Specifically, during Year Two you will be expected to participate in the following activities:

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1 October 14, 2016 Dear ELAN Fellows: Faculty are excited about the progress you have demonstrated over the last year in your role as a leader for racial equity in your state and as active member of the Equity Leaders Action Network (ELAN). The impact of each fellow s individual contributions to the ELAN are evident. As we enter our second fellowship year our focus remains unchanged, that is, to design efforts and activities which develop a cadre of racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse early childhood leaders prepared to take action which leads to racial equity in state early childhood systems and services. Ultimately, we expect you to apply the skills you gain in the ELAN learning community to critically examine, with a racial equity lens, institutional and structural barriers, policies and practices in the distribution of state and federal resources, and advance change to avoid disadvantaging racially and linguistically diverse children, families, and members of the early childhood workforce. We hope you have and will continue to be challenged to develop the will and skill to examine your personal assumptions and biases, and to recognize that personal work in the context of practice is essential for systems change. Systemic, strategic thinking and acting, are necessary for continued progress. In addition, building strong networks across early childhood sectors and systems is an essential component. We will support you to build networks that develop actions and activities which promote early childhood systems that are explicitly and measurably equitable for all children. We continue to strongly believe that this critical work requires activists-experts who work together for social justice and racial equity for each and every child, family and community. To achieve these goals, faculty members and your community of practice will support you through a variety of meetings and activities. Specifically, during Year Two you will be expected to participate in the following activities: o ELAN Project ELAN projects are laboratories in which you can test ideas and possibilities for advancing racial equity in early childhood systems. It is not assumed they will be perfect, but rather they will be opportunities for deeper learning about what promising strategies, policies and practices may advance personal, institutional and/or deep structural change. In the context of your current work and authority you will continue to refine and advance your individual project, and hence your knowledge, critical analysis skills, ability to reflect, and strategic thinking and acting. In addition, it is assumed fellows will learn from one another s successes and challenges in advancing racial equity. Opportunities to share what you are learning in your ELAN Project with fellows and faculty will be available in 1

2 annual meetings, discussion calls, your community of practice, and within your networks. During Year Two you should look for opportunities to present your work in formal (e.g., conferences [including BUILD conferences], formal meetings outside of the workplace) and within your work area. Faculty will work with fellows to find these opportunities. o Annual Meetings Attend two annual institutes. February 28 March 2, 2017 planned location Charleston, South Carolina October 24 October 27, 2017 site TBA o Bi-monthly (COP) You are expected to participate in a Community of Practice intended to help you refine and implement your project, and deepen your understanding and skills in racial equity leadership. Fellows are expected to lead in the development of their community of practice by contributing to its design, planning and execution. At the annual institute in Orlando (September 29-October 2, 2016) A Step-by-Step Guide for Designing and Cultivating in Higher Education was distributed on the meetings USB. Because COPs are based on shared interests and shared leadership you should have read this resource or others, you prefer on the same topic, so that you are comfortable with the COP structure, functions, and culture and so can fully participate. o Bi-monthly Discussion/Webinars Calls You are expected to engage in an online discussion group with faculty members and other fellows that focuses on a topic, question or issue relevant to the ELAN curriculum and your learning. These discussions may be linked to an article or other tools such as video. Fellows are expected to lead in the design and development of the discussion calls by contributing to designing, planning and execution. o Networking and Relationship Building Each fellow is expected to reach beyond their current network and develop productive and sustainable relationships which increase understanding of equity and inequities and/or advance policies and practices which lead to equity. These relationships will focus on helping you develop critical self-reflective skills necessary for leading on racial equity; new knowledge regarding critical content related to your work (e.g., the complex nature of leadership; early childhood science and racial inequities); and effective practice to advance racial equity in your early childhood systems work. o Journals You are expected to keep a journal in which you reflect on what you are learning during your ELAN journey. These reflections do not need to be submitted, but may be used doing the COP, in conversations with faculty and fellows, in preparing for an evaluation interview, and in other ELAN settings in which you are asked to share your insights about your own professional journey. o Evaluation and Assessment Participate in and support evaluation and assessment activities by providing ongoing feedback on the ELAN experience to our evaluators, including your ideas, issues, criticisms and so forth. Participation may include completing online surveys, paper questionnaires of specific meeting activities, telephone interviews, and other strategies of data collection. 2

