COA's Diaper and Community Resource Fair on July 9 was the latest stop for our Early Childhood Education (ECE) Ambassadors. This dedicated group of women has been spending the past few months connecting with community members and sharing the importance of high-quality, affordable child care.

We are deeply disappointed by the legislature’s decision to pass a 2023-25 state budget that doesn’t include state funding for the proven, effective Child Care Counts program. This decision will have profound and lasting consequences for Milwaukee’s youngest children, working families, and workforce.

During COA’s Safe Summer Kickoff Event, our ECE Ambassadors connected with local families and provided valuable information on Wisconsin Shares, the ECE workforce and the power of organizing around ECE.

Among the grantees for the most recent round of Dream Up grants were the Latino Entrepreneurial Network and the MKE ECE Coalition, who will be utilizing their grant to support Spanish-speaking family child care programs in the Proveedoras Unidas network.

On June 9, Milwaukee Succeeds' Executive Director Vincent Lyles joined the Wisconsin Policy Forum for an in-depth discussion on the state of early childhood education. The virtual event was the latest installment in the ongoing Forum Friday series, in which the Policy Forum invites notable guests to share their expertise on a timely research topic.

The Milwaukee Succeeds Early Childhood Education (ECE) Ambassadors have been sharing the importance of ECE far and wide this spring. Their latest stop was the Milwaukee County Zoo, where they connected with families during the Birth to 3 Celebration on May 19.

On March 15, seven ECE Ambassadors attended a 4C listening session to dive deeper into the developments taking place inside the child care sector. They also had the chance to provide input on how 4C can better identify and connect with the centers that need their assistance.

On February 10, WECA distributed the first round of stipends through the Early Educator Wage Stipend Program, benefiting over 1,900 educators in Milwaukee. The goal of the program is to bolster the sector and increase retention within the struggling industry.

During his State of the State address on January 24, Gov. Evers unveiled his plan to increase support for the state's ECE sector through the 2023-25 state budget. The proposal includes the budget asks of both the Milwaukee Succeeds-led ECE Coalition and the statewide Raising Wisconsin Coalition.

On January 25, the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service highlighted the incredible work of the Milwaukee Succeeds-led Early Childhood Education Coalition (ECE), who developed and advocated for the much-needed ECE Workforce Stipend Program.