Gathering in a Time of Crisis - A Note for Our Community

Welcome Early Childhood Champions and System Builders, 

As we all work quickly to support children, families and communities across the country in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all learning and innovating as we go and drawing on our collective expertise to support families, programs, communities and states as they make the best decisions. There is an urgent need to efficiently connect and share, in real-time, the great work the early childhood community is doing. 

Over the last year, a growing cadre of early childhood organizations, community leaders, and experts have been working together to co-design a shared online community to exchange knowledge across the early childhood field that connects our collective expertise, policy, and advocacy ideas. While we continue to co-design a broader knowledge-sharing community and platform together – the Early Childhood Connector, we know there is an immediate contribution that can be made by temporarily changing direction. We want to connect the field in real-time and help each other as we navigate the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic together.  

To respond to these needs, the Early Childhood Connector Stewardship Team accelerated access to launch this shared online community for the early childhood field. 

We launched this community in response to requests being received from the field, to accelerate and bring to life a common place for connection during this crisis, we focused on the following:  

• Launching a simple, judgement-free online community group to connect each other, share ideas, curate best practices and elevate the work that’s happening at the local, state, and national level in response to the COVID-19 crisis.  
• Creating a neutral location to host the most up-to-date, expert vetted COVID-19 resources and information including emerging community, state and national strategies. 
• Building internal field confidence and resilience as we continue to provide high-quality support to the children, families and communities we serve across the country.  

When you register to join, you become a part of a community of peers across the country that are co-designing a robust and vibrant community where people feel comfortable sharing and seeking support.  

Together we can help connect, guide and support the early childhood field response to the COVID-19 crisis, while we all continue to co-design the overarching work of the Early Childhood Connector.  

Note for new members: After you register to join the community, check out our Get Started  page for some useful tips on how you can navigate, collaborate, and connect with peers who are mobilized to continue making a difference for children and families.