Common Cause

Over the past few days I have had several opportunities to be reminded that there is more common cause in advancing children's issues than we sometimes think. Among the examples:

The Early Childhood Learning Affinity Group of Funders, which the Foundation started at Philanthropy Northwest 6 years ago was hosted by the Tulalip Tribe on the Tulalip reservation on Tuesday. Challenges wrought by years of poor treatment at the hands of settlers and federal and state government were evident in examples provided by members of the Colville Confederated Tribe of Indians and Tulalip Tribe and other tribal representatives. Representatives from the six first nations who state attended also provided an overview of the specific differences in world view that affect their choices for their community and children. They also provided some good reminders of the unique interests, challenges and opportunities in their community. The challenge of reviving the Salishan language when there are more young children who can speak the language than elders and other teachers was particularly vivid.

However, I was struck by how many of the things that these communities want for their children were similar to my own desires for my children. Shortcomings of our educational system, consumer culture and bureaucratic roadblocks they identified, were similar to those many families experience, albeit for different reasons and to different degrees. I left the meeting wondering about common cause and action.

On Wednesday, I met with a group of funder representatives and Children's Museums at Talaris and was again struck by the commonality. There were differences in approaches to address customer needs and interests, but the common vision for supporting families, creating community and promoting children's healthy development was palpable. The degree to which the organizations saw each other as assets and compatriots rather than competitors was encouraging.

I have just returned from a Legislative Candidate Forum in Bellevue this morning, where no less than 11 candidates (Ross Hunter, Toby Nixon, Luke Esser, Dale Murphy, Eric Oemig, Deb Eddy, Roger Goodman, Judy Clibborn, Larry Springer, Fred Jarrett, Rodney Tom) took time from their busy schedules less than two weeks before the election to hear about early learning and health and share their own ideas and commitments. Solutions and priorities ranged from preventing teenage pregnancy to supporting parents to preventing domestic violence to realizing administrative efficiencies and accountability and unleashing the market forces of parents as consumers. What was striking was that again, though the path to early learning and health as top issues was different for each candidate, as were the prioritized solutions, there was amazing agreement.

All of this is to say that in the philanthropic, service and policy circles, there is a lot of agreement and a lot of support. Our task is to listen, identify common cause, connect and move.

Autumn Arrives with a Whirlwind

Years of community work by many individuals and organizations is paying great dividends. The Foundation for Early Learning is pleased to be supporting local early learning planning in Clark, King, Spokane and Thurston counties through our Getting School Ready! TM approach. We're also excited to join with other partners who are building community capacity for early learning through a variety of mechanisms.

One such mechanism is the Governor's Early Learning Summit on November 13th and 14th. The event is designed to build connections among local teams and state organizations and is supported both by the Foundation and the Washington Build Initiative which is part of the state's Kids Matter effort. At the Summit, the Governor will continue to demonstrate her passion for early learning and have a chance to hear from local teams about their efforts. While the Summit is designed specifically to invite local and state teams, others can benefit from the relationships that will be strengthened that day. Check back here in mid-November for updates on the Summit and links to on-line community pages where you can participate.

Another exciting development is the appointment of Jone Bosworth as the new Director of the Department of Early Learning. In short order, Jone has inspired the new agency to take advantage of the momentum in early learning. I have seen Jone in action at the recent DEL retreat and in other settings, and I can tell you that we are in for great things folks.

When the new public-private partnership Thrive by Five Washington hires its CEO, these two leaders can join hands with the Governor and many local leaders who are creating early learning action on the ground. Both Jone and the Governor are very approachable good listeners, so if you see them at an event, introduce yourself.

Strategic thinking

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I will be updating this regularly with information about the early learning movement taking place in Washington State and beyond.
Check back often for updates, and welcome!