End of Year MATCH! Every gift will be 2x MATCHED to make TWICE the impact to help our littlest learners access quality learning. Give Today

Happy baby smiling

Policy & Advocacy

At Start Early, policy and advocacy are integral parts of our mission to ensure young children and their families have access to quality, equitable early learning and care.

Our Approach

Start Early’s policy and advocacy efforts are grounded in our decades of work with children, families, the workforce and systems leaders, as well as our work to advance equity. Through systems building; legislative, administrative and grassroots advocacy; and consultation and thought leadership, we aim to:

  • Improve early childhood experiences for all young children through programs and policies that support early learning and care, maternal and child health and family engagement.
  • Sustain and increase public investments for quality, comprehensive early childhood education.
  • Support policies and service delivery systems that increase access to high-quality, affordable early childhood education and positively impact young children’s learning, health and family outcomes.

The Shaping Futures Together: An Early Childhood Research & Policy Agenda

A path forward must involve listening to and partnering with families and early childhood practitioners to prioritize the policies, research and investments needed to ensure all children thrive. That’s how the Shaping Futures Together: An Early Childhood Research & Policy Agenda was created – by identifying families’ and practitioners’ priorities.

Two boys at Educare Miami with circle toys
corner square pie shape-grid

Our Work

Building on our expertise from decades of grassroots advocacy in Illinois, we work at local, state and federal levels with advocates, government systems, program leaders and other partners in the field.

Policy & Advocacy

Resources & News

Learn more about our work, access relevant resources and learn how to get involved below.