The ACSES Framework Introductory Series is a six-part professional learning series on building racially equitable early childhood learning environments. Watch the free opening session of the series in English & Spanish.

The researched-based ACSES Framework helps educators identify a wide range of conditions and behaviors that may lead to lower outcomes for students from diverse backgrounds. By responding to children’s particular needs, educators can create learning environments that value and empower children.

In the free introductory session, participants will learn about:

  • Why racial equity in education should matter
  • Disparities in the school experience for children of color versus that of their white peers
  • The ACSES Framework and how it’s designed to support the creation of racially equitable classrooms
  • How children of color experience racially equitable classrooms
  • Resources to learn more about creating racially equitable classrooms

ACSES aims to reduce racial bias, improve cultural sensitivity, and create conditions for optimal learning and development for ALL children, especially those who are diverse.

- Dr. Stephanie Curenton-Jolly
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The ACSES Framework Introductory Series

Register for the full series and watch live in the Fall of 2024 or on demand any time! Five hour-long, live professional learning sessions.

Register Series

This month, we hosted our 22nd Annual Luncheon at the Westin River North, where we welcomed hundreds of supporters to discuss the life-changing impacts of the first five years of a child’s life. Through powerful conversations and presentations with experts in the field, parents, teachers and Start Early staff, we discussed the need for all children, regardless of their background, to have equitable access to the quality health care, early education and intervention services they need to thrive, from before birth continuing through early childhood.

If you were unable to join us, you can watch a recording of the full program below.

This year’s Luncheon theme Start Today. Change Tomorrow is a powerful reminder of the comprehensive and life-changing impacts of early learning and care on the young learners of today and their futures.

For more than four decades, Start Early has led efforts to close the opportunity gap with a laser focus on the earliest years. There is an enormous transformation that happens in the first 1,000 days of life setting the stage for a baby’s cognitive, social and emotional development.  A child’s brain is growing at an astonishing rate and changing in shape and size in response to the world around them. These early years are critical and lay the foundation to build resilience, agency and hope so all children can realize their full potential.

In our pursuit of sustainable change, Start Early champions equity and embraces innovation to address complex early childhood issues that many families face today – meaningful policy to improve access for children with disabilities, comprehensive supports for children and families who are unhoused and quality health care for parental and maternal mental health – to pave the way for a more equitable and just future.

We are grateful for the tremendous support and generosity of our donors and event sponsors who helped us raise $1.07 million. Every dollar raised helps our young families and sets the stage for them to thrive. You can still show your support by making a donation today.

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our Luncheon Chair James Reynolds, Jr., a leader in Chicago’s business and philanthropic community who shares in our belief that investments in high-quality early education can strengthen families and break the cycle of poverty.

When we come together and invest in early childhood education, we can transform the lives of our future generation.

Our children—and our future—will thank you.

2024 Annual Luncheon Sponsors

A special thank you to our corporate and individual sponsors whose commitment to our mission is helping more children reach their full potential.

PRESENTING

$100,000

The Hasten Foundation
Helen Zell


CHAMPION

$50,000

BMO logo DRW logo

Nancy & Steve Crown | The Crown Family
Diana & Bruce Rauner


PREMIER

$25,000

Joyce Foundation logo Oberhelman Foundation & Cullinan Properties, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor
Peoples Gas, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor Related Midwest, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor

Tom Gimbel
Cari & Michael J. Sacks
Diana & Michael Sands


PARTNER

$10,000

Allstate Insurance Company
Noelle C. Brock, Brock Family Foundation
Kerri & Matthew Bruderman
Buffett Early Childhood Fund
Dave & Jane Casper
CME Group Foundation
Mary & Terry Dillon
Marilyn & Larry Fields
GCM Grosvenor
Cabray Haines & David Kiley
Harris Family Foundation
ITW
The Malkin Family
Charles & Brunetta Matthews
Northern Trust
Port Capital LLC
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Jeanne Rogers & Perry Sainati

Catherine Siegel
Linda & Michael Simon
Steans Family Foundation
Sunshine Charitable Foundation
Laura Thonn & Scott Sallee
Wilson/Garling Foundation


