Our Approach
Grounding our work in guiding principles
In developing and driving implementation of our policy objectives, our coalition took time to ground our work in guiding principles. In both our strategic direction and ongoing operations, we keep the following priorities at the forefront of our decision-making:
Racial Equity
By approaching all our work through a racial equity lens, we will be able to achieve our mission and close the opportunity gap for our earliest learners. Access our racial equity toolkit here.
Family & Beneficiary Voice
We recognize the critical importance of incorporating family voices, particularly of families of color and those from under-served communities, in everything we do—in setting priorities, making decisions and guiding our actions to ensure systems work for all families.
Priority Populations
Too often, children and families that are furthest from opportunity do not receive support from policy initiatives. In our work, we focus specifically on new parents, infants and toddlers who need our help the most.
Data-Driven Decision-Making
To maximize our impact, we use data to track our progress, inform our priorities and target our efforts.
Collective Effort
To ensure every family in Illinois has the strongest foundation for success in school and life, a comprehensive and all-hands-on-deck approach is required. We are fortunate to have so many stakeholders committed to our earliest learners across our state. We work to align with, support and steward existing efforts in the prenatal-to-age 3 space to amplify our efforts and increase our impact.
