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Active since 2022 and partnering with the New Practice Lab since 2024, the ECE Implementation Working Group has kicked off Cohort 3.0 with the same local focus, and a few new tricks up our sleeves. Follow our work on our group page or by subscribing to our quarterly newsletter.Ìý

Running Public Early Childhood Programs Isn’t Easy

If you think running a government program is hard, try running an early childhood program. You’re expected to launch quickly, deliver excellent results, and make it look seamless—all while stitching together funding streams, agencies, and systems that were never designed to work together.Ìý

It’s like learning to run backward and in high heels, but far from the elegant ““ image we’d like to project, it can feel a lot like a baby taking first steps: exciting in theory, wobbly in practice, and kind of scary when there’s no one there to catch you.Ìý

Learning Cohorts Are a DIY Safety Net

Babies learn by failing small, usually with a caring adult nearby, and hopefully on something soft. Leaders of public programs—including early childhood programs—don’t have that option. Despite the stakes, many work in relative isolation, trying to figure things out the best they can with lots of on-the-job learning, and perhaps supplementing with conferences and articles when there is time. When delivering services that families, children, and providers rely on to get by, ad hoc learning often isn’t enough.

What actually helps? Learning directly from other people who’ve been there.

The Early Care and Education (ECE) Implementation Working Group, a group of early education program leaders from 20 different localities across the country, is an example of such an effort. In past cohorts, members built a trusted space to share challenges and successes. And through the Lab, amplified those lessons to a broader audience through publications. In this iteration, we delve deeper to understand whether the lessons shared can be replicated across a larger, more diverse cohort.

…And, Innovation Incubators

Beyond psychological safety promoted by peer groups, there’s a very practical transfer of knowledge.Ìý Members of Working Group 3.0 come from diverse states, political environments, and funding realities; serving anywhere from a few hundred to 100,000 children and families.Ìý

Despite differences across programs, they are running into similar challenges. Connecting and learning from each other don’t guarantee success, but they help members make strategic decisions with better operational intelligence and to course-correct when needed. We share what actually works in practice (not just theory) and what still needs to be fixed by:Ìý

• Convening city and county early childhood program leaders to learn from each other and provide peer support;
• Documenting what works (funding strategies, governance models, coordination mechanisms);
• Sharing templates, guides, and case studies so ECE local leaders don’t have to reinvent the wheel; and
• Amplifying the intelligence from local practitioners to shape federal and state policy.

Our operating assumption is simple: The people closest to the problem are the best resources for solutions. We make space for that knowledge to flow from person to person and place to place, helping local ECE leaders navigate thorny problems like making enrollment easier, improving outreach to families and providers, and building planning processes that actually center the people most affected, all in hopes of enabling stronger local systems across the country.

Why Local? Scaling Opportunities and Close EncountersÌý

In recent years, have invested in early care and education.Ìý

• According to , 71 percent of the 75 largest U.S. cities have enrolled one-third or more of four-year-olds in state- or locally funded pre-K programs, and 65 cities have added local dollars to state and federal funds to support early care and education.Ìý
• I, cities and counties , reigniting conversations about the impact of the affordability crisis on families with young children–and what policymakers can do to help.Ìý

As programs grow in enrollment, so has the Working Group. What started as a trusted sounding board for early childhood programs at any stage (including planning) has evolved to focus on city and county programs with dedicated local funding that want to improve implementation.Ìý

14 of our 15 former members will participate in this iteration, along with six new members representing additional parts of the country.

[Cohort 3.0 (2026-2027) hails from all over the country : Alameda County, CA • Allegheny County, PA • Atlanta, GA • Chicago, IL • Cincinnati, OH • Columbus, OH • Denver, CO • Harris County, TX • Kent County, MI • Maine • Multnomah County, OR • New Orleans, LA • Philadelphia, PA • San Antonio, TX • Seattle, WA • New York, NY •Ìý York County, PA •Ìý Louisville, KY • San Francisco, CA •Ìý Travis County, TX]

The diversity across locations strengthens the collective reach of the group, serving over 300,000 enrolled children in public early childhood programs.Ìý

Local programs operate in places with 2.8 million children under age 6, including 1.1 million who live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. These children live in 14 states across the political spectrum, across eight census subregions.Ìý

Seeing how local programs operate and deliver services in a wide variety of contexts makes it clear that high-quality, early childhood programs can launch and thrive everywhere. But rapid growth in local programs is not the only reason to focus attention there.Ìý

Local Programs and Leaders Are Close to the Action

Local programs are the most immediate mechanism for service delivery. Understanding the challenges and success strategies in local communities provides proof points for policymakers at the state and federal levels for what is really needed to build more effective, cohesive early childhood systems.Ìý

The distance between a local early childhood program leader and the families, children, and providers who participate in the system can be bridged as simply as by email, phone, or an in-person meeting.Ìý

We need to listen and learn at the local level, and this cohort is the perfect group of dedicated, passionate, and experienced early childhood leaders for the job.

Next-Gen Implementation Working Group

On the journey to cohort 3.0, we said goodbye to our dedicated partner, Emmy Liss, a co-founder and former working group convener who now leads the Mayor’s Office of Child Care in New York City. We miss Emmy, and thank her for all she did to support the formation of this group and its continuing work.Ìý

In the run-up to this latest cohort launch, we:

• Checked in with our steering committee and group members in 1:1s, and surveys to understand their most pressing priorities, and asked them not just what they want to learn, but what they are prepared to teach.Ìý
• Used human-centered design to develop new ways to engage the membership, synthesize insights, and package what comes out of our monthly meetings.
• Consulted with internal and external experts in learning communities to provide feedback on group activities, and revised our impact strategies.ÌýÌýÌý
• Revised our communications strategy to bring our message to a broader number of people, tailoring lessons to meet programs where they are at in their implementation journey (whether they are building, sustaining, or scaling).
• Integrated new tools to support member engagement and developed templates to simplify administrative work.

Perhaps most importantly: we shortened meetings! Keeping our time together to one hour monthly keeps our agendas tightly focused, and we’ve seen strong attendance as a result. We may add an optional 30 minutes on the front or back end going forward for housekeeping and technical assistance, for those who are interested in the group’s admin or would like help with a hands-on project.Ìý

How to Get InvolvedÌý

In Cohort 3.0, you’ll continue to see the hard-won lessons of our membership shared out more broadly in ¹ú²úÊÓƵ publications and quarterly newsletters.ÌýÌý

We will continue to inform and facilitate policy conversations about coordination between early childhood decision-makers at the local, state, and federal levels. We’ll also work to connect local early childhood program leaders both inside and outside the group, aligning those who can teach with those who need to learn.Ìý

Interested in connecting? Sign up for our , or email us directly at [email protected].