There’s no denying it – 2020 made us sit back (literally) and forced us to redesign and rethink a future so that we could respond to the many critical needs in our community. It brought our partners and friends together in earnest to move our early childhood system towards equity and to determine better results for young children and their families
In the following report, A Year of Intentional Listening, Data-Driven Action, and Stories of Change, you will learn about how listening was an important theme in 2020. Listening to parents, child care providers, small businesses, communities, and families most proximate to the painful systemic inequities. With the disruption brought by COVID-19 and the racial awakening in the aftermath of the horrific footage of George Floyd’s murder, North Carolina has a mandate to reimagine a more equitable early childhood system. We are heartened by the silver threads of possibility imagined in the wake of disaster and endeavor to support transformation so that all NC children are given an equitable shot for success.