What an honor it was to participate in The Hunt Institute’s Early Childhood Leadership Summit this week! This bipartisan gathering brought together early childhood leaders, policymakers, and researchers from across the nation to strengthen early childhood systems and advance the field.

Our Executive Director, Dr. Anne Douglass, moderated a powerful session on “Early Childhood Workforce Solutions”—a topic at the heart of our mission to cultivate leadership in early care and education. The panel explored bold, equity-driven strategies to strengthen and sustain the early childhood workforce, featuring insights from leaders who are driving meaningful change in their states and organizations.

This type of cross-sector collaboration exemplifies what we believe is essential for the field: bringing together diverse voices and expertise to create sustainable solutions that support both children and the educators who serve them. The conversations reinforced our commitment to developing racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse leadership that reflects and represents the communities they serve.

Events like this Summit remind us why our work matters—building the field’s infrastructure and developing systems to attract, support, and sustain strong leadership at all levels of the early care and education workforce creates the conditions where children and the adults who care for them can truly thrive.

Pictured, left to right: Dr. Teresa Ramos, Secretary, Illinois Department of Early Childhood, Brandy Jones Lawrence, Technical Assistance Director, the National ECE Workforce Center, Daniel Hains, Chief Policy & Professional Advancement Officer, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Dr. Anne Douglass, Executive Director, Early Education Leaders, and The Honorable Kate Farrar, Deputy Majority Leader, CT House of Representatives