COMMUNITY

$5,000

Ellen Alberding & Kelly Welsh
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Baird
Susan & Stephen Baird
Jimmy & Eleni Bousis
Sarah Bradley & Paul Metzger
John & Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation
the Chicago Bulls
Erikson Institute
Mr. & Mrs. Rodney L. Goldstein
Rachel & Devin Gross
Maxwell Gunnill
J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Learning Resources
Ron Levin/Goldman Sachs
Elaine & Donald Levinson
Sharon Oberlander
Barbara & Dan O’Keefe
Plante Moran
Isabel & Charles Polsky
Protiviti
Rothkopf Family Charitable Foundation
Halee Sage & David Friedman
Shah Family Trust
Cheryl & Craig Simon
Sterling Bay
Ken & Kathy Tallering
Anne & John Tuohy
YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

Family engagement and leadership is crucial to building community systems that are equitable, supportive, accessible, and of high quality for all children and families. For community system leaders, it is beneficial to include families in policy making and systems design, as families can offer firsthand experiences navigating existing services and provide invaluable insights into the shortcomings of the current system. On May 29th, we hosted a webinar in partnership with the Children’s Defense Fund, titled: “Family Voice & Leadership: How to Elevate and Center Family Voice in Community Systems Building.” Panelists included Diana M. Rauner, PhD, President of Start Early and Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), along with family leaders and practitioners.

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It is essential to involve families in the building and improvement of the system itself. This means inviting families to co-create programs, policies, and systems as equal partners, working side-by-side with public sector leaders and educators. At Start Early, we believe the best way to do this is by teaching systems leaders and families how to work together using the principles of human-centered design (HCD). HCD helps systems consciously create programs that replenish relationships with families and communities, rather than extract a toll from them. One strategy that leverages human-centered design to build comprehensive, equitable, birth to five systems is Family Centered Design from Start Early’s Innovation Lab. Through the Family Centered Design experience, families gain the skills and confidence to make positive changes in the policies, services and systems that affect their lives, and systems leaders gain insight into the families’ lived experience, needs and behaviors.

Finally, system leaders and advocates must deploy strategies to intentionally partner with families – going beyond conducting surveys, focus groups, or interviews to ensure strong family influence and power in decision-making. Examples include forming a parent committee to influence policy and programming decisions, and/or including family leaders on a team to support implementation. And to enable family leadership in these efforts, supports such as stipends, travel reimbursement, and interpretative services should be provided.

Need extra support with promoting family leadership and effectively partnering with families? Start Early Consulting invites systems leaders to leverage our consultants as strategic advisors with this and other work toward a more equitable early childhood system. Please reach out to us at Consulting@StartEarly.org to learn more.

Watch the recording of our April 23, 2024 webinar linked below and explore resources to create more equitable and inclusive early childhood systems for young children with disabilities and delays and their families.

The data is clear. While all children benefit from high quality inclusive early learning opportunities, less than half of children with disabilities and developmental delays actually access inclusive early learning opportunities . For children of color, this data is worse. TheU.S. Department of Education (ED) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have a “renewed commitment and urgency” in supporting equity and inclusion for young children with disabilities and developmental delays in early childhood programs.

In response, we hosted a discussion to dive deeper into this issue with a focus on the role of policy advocates. Our federal agency partners from the Administration for Children and Families in HHS and the Office of Special Education Programs in ED shared the federal government’s vision for inclusion and the important role advocates play to advance a more inclusive early childhood system. We also heard from parents impacted by this issue, Danielle and Ebonii, who highlighted the importance of inclusion for their young children and elevated the disparities families face. Lastly, we reviewed key elements of the federal Policy Statement: Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs and discussed various ways advocates can push for inclusion. The discussion featured a story from our partners at Early Choices and the Governor’s Early Childhood Transition who, in collaboration with Start Early, are standing up a new early childhood agency. They shared a unique approach to advance an inside-outside systems change for inclusion. Check out the resources linked below for more information.

Start Early Consulting

Learn more about accessing tailored consulting from Start Early to advance a high-quality, equitable and inclusive early childhood system in your state or community.

Learn More

The 2024 National Home Visiting Summit brought together over 1,300 systems leaders, researchers, practitioners, policy advocates, key partners and decision makers in a collaborative pursuit to advance the home visiting field and systems of care to increase service quality and improve child and family outcomes. Attendees joined in-person in Washington, D.C. and virtually from across the globe participated in workshops, communities of practice and plenary sessions that discussed issues facing the home visiting field today.

Stay Updated on the Summit!

Join our mailing list to learn more about the National Home Visiting Summit and to be notified when registration and call for proposal opens for the 2025 conference.

