills.
• Develop practical strategies for effective team leadership:
  • Enable participants to apply influence, persuasion, and problem-solving techniques in collaborative team environments, fostering effective team dynamics and achieving shared goals.
• Participants to resolve conflicts and continuously grow as leaders:
  • Teach participants advanced strategies for conflict resolution within teams and guide them in creating personalized leadership development plans to ensure continuous growth and effectiveness as leaders.

This series will be led by Jaclyn Vasquez and Rebecca Halperin.

Collaboration Learning Mini Cohort: Early Childhood

February 11, 2025, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

February 18, 2025, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

February 25, 2025, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

If you are an early childhood community collaboration leader or partner, we invite you to join our 3-part Early Childhood Collaboration Learning Mini Cohort as a representative of your collaboration! Participants must have the approval of their collaboration and attend all three sessions, so please only register if you are able to do so.

More information to come!

Community Systems Development Meeting Facilitation Fundamentals

Part 1: March 12, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Part 2: March 19, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

This 2-part training series will be based on our new handbook: Facilitating Effective Community System Development Meetings: A Handbook for Collaboration Leaders. This ten-chapter facilitation handbook is written specifically for leaders who facilitate community systems development meetings. The training is being developed according to level of interest in the handbook content. Stay tuned for more information closer to the training date!

This training will be facilitated by Christina Foster.

Community Storytelling: Decolonizing the Narrative

April 4, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

April 11, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

April 25, 2025, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Discover the transformative power of community storytelling in our 3-part series, Community Storytelling: Decolonizing the Narrative. This series is designed to center family voices, creating authentic, impactful narratives that reflect the true experiences of those within our communities. You’ll learn how to elevate these voices, challenge dominant narratives, and develop practical techniques for collecting and sharing stories that drive meaningful change.

Through interactive sessions, you’ll explore ethical storytelling practices, build connections, and integrate decolonized storytelling into your initiatives. This series will equip you with the tools to enhance your storytelling, inspire action, and make a lasting impact in your community by focusing on the voices that matter most.

Training Objectives:

• Develop Critical Awareness: Participants will gain a deep understanding of how biases influence narratives across various fields and learn to critically analyze these biases in order to create more accurate, respectful, and inclusive stories.
• Storytelling Practices: Participants will acquire practical skills in collecting, reframing, and sharing community stories, with a focus on decolonizing narratives and ensuring that storytelling practices honor the voices, cultures, and histories of systemically oppressed populations.
• Apply Storytelling for Impact: Participants will learn to effectively integrate decolonized narratives into collective impact initiatives, policy advocacy, and grant writing, using storytelling as a tool to support community empowerment, influence policy change, and secure funding for initiatives that align with community values and priorities.

This series will be led by Jaclyn Vasquez and Rebecca Halperin.