It is the Early Care & Education Association’s vision to ensure that every child and family has equitable access to quality early care & education & to increase and sustain the respect for early childhood educators.
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Mission Statement
The Early Care and Education Association will act as a liaison to support and sustain early childhood professionals and provide opportunities for collaboration to enhance the lives of children and families in the Upper Valley Region of Vermont and New Hampshire.
Executive Committee
Jennifer Hosmer: President
Jennifer Parker: Vice President
Deborah Kerwin: Treasurer
Kelley Downing: Secretary
Members
Janet Bauer
Sunnie McPhetres
Katy Tremblay
Chief Goal & Driving Principle
The chief goal of the ECEA is to sustain and support our network of early childhood professionals. This network demonstrates the power of collaboration in growing efforts to sustain, expand, and improve equitable access to developmentally appropriate care in the Upper Valley. The driving principle of the network is to support professionals working with children from birth to age 5. Our initial focus was to provide these supports to center-based programs, early childhood support services, and family services. However, we have expanded our work to include the participation of family-based childcare and after-school programs.
Values
- Tapping into the power of shared knowledge and collective experience.
- Collaboration that is inclusive, focused, safe, non-competitive, and diverse in thought and experience.
- Collective action with reachable goals that affect positive outcomes.
- Supportive relationships that empower, validate, and provide options for finding solutions.
Strategic Plan
Goal A: Quality supports are available to a highly skilled and professional early childhood education workforce.
A1: Create opportunities for networking, information sharing and peer learning at every level of the profession.
A2: Expand the ECEA’s involvement in training and professional development offerings.
A3: Transfer learning into quality improvements in programs and services.
A4: Support area directors in efforts to retain and recruit staff.
Goal B: Represent the Early Care and Education Association and advocate on behalf of its members’ needs within various local, state, and national organizations.
B1: Determine where the Early Care and Education Association should focus their advocacy efforts.
B2: Collaborate with consultants and organization to ensure appropriate advocacy and actionable steps.
B3: Strengthen our capacity by building relationships with key stakeholders and other networks.
Goal C: Assure that the ECEA is a strong and sustainable organization that is able to carry out its mission.
C1: Build and sustain a paid staffing infrastructure.
C2: Continue to create a sustainable funding plan to support the ECEA’s staffing and programs.
C3: Maintain a healthy governance and leadership structure with clear board, committee, and staff roles.
Goal D: Create a plan to engage and support an Upper Valley Family Child Care Network
D1: Develop a plan to engage a Family Child Care Network in the Upper Valley
D2: Develop a plan to support a Family Child Care Network in the Upper Valley