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More Like This

The Illinois Policy Team at Start Early is pleased to release our annual Illinois Legislative Agenda, a snapshot of the budget requests and legislative priorities for which Start Early will be advocating during the spring 2024 legislative session in the state.

With the new legislative session underway, our team is focused on moving forward funding requests and legislation that will support families and providers across our early childhood system.

Our goals for the year include:

  • Growing and strengthening the state’s early care and education system through an FY25 budget that includes the funding levels outlined in Year Two of Governor Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois proposal
  • Supporting legislation to create a new unified early childhood program
  • Expanding Child Care Assistance Program eligibility for child care teachers and staff who live at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level
  • Creating a state Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program

In these tumultuous times, the need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is in the news almost every day. One of the best ways to raise tolerant, accepting and empathetic children ready to thrive in life is to start early, incorporating inclusion and anti-bias into early childhood education curriculum for infants, toddlers and their families.

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Danielle Jordan, a school director of Educare Chicago, recently shared the early childhood school’s DEI best practices, starting with the fundamentals.

Teachers at Educare Chicago incorporate songs, storytelling and books into the curriculum. Some of her favorites include:

DEI books for children

This approach to developing a child’s sense of confidence in their personal and social identities (e.g., gender, ethnic and religious) aligns with the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) anti-bias education. As a result, children feel grounded in who they are without a need to be superior to anyone else. The approach also emphasizes a teacher’s capacity to help a child recognize how they are simultaneously different and similar to others, which helps children foster an ability to comfortably and empathetically engage with people from all backgrounds.

We encourage students to share what is distinct about their families, how they celebrate special occasions and what is important to them.

Danielle Jordan, School Director, Educare Chicago
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Educare Chicago student holding diversity collage In a recent activity, children recently made posters showcasing their cultural heritage, as well as their similarities and differences. “The students were able to share and be proud of what makes them unique… your hair may be in ponytails, while my hair is in locks. The simple rule is we would like to treat people fairly and acknowledge that we are different but we’re also the same and need to show each other respect,” Jordan continues.

This focus on respect and appreciation for inclusion is particularly important during this time of racial unrest. “The way that we address the societal environment is by talking about community, family, culture and heritage,” says Jordan.

To help talk about these topics, staff at Educare Chicago have incorporated Sesame Street’s “We’re Different, We’re the Same” segment into their curriculum, as well as the book “Sometimes People March” by Tessa Allen.

We are doing exactly what our name says… We are starting early and building foundations that I hope will give the students what they need to go on.

Danielle Jordan, School Director, Educare Chicago
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Educare Chicago teachers also help students learn how to process big emotions such as sadness and anger, while emphasizing that people express feelings in a variety of ways to encourage an appreciation for personality differences. The school’s Wellness Specialists also connect with parents to let them know where their children are from a socioemotional perspective and offer guidance for development.

Intensive family engagement is a core tenet of the school’s approach, meaning the school’s inclusive curriculum also extends to children’s first teachers: their parents and caregivers. Staff provide parents with book recommendations, including those outlined above to help encourage at-home discussions about DEI. There are also parent support groups and a Parent Committee to help parents to build strong relationships with staff and one another.

Jordan has already seen the impact of their work. Recently, students celebrated a very shy classmate for stepping outside his comfort zone to give a presentation to the entire school about his pet snake.

Learn more about how to address race and identity with children by reading our National Racial Day of Healing blog post.

Last month, we hosted our 21st Annual Luncheon at the Hilton Chicago, where we welcomed hundreds of supporters to discuss advancing maternal health equity. Through powerful conversations and presentations with experts in the field, we discussed the maternal health crisis and the inequities in the system impacting Black women, alongside the innovative solutions that can save and transform lives.

If you were unable to join us, you can watch the highlights of an incredibly impactful afternoon below.

Quality maternal health can change a child’s future, and when we support the wellbeing of mothers and birthing parents, we set our children up to make an impact for future generations. Ensuring equitable access to quality health care – before, during and after birth – can help prevent maternal and infant mortality and strengthen the developmental systems that enable children to reach their full potential.

As Luncheon Co-Chair Sam Yagan shared, “…we have no choice but to address the issue of inequality at birth. Not just for the sake of the kids and the moms whose lives we improve, but for all of us, and for our own lives to improve.”

