How Birth to Five Illinois Uses Language to Build Trust and Foster Equity
By prioritizing inclusive language, Birth to Five Illinois is transforming early childhood advocacy to better connect with and empower the communities it serves.
Language shapes how we see the world and, for organizations working closely with communities, it’s a critical tool that either builds trust or creates distance. Birth to Five Illinois, a statewide organization committed to advocating for equitable early childhood policies, knows that how they communicate matters just as much as what they communicate. Working across 39 regions, Birth to Five Illinois amplifies community voices and builds relationships with families, providers, and policymakers to address systemic inequities in early childhood services.
The organization’s mission depends on fostering trust and collaboration, which is why they sought to reimagine their approach to data and language with Erikson’s Decoding Data and Language racial equity training. This series provided a framework for embedding equity, accessibility, and cultural responsiveness into the organization’s communications.
Following the training, Birth to Five Illinois revised their mission statement to emphasize equity and cultural responsiveness. They revamped their style guide to include equitable language practices and even created protocols to flag outdated or harmful terminology when referencing external data. This subtle yet powerful shift enables the organization to communicate with respect and transparency. In practice, it means updating assessment reports crafted for each of the 39 regions in the state to better reflect community values, translating documents into Spanish, providing live interpretation for meetings, and constantly reviewing language for relevance and inclusivity.
Staff members have noted how this intentional use of language deepens their relationships with the communities they serve. As Communications Manager Maggie Koller explains, “Getting people together to have conversations about community engagement with a focus on equity is critical to any work we’re doing in early childhood education and care.” By prioritizing language that uplifts rather than alienates, Birth to Five Illinois exemplifies how words can inspire meaningful change.
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