The Kresge Foundation: The Detroit Early Educator Fellowship
Overview
The Kresge Foundation utilizes grantmaking and social investing to expand opportunities in Detroit for arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and community development. As part of their grantmaking investments, The Kresge Foundation aimed to invest in early learning through the creation of the Detroit Early Childhood Fellowship. This fellowship sought to build the capacity of the early childhood educators and professionals across the city. SRC was engaged to envision and lead the fellowship design and application, as well as the recruitment and facilitation of cohort experiences that would address timely topics early childhood educators and professionals were facing at the moment, including the navigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted early childhood educators and professionals in a significant way.
Our Process
In partnership with the Kresge Leadership Team, SRC recruited and facilitated an advisory table of 12 diverse individuals representing interests of the Detroit Early Childhood Fellowship. The advisory table provided ongoing guidance, collaborated around the most relevant directions for the Fellowship, engendered connections to the community, and provided perspectives and influence to inform the decisions about the Fellowship. Alongside the advisory table, the SRC team helped catalyze decision-making and movement toward the creation of the fellowship’s design and application. Our team developed a comprehensive implementation, learning and dissemination plan spelling out the recommended steps for enacting the fellowship, strategies for engaging in learning and evaluation activities, and structures for communicating the impact of the initiative. During the midst of planning the fellowship, COVID-19 pandemic occurred, the project was required to shift gears to focus on what could be done to support early childhood leaders as they navigated program closings, virtual learning, loss of staff, as well as new health and safety standards. Kresge asked SRC and Detroit Public Television (DPTV) to conceptualize a professional learning support agenda that would be responsive to the current needs of the field.
The Outcome
As a result of this work, the Kresge Leadership Team, SRC, and DPTV partnered to create a series of important opportunities and resources for the early childhood community.
Creating Tools for Hope
Tools for Hope: Equipping and Elevating Detroit’s Early Childhood Providers, a virtual learning series began in August 2020 and included 10 sessions facilitated by Detroit community-based organizations and local early childhood systems leaders. Topics addressed were those that early childhood educators and administrators identified as pressing at the moment, and SRC provided technical assistance and support to community partners as they contributed timely and relevant high-quality professional learning supports for those working with young children, their families and their communities. SRC also worked directly with the community advocates from Detroit Champions for HOPE to support the team in encouraging families in building positive racial identity in young children through the use of language and children’s literature in a train-the-trainer session: Let’s Talk About Race: Centering Representation, Black Joy, & Activism.
Sharing Stories from the Early Childhood Field
In partnership with DPTV, SRC focused on highlighting the role of early childhood professionals as essential workers during the COVID19 pandemic, as well as during the recovery. The goal of this work was to shift the narrative to communicate the critical role – both in crisis and “normal” times – played by ECE professionals. The profiles were highlighted through DPTV’s online and/or broadcast platforms. In order to support the storytelling process, SRC developed the project timeline and key themes to highlight in collaboration with DPTV and Kresge. In addition, SRC served as a consultant to support DPTV’s process of listening to/interviewing individuals in a manner that allowed them to effectively tell their story with the Detroit community.
Informing Future Professional Development Opportunities
As part of this effort, the SRC team also drew on the extensive work completed within the Hope Starts Here initiative to develop a Detroit Professional Development Landscape. The report was produced to support and inform ongoing community-wide efforts to create a strong system of professional development and program quality for early childhood education.
Related Work
SRC Contributors
Annie Watson
Director
Senior Associate
Senior Director
Lindsey Allard Agnamba
Founder and CEO
Samantha Gray Keen
Director
