Mission, Vision, & Core Values
In the spring of 2022, the Collaboration for Early Childhood embarked on strategic planning. Our last strategic plan, The Partnership for Human Development, was put into practice in 2009. Our most recent Mission, Vision, Values, and Foundational Principals were revised in 2017. Since that time, we know that many things in our community have changed. Our new Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Strategic Framework are one part of our 2022-23 strategic plan that will help us recalibrate our work to best meet our community today and in the years to come.
Quick Recap of Terms
- Mission: Who is the Collaboration for Early Childhood?
- Vision: What will it look like if we succeed?
- Core Values: How do we do our work?
- Working Strategic Framework: What will our main chunks of work be?
Mission:
The Collaboration for Early Childhood is a community-driven organization that cultivates the development of the whole child, birth to age five, by engaging families, local organizations, early childhood educators, caregivers, and health providers to create equitable, nurturing, and interconnected systems of support.
Vision:
The Collaboration for Early Childhood envisions communities where every young child has the care, relationships, and resources needed to thrive and to begin school safe, healthy, and empowered to succeed.
Core Values:
| Collaboration | Works with partners in a way that is mutual and respectful; encourages listening, knowledge sharing, and joint problem-solving; allows each party to strengthen its own capabilities by learning from others; and realizes a shared commitment to more equitably serving the needs of young children, families, and early childhood professionals. |
| Whole Child | Meets each child where they are and supports all aspects of the child’s development – physical, social, emotional, cognitive – while respecting each child as a member of the community and as an individual, including the child’s ability, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race, and religion. |
| Equity | Ensures that a diverse range of voices contributes to the Collaboration’s efforts, particularly the important work of dismantling systemic barriers that have historically limited access to high quality services and supports for children and families who are under-resourced or marginalized, while celebrating the range of backgrounds, experiences, and identities that comprise an inclusive community. |
| Community-Driven | Engages local families and early childhood professionals to gather their wisdom and perspectives, utilizing the findings to ensure the Collaboration’s work is continually and culturally responsive to the expressed needs, hopes, and interests of young children, families, early childhood professionals, and communities in which they live. |
| Organizational Professionalism | Operates with honesty, integrity, and accountability, in a way that is continually informed by research and community input; reliably, responsibly, and respectfully delivers high-quality work and effective outcomes; and transparently reports progress and adjusts strategies to ensure continuous improvement in impacting the children, families, early childhood professionals and communities with whom we work. |
Support a strong start and a bright future.
We champion high-quality early childhood care and learning experiences and support for families so all children develop their full potential.