I am so thankful for the opportunity to bring parents, educators and early learning professionals together with business and community leaders to discuss the opportunity in front of us to reshape maternal health. And I want to share a special thank you to our Luncheon Co-Chairs, Suk Shah and Sam Yagan, who did an incredible job setting the stage for maternal health experts, mothers, and doulas, who provided the critical perspectives needed to understand the full picture when it comes to maternal health.

We are grateful for the incredible support and generosity of our donors and event sponsors who helped us raise $1.15 million. Every dollar raised helps our young families and sets the stage for them to thrive. You can still show your support by making a donation today. When we come together and invest in early childhood education, we can transform the lives of our future generation.

Luncheon Co-Chair Suk Shah said it best: “Children with quality early learning experiences, who are healthy and prepared, do better when they enter kindergarten. Parents do better, and they’re more prepared to contribute to the strength of their family and their community.”

Thank you for being part of our 2023 Annual Luncheon, and we hope to see you again soon.

2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsors

A special thank you to our generous individual and corporate sponsors who have joined us in a shared mission to close the opportunity gap and ensure every child has a chance to reach their full potential.

PRESENTING

$100,000

Yagan Family Foundation


CHAMPION

$50,000

BMO Harris Bank, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor LaSalle Network, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor

Nancy & Steve Crown | The Crown Family
The Hasten Foundation
Diana & Bruce Rauner
Zell Family Foundation


PREMIER

$25,000

GCM Grosvenor, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor Oberhelman Foundation & Cullinan Properties, , 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor BMO Harris Bank, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor Related Midwest, 2023 Annual Luncheon Sponsor

Marilyn & Larry Fields
Cari & Michael J. Sacks
Diana & Michael Sands


PARTNER

$10,000

Allstate
Amsive
Susan & Stephen Baird
Meredith Bluhm-Wolf & Bill Wolf
The Boeing Company
Noelle C. Brock, Brock Family Foundation
Jacolyn & John Bucksbaum
The Buffett Early Childhood Fund
Dave & Jane Casper
CME Group Foundation
The Duchossois Family Foundation
Cabray Haines & David Kiley
Harris Family Foundation
ITW
Ron & Fifi Levin, John & Elizabeth Burke, John & Danielle Didrickson | Goldman Sachs
Make It Better Foundation
The Malkin Family
Charles & Brunetta Matthews
PNC
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Catherine Siegel
Michael & Linda Simon
Steans Family Foundation
Sterling Bay
StoicLane
Sunshine Charitable Foundation
Wilson Garling Foundation


COMMUNITY

$5,000

Ellen Alberding & Kelly Welsh
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Anonymous
Baird
Boston Consulting Group | Vicki Escarra
Jimmy & Eleni Bousis
Sarah Bradley & Paul Metzger
The Brodsky Family Foundation
Mark & Shari Coe | Intrinsic Edge
Erikson Institute
The Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation
Fiducient Advisors | Terri & Bob DiMeo
Keith & Rodney Goldstein
Rachel & Devin Gross
Maxwell Gunnill
JP Morgan Chase
David & Gerri Kahnweiler
The Dolores Kohl Education Foundation
Klaff Family Foundation
Learning Resources
Elizabeth & Eric Lefkovsky
Barbara & Dan O’Keefe
Sharon Oberlander
Cathy and Bill Osborn
Plante Moran
Port Capital LLC
Protiviti
Jeanne Rogers & Perry Sainati
Rothkopf Family Charitable Foundation
The Shah Family
Cheryl & Craig Simon
Ken & Kathy Tallering
Robin Loewenberg Tebbe & Mark Tebbe
Laura Thonn
Anne & John Tuohy
Ulta Beauty
Mike & Robin Zafirovski

The 2023 National Home Visiting Summit brought together over 1,000 systems leaders, researchers, practitioners, policy advocates, key partners and decision makers in a collaborative pursuit to advance the home visiting field and systems of care to increase service quality and improve child and family outcomes. Attendees at this year’s virtual event participated in workshops, communities of practice and plenary sessions that discussed issues facing the home visiting field today.

Voices from the Field: Building Policies and Practices That Strengthen Home Visiting

The last several years have only underscored the critical role that home visitors play in their work with families, programs, communities, and states. And yet, the home visiting workforce has reached a recruitment, retention, and well-being crisis point. Addressing workforce well-being relies on several factors and must include the voices of home visitors when making decisions that affect them. This plenary session will open with hearing stories from home visitors in the field as they discuss the successes and challenges they face in their work. The session will also address key areas of transformation focused on upstream systems and policy issues that impact home visitors, programs, and ultimately families.

