Thank you for coming to Speak Up! – a parent leadership educational video page! This seven-part, interactive series is designed for parents, families and caregivers of young children. The core of Speak Up is three-fold: a) support families and caregivers with key foundational leadership skills via online videos, b) gain tools or strengthen your capacity as a parent leader at home, within your community and beyond, and c) provide real-time tools to support your ability to provide critical insight, conduct leadership activities and develop informed opinions on the early childhood system – locally, statewide and nationally.
The New York State Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) is committed to ensure ongoing education and professional development is provided to the New York State Parent Advisory Council (PAC) to ensure parent leaders are well versed on subjects raised by the ECAC, as well as members in their community. In turn, we hope Speak Up as a leadership series will provide parents and caregivers additional access to tools and resources needed to support their leadership development.
To best engaged in the leadership series, we highly recommend:
- Follow The Sequence Order: Go in sequence from Session #1 through Session #7. The videos are designed to build off the previous session to help you connect the content together.
- Schedule 30 – 60 minutes per session: Each video per session ranges from 30 to 60 minutes total with a complementary handout and slides. Each session has a facilitator and two parent leaders engaging in the session in real-time with you, the viewer.
- Download the Session Handouts To Use While Watching: We also recommend utilizing the handout while watching the session to dive deeper into the learning content and reflection questions. Lastly, we also advise to keep a copy of the slides to use for future reference as you build your capacity as a parent leader.
- Complete the Session Survey for Your Certificate: After each session is completed, we kindly ask that you complete the survey directly underneath. Completion of the survey will be required in order to obtain a certificate of completion which will be emailed to your attention from a member of the ECAC.
Again, we thank you for taking the time to visit Speak Up! This series is a part of the NYS Birth through Five Project with the New York State Council of Children and Families and NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council. This leadership series has been developed in partnership with Choice for All. Thank you to our curriculum developers and facilitators, Jacob Dixon, Pamela Hollingsworth and Lynette Batts. We also extend our gratitude to the Choice for All Parent Action Coalition (PAC) of Long Island for participating in the Speak Up series.
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Parent Leadership - Session 1
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Define parent leadership
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Reflect on how leadership relates to your current and future roles
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Identify strengths and challenges related to parent leadership
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Identify key characteristics and practices connected to parent leadership to help build your toolkit to advance change in your family and community
Please click the video below to begin Session #1.
Complete the Survey for Session #1
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Family Engagement - Session 2
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Define family engagement
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Reflect on the differences between family engagement and family involvement
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Identify strengths and challenges related to family engagement
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Link the benefits of family voice and engagement within their your own setting(s)
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Develop knowledge and practices on increasing and navigating family engagement in your community
Please click the video below to begin Session #2.
Complete the Survey for Session #2
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - Session 3
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Define diversity, equity and inclusion
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Reflect on the similarities between diversity, equity and inclusion
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Identify strengths in thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion
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Identify how to think and act on issues relating to equity and inclusion
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Develop knowledge, practices and behaviors for working toward positive solutions using a diversity, equity and inclusion lens
Please click the video below to begin Session #3.
Complete the Survey for Session #3
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The Art of Communication - Session 4
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Define communication
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Discuss why effective communication is key in parent and caregiver leadership
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Understand strengths and challenges related to public speaking and communication
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Build strategies related to communicating with key stakeholders as parent leader
Please click the video below to begin Session #4.
Complete the Survey for Session #4
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The Power of Data - Session 5
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Define data
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Identify benefits of how data can be used as parent leaders
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Learn the different types of data and its significance
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Explore ways data storytelling and visuals to convey key messages
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Discuss how data can be both beneficial and challenging in different situations
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Navigate tools to help support you in conversations around data as parent leaders
Please click the video below to begin Session #5.
Complete the Survey for Session #5
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Working in Teams & Collaboration - Session 6
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Define collaboration
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Identify strengths and challenges related to collaboration between parent leaders and systems
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Identify what is collaboration leadership and how parent leaders can utilize in their communities
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Understanding how to work together as a team through key characteristics
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Identify and reflect on the different roles we all may play in within a team
Please click the video below to begin Session #6.
Complete the Survey for Session #6
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Advocacy - Session 7
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Define advocacy
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Identify the key ingredients of effective advocacy
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Understand the difference between advocacy and lobbying
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Identify our purpose: the “what” (the issue), why, where, when you can advocate for your own child
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How to frame your “why” into an advocacy action
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Recognize the different pathways of leadership and advocacy parents can take on as leaders to use your voice in decision making in partnership with others
Please click the video below to begin Session #7.
Complete the Survey for Session #7
This project is supported by the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiative (PDGB5), Grant Number 90TP005903, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families