For those of you who haven’t figured this our yet, I am a very passionate person that loves to share information! It was that drive that caused me to join Beautycounter - a personal care product company with a social mission to make all personal care products safer (see more here) - in 2014. I was excited that it was more than a business, more than a job, it was a chance to add my voice to something that I believed in, and really begin to affect change in Washington! 7 years in, I’m still more excited about the mission than selling the products (as amazing as they are!).

I bring that up, because my experience lobbying for legislation in the personal care product industry, has opened up a door with NAEYC to lobby for legislation to support child care.

I was chosen out of hundreds of applicants to be a part of the NVAEYC 2021 Advocacy Leadership Training Program. With this came a registration to the 2021 NAEYC Public Policy Forum this past weekend.

I am excited to announce that I will be representing Common Ground at three meetings this week with our federal leaders - Representative, Gerry Connolly, Senator Mark Warner and Senator Tim Kaine - to advocate for NAEYC’s three key messages:

1. Funding child care is money well spent.

2. Relief and recovery investments in child care are needed.

3. It’s time to sustainably and substantially invest in early childhood education and educators as part of America’s core infrastructure.

NAEYC is asking for bipartisan support of the American Rescue Plan, the covid relief bill that includes $39B in support for child care, and that our senators co-sponsor the Child Care for Working Families Act in 2021.

The pandemic highlighted the fact that child care has been underfunded. It’s time to not only get us through the pandemic, but use it as a launching pad to create the early childhood education that is necessary for the future of our county.

You may be wondering, what kind of investment do we need?

After doing some research, it seems that number comes in between $140-200B annually.

That funding will work to ensure that everyone has access to quality early childhood educational experiences by investing in the backbone of the industry - the early childhood educator. Teachers in early childhood are professional educators. However, they are not paid professional salaries.

While Common Ground already compensates our teachers above the benchmark for their positions in the industry and provides benefits that generally aren’t available in the child care industry, its an uphill battle, with parents shouldering the cost burden of quality care and education without federal funding.

I look forward to sharing more of the advocacy work that I am doing on behalf of Common Ground - as well as sharing future successes with our community!

-Miss Liz