At the 2025 Early Educator Leadership Forum, Christina Lopez invited attendees to pause, look around, and recognize the power in the room. A longtime early childhood educator, advocate, and president of the Maryland Association for the Education of Young Children, Christina opened her remarks by calling attendees into community: “Look at the faces near you… the excitement, the joy for this work, the hope and the dreams in our eyes.”

Lopez, who is also a graduate and former director of the Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Program (MECLP), shared a deeply personal reflection on her leadership journey—rooted in early childhood practice and fueled by what she calls our “grown-up circle”: the leadership programs and communities that hold space for early educators to lead, question, and grow.

Drawing on her early experiences as a classroom teacher, Lopez likened the Forum to “circle time,” a familiar and grounding ritual in early learning spaces. “That’s how we start our day—with connection, with belonging, with creating space,” she said. “And this leadership program is really our grown-up circle.”

That circle, she explained, was vital when the Change Project she developed as a MECLP Fellow challenged systems during the height of the pandemic—a time when her big questions and ideas were often dismissed. “People told me, ‘You’re thinking too big… stay in your lane… you’re too passionate.’ But I thought, too passionate for education? That doesn’t make sense.”

Her message to early educators in the room: show up fully, flaws and strengths alike. Leadership isn’t about perfection—it’s about courage, persistence, and collective movement. “Even if you fall flat on your face, you’re still in forward motion,” she said. “Get back up, lean into the circle, and keep going.”

Lopez closed with gratitude and a charge: continue shining, continue giving space for others to shine, and never underestimate the power of shared vision. “When it feels too big, I remember these faces,” she said. “Because it’s together that we’re going to make this change—one step at a time.”

Leading for Change in Early Care and Education was developed by Early Education Leaders and anchors all of our programs. Participants learn how to lead for change to improve program quality and promote equity in early care and education. Leading for Change is currently offered to early educators in Massachusetts at UMass Boston and also in partnership with the MA Department of Early Education and Care through its statewide network of StrongStart Professional Development Centers. Leading for Change is also offered to early educators in Maryland through the Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Education Program at the Shriver Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and in Pennsylvania through the Pennsylvania Key and Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development & Early Learning. It was offered to educators in California through a pilot program.