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

Featured Speaker: Elgin Partnership for Early Learning & EduDream

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!

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.

Community Systems Development Foundational Training 101  

January 30, 2025, 10:00am – 11:45am 

The CS3 team is excited to offer another session of our popular CSD Foundational Training 101!  This training is beneficial for those new to community systems development and early childhood collaborations in laying foundational understanding of community systems development work, as well as for existing collaborations in strengthening core concepts.    

Training Objectives: 

• Understand the importance of racial equity in early childhood systems   

• Learn the value of a community-systems-based approach  

• Understand the role of early childhood community collaborations in affecting equitable change    

This training will be facilitated by Artishia Hunter.

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

• The science of brain development and how it influences early learning
• The developing infant/toddler and the importance of Early Intervention
• The structure and opportunities within Illinois’ early childhood education and care programs and systems

This cohort requires you to attend all three sessions as a representative of your collaboration.

Please note, this series will not be recorded. 

This series will be led by Jaclyn Vasquez.

Practical Foundations to Boost your Community Systems Development Facilitation Competence

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. The ten-chapter facilitation handbook is written specifically for early childhood collaboration leaders and others who facilitate community systems development conversations and meetings.

Training Objectives:

• Articulate the critical role of facilitation for community systems development efforts
• Assess one’s facilitation competence
• Identify facilitation skills and techniques to strengthen facilitation competency
• Explore facilitator neutrality and strategies for remaining neutral given the many roles of CSD leaders
• Summarize and contrast two approaches to facilitating CSD conversations and meetings
• Cite the facilitation objectives and tasks associated with each approach

This training will be facilitated by Christina Foster.

Disaggregating Data for Rural Early Childhood Community Collaborations

In person – Mt. Vernon

March 27, 2025, 10:00am – 1:00pm

This workshop is designed to address the unique challenges in dealing with data faced by early childhood collaborations in rural communities. Together, we’ll build a foundation for equity-driven decision making tailored to the needs of your community.   

• Explore practical strategies for collecting and disaggregating data by race, income, and other key demographics.
• Focus on limited-capacity outreach and innovative approaches.
• Learn how data can reveal disparities, support equitable resource allocation, and drive meaningful change for children and families in rural settings.

This series will be led by Jaclyn Vasquez.

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.