November 7, 2024
Dear NAEYC Community,
This week brought us both Election Day and the start of our Annual Conference. During yesterday’s Opening Session, I was grateful to be in community and solidarity with our strong, passionate, and diverse audience of thousands of early childhood educators—and to share the stage with the one and only LeVar Burton, who inspired us, read to us, and reminded us of our collective power to positively influence children’s lives.
I also am so proud of the many ways in which you showed up for each other during this election cycle—making phone calls, going to town halls, and advocating with candidates for policies to support early childhood education and educators. As a result, child care and early learning showed up in debates, interviews, ballot measures, policy platforms, and speeches.
Now that the votes have been cast and are being counted, and we have a new presidential administration and a new Congress coming in January, along with new state legislatures and governors, our resolve remains as strong as ever. We have important work ahead of us, grounded in our commitment to create a welcoming, equitable, joyful, and caring community for all young children, families, and early childhood educators.
Know that NAEYC will continue to advocate for the supports, the recognition, and the policies that will advance equity and promote inclusion. To do so, we will be working with you to educate and hold accountable new and returning elected officials in Washington, DC, and across the country.
As I said during yesterday’s opening session: We will raise our voices. We will multiply our numbers. We will keep going—by building this movement. By forging connections. By sharing our experiences and our knowledge. By translating what we know into narratives for change. And by turning those narratives into a chorus so clear and so loud that no one can ignore us. As the CEO of NAEYC, the largest coalition of early childhood educators in the world, I want you to know… we can do that. It’s why we’re here.
For additional inspiration, I ask you to call on the spirit of Barbara Bowman, a leader and luminary in our early childhood field, who passed away earlier this week. She leaves a profound legacy of quality and equity that has and always will guide and inspire so many of us to use our own voices on behalf of a shared vision for children and families.
Our conference theme is, in fact, “One Vision, Many Voices,” and I believe that captures both our goal and our strength, now and in the times to come. Please take care of yourselves as we continue to learn from, listen to, and lean on each other, gathering strength and strategies to ensure that, together, we continue to carry our powerful vision forward.
In community,
Michelle Kang, CEO