Making Everyone Stronger: The Child Care Aware of America Symposium, 2026

“We can’t just wait for the future we want. We must seize the opportunity to build it,” Susan Gale Perry, Child Care Aware of America CEO said last month on the opening day of “Igniting Opportunity,” a conference on how to make child care strong. “As educators, our most important job is to shape the future,” agreed Alisha De Lorenzo, a management strategist and former educator who gave the day’s keynote speech. “We unlock opportunity by building a culture of mattering in which everyone feels seen, heard and valued, so they’re convinced they can make contributions,” De Lorenzo explained. “The answers to problems in the early childhood field are in early childhood communities, themselves.”

A wide range of people from all parts of the early learning community were there when Perry introduced the second day’s plenary session on “The Power of Networks: Igniting Opportunity for Families.” Center directors, state administrators, family child care providers and child care advocates listened as Perry urged them to unite behind a 10-year vision based on four pillars:

• Power an on-the-ground network building quality child care that every family can count on in every community.
• Drive policy action through data, breakthrough research and powerful advocacy.
• Deliver solutions that make child care work everywhere, and
• Build the future of child care.

“Taking these steps,” as Perry pointed out, “requires us to move from a patchwork of child care organizations to something bigger. Together, we must put results and outcomes at the center of what we do. We need large-scale data to show what the child care field needs to move ahead. We also have to lift our community up by telling the stories of the educators on the ground.” And the conference provided many chances for attendees to hear about both numbers and narratives that would prepare them to speak out for the early learning field in 160 visits that Child Care Aware had scheduled for attendees the following day on Capitol Hill.

Before meeting their members of Congress, attendees had the opportunity to learn about “Using Family Child Care Educator Narratives to Shape Policy,” an important topic since child policy affects family child providers in a different way than it does centers. “Storytelling matters because it humanizes policy and reveals the impact it makes on providers,” said Daphne Alsiyao, a policy strategist at the National Association for Family Child Care. “Changing lawmakers’ perspectives requires a change of heart,” explained Cynthia Davis, executive director of the DC Family Child Care Association, an organization dedicated to making sure that family child care providers’ voices are heard.

Family child care providers aren’t alone in needing “Storytelling that Moves People and Systems.” This keynote session featured two award-winning journalists who explored ways to craft narratives that support more investment in children and families. Christina Samuels, an editor at The Hechinger Report, told a story about her visit to an under-resourced homeless shelter, where she saw a two-year-old child playing with a bag of potato chips like it was a toy. Chabelli Carrazano, who covers child care for The 19th, discussed the heartache a center director felt when her center closed, and she could no longer serve children she’d come to love. Carrazano also talked about her trials as a mom who had to quit her job at one point, like many other women, because she lacked care for her child. So, she spoke from firsthand experience when she talked about the impact that the child care shortage has on children and families. “We need to connect personal stories like these,” Carrazano explained, “to the broader issues facing educators and those they serve if we’re going make an impact on policymakers who shape the child care field.”

Educators prepared to tell their stories to lawmakers in Congress with guidance from Anne Hedgepeth, vice president of policy and research at Child Care Aware. She also armed them with straight arguments and solid facts to make a case for more investment in child care. “Educators,” she said, “should point to research that showed the number of licensed child care centers declined 11 percent between 2024 and 2025.” It was also important to note, as she explained, that the average annual price for child care was over $13,000, much too high for many families, and that child care for two children was more expensive than rent in many states. “Point to polling that shows voters across party lines agree that more federal funding for child care is crucial,” she advised, “and conclude with the strongest argument of all: child care is a good investment in the future since it allows children to advance, parents to work and the economy to grow.”

Some states are setting the path ahead to a stronger child care system, as attendees heard on the last day of the conference, after an “Advocacy Day” on Capitol Hill. “We came and we connected,” Susan Gale Perry said, as she introduced a session on “Building the Future of Child Care on the State Level” through advocacy and innovation. “Today, we celebrate three states that have improved child care in ways that seemed impossible,” she said. “New Mexico, Vermont and Montana showed the value of compromise, strong relationships and a clear message to expand access to affordable, quality early learning and care.” Legislators in New Mexico bundled universal child care in a larger piece of legislation. In Vermont, a movement of 40,000 people produced a dedicated funding stream for early childhood programs, and Montana advocates got the business community on board, leading to a state trust for early learning. This success reflects a compelling message, according to Caitlin Jensen, director of Zero to Five Montana. “Child care is integral to our daily lives because it provides the workforce behind the workforce.”

Educators play a crucial role, Dr. Calvin Mooore, CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition, explained as he joined Perry in the closing session of the conference. “We need to acknowledge how difficult their jobs are and give them our support. One way would be to broaden access to the CDA®, a credential that defines educators as professionals and would help them advocate for the higher wages they deserve.” as Dr. Moore pointed out. “Nationally recognized credentials like the CDA are important,” Perry agreed, “and they play a role in our 10-year strategic vision. We can go from vision to action through on-the-ground networking, data to drive decisions and more opportunities for educators to tell their stories like they did yesterday on the Hill. Educators also need to be proud of what they do, so we can meet the demand for child care. We need slots for a million more children and qualified teachers to serve them if we are to reach our North Star: a nation where quality child care ignites opportunity for every child, family and community. Making child care strong makes everyone stronger, too.”