3 o Faculty Advisers Individual faculty are available for s or calls as needed. Fellows should feel free to schedule calls with their assigned faculty adviser or any faculty member they would like to contact. Faculty will also reach out to individual fellows on an as needed basis. o LinkedIn Site This resource will continue to be a repository of the ELAN community s work together. All fellows and faculty should continue to post materials they wish to share or to send them to Sherri Killins Stewart for posting on LinkedIn. o Readings and Resources Every annual meeting, discussion section, and many COPs will make resources (readings, videos) available to the learning community. These resources will be identified and recommended by fellows and faculty. In discussion calls particular readings or videos will be assigned and fellows and faculty will discuss them. In addition, during ELAN Book Racism without Racist: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. Sections of this book may be assigned for annual meetings, discussion calls, and/or COPs (if COP members wish to use it). In addition, you are encouraged to journal on Bonilla-Silva s ideas and other assigned readings. The development of early childhood leadership that is able and willing to apply a racial equity lens to complex early childhood systems work is vital. The ELAN is one vehicle to address this need for community, collective thinking, purposeful action, and ongoing learning. We are excited that you will continue to work with us to create a more equitable reality for our young children, their families, and communities. Sincerely, Aisha Ray, Ph.D. Sherri Killins Stewart, Ed.D Attachment: Schedule for

4 Calendar Date Type of Meeting Location October 19, 2016 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk November 7, 2016 Monthly Discussion Calls Zoom November 16, 2016 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom December 5, 2016 ReadyTalk or Zoom December 16, 2016 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom January 2, 2017 Monthly Discussion Calls ReadyTalk or Zoom January 18, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom February 6, 2017 ReadyTalk or Zoom February 15, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom February 28, March 2 3 rd National Convening Charleston, South Carolina March 22, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom April 3, 2017 ReadyTalk or Zoom April19, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom May 1, 2017 Monthly Discussion Calls Ready Talk or Zoom May 24, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom June 5, 2017 ReadyTalk or Zoom June 21, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom August 7, 2017 ReadyTalk or Zoom August 16, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom September 4, 2017 Monthly Discussion Calls ReadyTalk or Zoom September 20, 2017 Faculty Meeting ReadyTalk or Zoom Oct 24-27, th National Convening TBD *** No call is suggested for July, 2017 Monthly discussion calls are at 1:30 PM ET and 4:30 PM ET for 75 minutes every other month. You can choose one of the times. Faculty calls are from 8:00 AM ET to 10 AM ET Discussion calls are 75 minutes started at 1:30 PM or 4:30 for 75 minutes on the months without a the communities of practice. 4

5 calls are for 75 minutes on the months without a the group discussion call. They will be as follows: Type of Meeting Group Date Time External Equity Competency and December 5, 2016 Data and Leadership December 14, :00 pm EST Access and Readiness to Early December 5, 2016 Health and African American Males December 5, :00 pm EST External Equity Competency and February 6, 2017 Data and Leadership February 15, :00 pm EST Access and Readiness to Early February 6, 2017 Health and African American Males February 6, :00 pm EST External Equity Competency and April 3, 2017 Data and Leadership April 19 th, :00 pm EST Access and Readiness to Early April 3, 2017 Health and African American Males April 3, :00 pm EST External Equity Competency and June 5, 2017 Data and Leadership June 21, ::00 pm EST Access and Readiness to Early June 5, 2017 Health and African American Males June 5, :00 pm EST External Equity Competency and August 7, 2017 Data and Leadership August 16, ::00 pm EST Access and Readiness to Early August 7, 2017 Health and African American Males August 7, :00 pm EST 5

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