Academics / Professional Development / Policy Executive Leadership Training

Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows

Build your public policy knowledge to safeguard early childhood resources.

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Building a Pipeline of Early Childhood Advocates

Meet the 2023-2024 Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows.

Erikson Institute is proud to announce the new cohort of Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows (BBLF) program, which runs October 2023 through July 2024. These leaders will leverage their field expertise to develop policy recommendations designed to ensure Illinois’ publicly funded programs and resources are accessible and of high quality for all young children and their families. Meet the current cohort

As a senior-level early childhood professional, this program takes 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.

Named after one of Erikson’s co-founders, Barbara T. Bowman, the Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows (BBLF) program is designed to enrich the perspective and enhance the capacity of early childhood leaders committed to making our system more effective and efficient.

Dara Munson

President and CEO for Family Focus

“ Participating in the BBLF program exceeded my expectations. Being named after such an honored leader, we started and ended strong.  I know I will be a stronger leader after leaning into and learning through this program. ”

Empowering Leaders Through Dynamic Learning Experiences

A 10-Month Professional Development Opportunity to Amplify Advocacy

Early childhood leaders participate in full-day seminars once a month October through July. You can expect an engaging, rigorous, and reflective experience with a thoughtful balance between theory and practice.

Monthly sessions further your skills to analyze critical issues and cultivate a broader understanding of how policy and systems affect children and families in Illinois.

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Signature elements of the program include:

Icon of classroom with teacher and students.

Expert guest lectures from early childhood policymakers and advocates

Navigating Illinois’ child and family-serving systems

Developing and applying a critical lens using quantitative and qualitative data

Coaching from policy experts

Fostering an enduring network among fellows

Developing policy recommendations for a current issue

Providing You with Tools to Implement Change

With a deeper understanding of key early childhood policy issues and comprehensive insight into the intricacies of policymaking, you will complete the program equipped to initiate change on a local, state or federal level. This program also boosts your capacity to ensure your organization is responsive to community needs, cultivating quality programs and ensuring access to resources.

Contribute to Policy Change with Solutions

Examine Current Issues and Develop Policy Recommendations

During the course of the program, you will identify an issue in the early childhood field and, based on your experience and relevant data, develop policy recommendations that contribute to resolving the problem. Past recommendations focused on workforce issues, access to programs and services, systems alignment and more.

2023-2024 Policy Memo Book
2019-2020 Policy Memo Book
2018-2019 Policy Memo Book
2017-2018 Policy Memo Book
2016-2017 Policy Memo Book

Julissa Cruz

BBLF, 2023-2024

Cruz initiated a meeting with the fellows in her BBLF cohort and the director overseeing the transition for the newly created Illinois Department of Early Childhood. The BBLF cohort provided their expertise and experience in the field to help shape the new infrastructure.

Sherri Moore

BBLF, 2018-2019

Moore partnered with three family court judges, alums from Erikson’s Executive Fellows program, to reduce the time it takes to resolve child welfare cases from 1-2 years to 90-120 days. This effort decreases the trauma associated with temporary custody situations and its impact on a child’s development.

Marquinta Thomas

BBLF, 2016-2017

Thomas leads the Strengthening Connections pilot program, which supports quality visits between children and their parents/caregivers serving time in the incarceration system with welcoming environments that foster positive memories and meaningful engagements and includes support services. The program has served 200 families with plans to scale over time.

Start Building Your Capacity and Knowledge of How to Drive Early Childhood Policy Change

Learn about nomination requirements and the application process today.