Set the Table
The National Center for Family & Parent Leadership powered by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) provides a comprehensive array of capacity-sharing opportunities and resources to partner with early childhood systems leaders, including states, organizations, institutions of research, and communities to embed equity-focused family and parent leadership as their new way of operating.
Family and Parent Leadership is a set of intentional practices, values, and steps that systems, agencies, and organizations adopt to build the structures that allow parents to influence systemic decisions about early childhood services and programs they use or need.
We believe we can strengthen early childhood systems, programming, and policies by elevating parent leadership and centering the realities of communities and families. In other words, nothing about us, without us.
Our Services
Who’s at Your Table Capacity Building Services
Quarterly Webinar Series
Turn the Table: Virtual Office Hours
Parent Payment Processing
Parent Leadership Recruitment
Announcing New Services
Parent Compensation Best Practices & Support
Professionals sitting at the table are paid for their time, and it’s only right to pay parents for their time and expertise too. After all, parents often must take unpaid time away from their jobs to attend meetings or engage in committee work. NCFPL can work alongside your organization to guide and provide resources on how to fairly compensate Parent Leaders.
ECIC has been paying parent leaders for over a decade through a system designed to ensure efficiency, timely payments, and ensure proper documentation for tax requirements and federal, state, or philanthropic grant compliance. For more information, please email fpl@ecic4kids.org.
Need more assistance?
Our team can work with you to create a customized capacity-building plan for you and your team. View the example topics from our Who’s at Your Table series below to see just some of the ways NCFPL can help embed and expand PFL.
Example Topics:
Building The Foundational Work: Structures needed to equitably engage Family Leaders
Representation Matters: Thinking through equitable recruitment practices
Orientation Is Key To Retention: Supporting Your Parent Councils/Groups Through Strong Onboarding and Training Opportunities
Running Meetings and Facilitating Decision-Making: How to co-create equitable structures and roles for your organization or Family and Parent Councils
Parent Payments: Developing best practices and structures to support family engagement
Restorative Practice: Understanding Family and Parent Leadership as a necessary Restorative Practice
Recruiting and Engaging Dads
Developing Equitable Interventions: Thinking through accessibility, safety, and utility
Developing Best Practices for Collaboration: How to hold partnering organizations accountable for equitably engaging parents
Seat at the Table
Seat at the Table was created with the vision of ensuring that parents have access to opportunities to serve in leadership roles to strengthen early childhood systems, programming, and policies. Seat at the Table was also designed to help organizations welcome or expand their Family and Parent Leadership.
Parents and Families
Ready to play a role in improving early childhood programs and services for families? Looking for a way to have your voice shape the early childhood system?
Organizations and State/Local Agencies
Is your organization eager to welcome parents and families into leadership roles such as early childhood committees, advisory councils, boards, or task forces? Already working alongside parents and families and interested in diversifying your reach to include more voices?
Family Promo
Organization Promo
Turn the Table: Virtual Office Hours
Pull up a seat, because it's time we turn the tables! We're here to help you build capacity to expand and embed family and parent leadership.
Your first 30 minutes of consultation are complimentary allowing you to explore a potential partnership with the National Center for Family and Parent Leadership.
We look forward to connecting!