racial equity

Associated Early Care and Education seeks funding to pilot a new program, Parent Leadership Development & Advocacy for Personal & Social Change, in support of leadership and advocacy development among low-income African-American and Latino-American parents. Participants will build their personal and collective capacity to effectively support and advocate for the learning and achievement of their children; for their own learning and achievement; for institutional and policy changes that produce greater opportunity for their families and communities to move out of poverty; and to engage in cross-cultural learning and collaboration with parents, providers, and others to accomplish these goals.

Key activities will include collaborative project planning to design, implement, and evaluate the project – and parents will be encouraged to share their visions of success for their children and their communities, receive training around personal responsibility for advancing their own learning, development and goal setting skills; and will be matched with mentors trained in the Efficacy model. Support groups will empower parents to become confident and competent caregivers, who feel supported to act on their innate wisdom, and desire to do what is best for their children. By learning about the cultures and needs of their own and each other’s communities— participants will engage in dialogues to build racial and cross-cultural understanding, healing, and commitment to foster unity among the African-American and Latino communities.