Maryland Early Care and Education Coalition (MECEC)
The Maryland Early Care and Education Coalition (MECEC) is a statewide effort of cross-sector private and public partners toward aligned advocacy and implementation goals with a charge of defining and supporting a shared early childhood vision.
C-IMPACT serves as the backbone organization, providing management, convening, coordination, support, and facilitation, and is joined by a multi-partner leadership group comprised of organizations with major Maryland ECE advocacy and implementation expertise, and a broader advisory coalition representing all stakeholders and constituents, with intentional focus on bringing historically overlooked and disengaged voices to the table. Together we collectively define what a high impact ECE system looks like in Maryland and continuously work toward achieving it.
How MECEC works
The MECEC seeks to accomplish its vision through four core objectives:
1. Increase collaboration and reduce duplication of effort.
2. Strengthen advocacy and implementation via alignment of prorities and positions.
3. Improve systemic outcomes for children, families, and professionals through system-wide alignment and coordination.
4. Create more sustainable support infrastructure, engendering collaboration over competition.
Ultimately, our goal is to create a shared vision for Maryland ECE and a roadmap on how to accomplish it. We will adopt key positions and priorities along the way as a coalition, based on majority votes by members. At our launch, we are focused on three imperatives extending from our predecessor organization, Montgomery Moving Forward:
- Supporting the adoption of a statewide B-5 Career Lattice
- Implementing an Early Childhood Workforce Career Registry
- Establishing an Early Childhood Taskforce to Elevate the Economic and Social Impacts of Strong ECE
More on these recommendations can be found in the Call to Action issued by Montgomery Moving Forward; the Workforce Registry Implementation Report; and the Workforce Registry Benefits Report
MECEC History
MECEC’s formation is rooted in the years of collective impact work of Montgomery Moving Forward (MMF). Starting at county-focus and spurring the creation of MECEC leadership member organization Children’s Opportunity Alliance, MMF’s history of creating cross-sector coalitions to address common challenges directly informs MECEC’s ongoing efforts.
Joining MECEC
We want your voice to be heard! We are looking for partners in this work from all parts of the ECE system. If you are interested in joining MECEC, please complete this form and a representative will contact you.
Support MECEC
MECEC is intentionally building a coalition that values equitable representation. We embrace approaches that ensure opportunities for system solutions are constructed by all stakeholders. That takes resources, and your support is needed and appreciated!