Las voces del terreno: Creación de políticas y prácticas que fortalezcan las visitas a domicilio

Los últimos años no han hecho más que subrayar el papel fundamental que desempeñan los visitantes a domicilio en su labor con las familias, los programas, las comunidades y los estados. Sin embargo, la fuerza laboral de las visitas a domicilio ha alcanzado un punto de crisis en cuanto al reclutamiento, la retención y el bienestar. Abordar el bienestar de la fuerza laboral depende de varios factores y debe incluir las voces de los visitantes a domicilio a la hora de tomar decisiones que les afecten. Esta sesión plenaria iniciará escuchando relatos de visitantes a domicilio que trabajan en el campo mientras hablan de los éxitos y los retos a los que se enfrentan en su trabajo. La sesión también abordará las áreas clave de transformación centradas en los sistemas ascendentes y las cuestiones normativas que afectan a los visitantes a domicilio, a los programas y, en última instancia, a las familias.

Disaggregated Data: An Honest Conversation

There are varying opinions on disaggregated data’s function, purpose, and use. Methods for collecting data and mechanisms for protecting family information can create ethical challenges and practical barriers. This plenary provides an opportunity for a panel discussion to weigh the benefits and cautions of collecting disaggregated data, what systems changes would need to occur for it to be collected ethically and safely, and what role communities and families have in determining what data is collected and how it is used.

Datos desagregados: Una conversación franca

Existen diversas opiniones sobre la función, el propósito y el uso de los datos desagregados. Los métodos de recopilación de datos y los mecanismos de protección de la información familiar pueden crear retos éticos y barreras prácticas. Esta sesión plenaria ofrece la oportunidad de realizar una mesa redonda para sopesar las ventajas y las precauciones que supone la recopilación de datos desagregados, qué cambios tendrían que producirse en los sistemas para que pudiera realizarse de forma ética y segura, y qué papel tienen las comunidades y las familias a la hora de determinar qué datos se recopilan y cómo se utilizan.

New Tools for Listening and Supporting Households with Young Children

This plenary focuses on the need for new tools to facilitate early childhood practice, policy and advocacy in a world of rapid change and uncertainty. We will present information about the RAPID survey platform, which since early 2020 has been elevating the voices of parents with young children and the early childhood workforce about their experiences, strengths and needs. And present information about the FIND program, an evidence-based approach that employs video modeling and coaching to support practitioners, early childhood educators and parents. These 2 tools are designed to be complementary to existing programmatic and policy efforts, and to provide a context for continuous improvement of services to young children, parents and other adults in their lives.

Nuevas herramientas para escuchar y apoyar a hogares con niños pequeños (y a otros adultos en sus vidas)

Esta presentación se centra en la necesidad de nuevas herramientas para facilitar la práctica, la política y la defensa de la primera infancia en un mundo de rápidos cambios e incertidumbre. Estas herramientas son especialmente necesarias para configurar las visitas a domicilio y los servicios comunitarios relacionados con la primera infancia. Presentaremos información sobre la plataforma de encuestas RAPID, que desde principios de 2020 ha estado elevando las voces de los padres con niños pequeños y del personal de la primera infancia sobre sus experiencias, puntos fuertes y necesidades. También presentaremos información sobre el programa FIND, un enfoque basado en las pruebas que emplea el modelado en vídeo y el coaching para apoyar a los profesionales, a los educadores de la primera infancia y a los padres. Estas 2 herramientas están diseñadas para ser complementarias a los esfuerzos programáticos y de políticas existentes, y para proporcionar un contexto para la mejora continua de los servicios a los niños pequeños, los padres y otros adultos en sus vidas.

More Like This

The Illinois Policy Team at Start Early is pleased to release our annual Illinois Legislative Agenda, a snapshot of the budget requests and legislative priorities for which Start Early will be advocating during the spring 2023 legislative session in the state.

With the new legislative session underway, our team is focused on moving forward funding requests and legislation that will support families and providers across our early childhood system.

Our goals for the year include:

  • Growing and strengthening the state’s early care and education system through an FY24 budget that includes the funding levels outlined in Governor Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois proposal
  • Creating a state family and medical leave insurance program
  • Extending the sunset re: staffing flexibility in state preschool programs
  • Codifying the state’s existing IDHS home visiting programs in law, among other priorities