Early Childhood Civic Engagement Forum
Embassy Suites, April 27-28, 2009

On April 27-28, 2009, a number of community-based organizations from New Mexico, with the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation convened for a statewide conference and civic engagement dialogue focusing on early childhood education in New Mexico. The civic engagement forum was held at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Albuquerque and kicked off a multi-day convening in conjunction with the annual meeting of the New Mexico Early Childhood Action Network (ECAN).

Civic engagement participants discuss successes, innovations, and opportunities within the field of Early Childhood supports in New Mexico.

Goals

Engage in collaborative visioning with diverse leaders and supporters of early care, learning and education to discuss the current state and future of early learning and education in New Mexico.
Gain knowledge about innovative community early education models that draw upon civic engagement practices.
Connect with practitioners, funders and policymakers interested in early learning and education in New Mexico.
Learn from early learning and education thought leaders on rising trends and generate insights for New Mexico.
Celebrate accomplishments and innovations!

The opening day of the event started with a number of guest speakers and panelists, and culminated with roundtable discussions facilitated by youth from around the state. The youth facilitators included members of the New Mexico Youth Alliance and Public Allies New Mexico, were recruited and trained by the New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community.

Youth Facilitators Are Acknowledged After the Civic Engagement Forum

Event Agenda, Monday April 27, 2009

10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Registration
11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Opening, Welcome Luncheon
12:30 pm – 1:40 pm: The Current State of Early Leaning and Education in New Mexico: Panel Discussion
1:55 pm – 5:00 pm: What’s Working in New Mexico - Voices of Community Innovations in Early Learning and Education: Panel Discussion Followed by Facilitated Roundtable Discussions.
7:00 pm – 8:45 pm: Building Civic Engagement for Early Learning and Education: What Will It take and Where Is It Happening?

Nearly 450 individuals from more than 300 organizations attended the event. In the afternoon session, eight to twelve conference participants were assigned to each roundtable for the dialogues. Almost 1500 separate data items were collected during the facilitated roundtable discussions, including thoughts about ongoing and future work in the early childhood arena.

Conference Reports and Downloads

The New Mexico Forum for Youth In Community has completed an 80-page summary report that provides a review of the event, process, and information collected. Some content analysis of the information collected is provided, and raw data (collected in response to facilitator focus questions) is included in the appendices to provide an in-depth look at the tone and subject of the participant feedback. The data report from the roundtable discussions (see #3 below) is intended to complement press releases, summary reports, and other communications provided by the Early Childhood Action Network or the W.K. Kellogg Foundation about the April 27, 2009 event.

Due to the large size of the of the data summary file (14 Mb), download is recommended (in Windows right-click on link, "Save As") rather than viewing within a webpage. To download the reports, click on the link(s) below (Acrobat Reader required).

Reports, Presentations from the Early Childhood Civic Engagement Forum:

Acknowledgements

The New Mexico Forum for Youth In Community wishes to extend a sincere thank you to all who supported this effort Without the tireless and dedicated efforts of so many individuals too numerous to mention, this event would not have achieved such great success. We would especially like to acknowledge the following:

Conference Planning, and Coordination