Policy Executive Leadership Programs
Shift power, voice and perspective to the lived experiences of communities of color.
Reimagine Early Childhood Systems
Ensure equity and investment for the whole child.
Leaders like you, from a variety of fields, participate in our programs to understand the issues affecting young children and their families specifically those from communities that have been historically marginalized. Our programs focus on developing strategies to implement systemic changes that lead to equitable access to high-quality early childhood resources.
Policy Change
Build your knowledge on early childhood and racial equity to best serve the needs of young children and families in your community.
Distributing Resources
Learn the barriers historically marginalized communities experience accessing early childhood programs, social services, and funding and how to improve the distribution of those resources.
Systems Change
Understand the structure of programs and services and how policy change can help parents and caregivers easily navigate a complex system and access resources for their children.
Early Childhood Leadership Academy
Our Early Childhood Leadership Academy (ECLA) provides dynamic and collective learning experiences to enhance racial equity and child development knowledge to influence early childhood policy that leads to positive outcomes for young children and their families.
Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows
As a senior-level early childhood professional, this program takes an anti-racism approach to public policy knowledge and pairs it with your experience in the field to fortify your skills and elevate your advocacy on early childhood policy. This program considers nominated candidates who are reflective of the communities they serve in Illinois.
Executive Fellows
As a highly influential decision-maker on policies that affect children and families on a local, regional, or state level, this program uses an anti-racism approach to introduce you to the long-term benefits of quality early childhood experiences and the policy opportunities to improve programs and services for all children and families. Learn more about the program
Decoding Data and Language
Advancing Racial Equity and Systemic Solutions
This two-part workshop series explains how deficit language is dehumanizing and deflects from the structural racism and flaws baked in our systems and offers ways to effectively use data to illuminate systemic barriers and reveal root causes.
Policy Leadership Since 2009
Tailored Learning Experiences and Coaching for You or Your Organization
You are able to engage in a safe space for people to learn, express their thoughts and share ideas.
Workshops can be tailored according to professional development needs and can incorporate activities, breakout groups and follow-up materials or resources. Project consultation is also available. Subject areas covered include but are not limited to:
- Developing an anti-racist approach to your work
- Understanding the public policy cycle
- Focusing on root causes and systems change
- Decoding data and language
- Ensuring diverse representation and community voices in decision-making
- Data literacy for data justice
Use a Holistic Approach to Data to Inform Advocacy Efforts
Centering the people with the lived experiences captured by data is a critical component of data literacy.
Erikson’s approach to data literacy helps you amplify community ownership in shaping the narrative around data to fully understand its meaning and better inform advocacy efforts.
Find the Right Learning Experience for You
Connect with our policy experts to determine the best learning programs for you and your staff.