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The North Carolina Early Education Coalition (NCEEC) works to ensure that all children have access to high-quality early care and learning experiences. Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) has partnered with the Coalition on the Think Babies NC Alliance. Together we are focused on N.C.’s youngest children – prenatal to age three. As part of the Leadership Team, Ready Ready joins other public and private early childhood organizations on this statewide initiative.
“Ready Ready’s involvement on our leadership team is a testament to how focused the organization has been on infants and toddlers from the beginning,” said Coalition’s Senior Campaign Director Michele Rivest. “At the Coalition, we’ve always supported a whole child development approach, and infusing that model into other ways of thinking helps us lift up babies and families at the same time we focus on early childhood.”
Rivest said the increased focus on infants and toddlers, especially in North Carolina, has positively affected partnerships and networks and allowed the Alliance to examine its work and progress through an equity lens.
Formed in 1990, the Coalition is a statewide advocacy group with membership including statewide organizations, regional and local child care agencies, child care providers, and individuals committed to improving the quality of child care and early educational education in North Carolina. Rivest’s work is focused on policy for the Coalition and Think Babies NC, leading the lobbying team and developing relationships with policymakers.
“I work with our partners and allies to support young children’s healthy development and early learning, particularly from a policy perspective,” said Rivest. “We look at state law, state budget, rules, and regulations, as well as a national policy to advance and support young children and families in North Carolina.”
As with many systems in North Carolina and other states, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the foundational weakness in our child care system, Rivest said. “Parents have primarily financed child care by paying the costs, which is extremely expensive – approximately $10,000 a year. That’s more than a year’s tuition at a public university in North Carolina. That’s beyond the reach of so many families. Then with COVID, families stopped being able to go to work and use child care.”
As research has shown, early learning experiences have a lifelong impact. A stable, secure relationship with a caring adult is a critical factor in young children’s development.
“The key to whether we have a stable and successful early childhood system depends on the early childhood workforce,” Rivest said. “Young children having these supportive environments, building relationships with teachers who are building relationships with their families is sort of a surround-sound approach to getting young children off to a good and healthy start.”
Read more about the NC Early Education Coalition on our website.
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Our organization, Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready), thrives on this sense of vitality as we work to build a connected, innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families. We have been focused on Phase 1 -- children who are prenatal through age three. Now it is time to plant the seeds for Phase 2 -- children ages three to five. Our vision is that every child in Guilford County born in 2021 and beyond will enter kindergarten developmentally on track. Our community has long been focused on education. We are committed to cultivating the support families need to ensure their children develop in critical areas: physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development. 
