Policy & Research

Policy & Leadership

Improve our early childhood systems with us and affect real change.

Advance our systems by making them more effective, efficient and accessible to young children and their families.

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Policy & Leadership

Advocating for Children & Families through Policy and Leadership

Learn how you can affect policy change.

To get at the root causes of the issues we see in early childhood, it is critical to have a deeper understanding of child development, our early care and education systems, and structural inefficiencies. The science of child development, the power of data and the wisdom of community voices help inform more effective policy solutions.

Early Childhood Public Policy

Find out how we engage and contribute expertise on early childhood policy to policy tables, maintaining a focus on workforce issues and building a pipeline of advocates.

Policy Executive Leadership Programs

Learn more about our fellowship programs and workshops on early childhood science, social service systems, and current issues.

Customized Trainings

Support your project and strategic planning with coaching support and add to your staff’s professional growth with tailored learning experiences from Erikson.

Keeping children at the center of trending headlines and hot topics

Listen to our podcast

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Penny Smith CPTD®

Executive Director of Policy and Leadership

“ Our capacity-building programs equip leaders with leading-edge research and hands-on experience to transform policy. ”

60 %

Of senior administrators shifted to leadership positions post-program* with broader impact on local, state and national early childhood efforts

83 %

Of survey responses from the cross-sector of professionals taking our anti-racism workshops felt the content provided compelling research and information.

71 %

Of alumni from our leadership programs remain engaged in advocating for early childhood policy change.

*Data from Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows and previous iterations of the program.

Get on the Early Childhood Bus, a podcast from Erikson Institute.

Hosted by Penny Smith, Executive Director of Policy and Leadership, Erikson’s Policy and Leadership Team invites you to join us to hear about trending headlines and how children can and should be centered.

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Erikson’s Policy and Leadership App

Find more resources on our programs, calendar of events and our alumni network on our app. Download at the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or view the Desktop Version.