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 below at the forefront of our decision-making:
Racial Equity
Because our mission is to close the opportunity gap for our earliest learners, approaching all our work through a racial equity lens is at the heart of our success.
Family & Beneficiary Voice
We honor and incorporate family and beneficiary voice in everything we do – in setting priorities, making decisions and guiding our actions.
Priority Populations
Too often, children and families who are furthest from opportunity are unreached by policy initiatives. In our work, we focus on those 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.
