TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Children’s Movement of Florida has launched the Parent Leadership Network, a new statewide initiative designed to equip parents and caregivers with the skills, knowledge, and connections to help shape early childhood policies and systems that affect Florida’s families.
The inaugural cohort includes 15 parent leaders from 10 communities across Florida, selected through a competitive process to participate in a cohort-based fellowship that blends in-person learning, virtual collaboration, and hands-on advocacy training.
“Parents are closest to the challenges—and the solutions—facing children and families,” said Madeleine Thakur, president and CEO of The Children’s Movement of Florida. “The Parent Leadership Network creates the space, structure, and support for parent voices to be heard where decisions are made.”
The brain is 90% of its adult size by age five, meaning children’s first five years are a time of critical growth and development. The brain grows and strengthens through back-and-forth interactions with loving adults, so building parent skills helps build better futures. When fewer than 45% of Florida children are arriving in kindergarten “ready,” per the Florida Department of Education, more support for parents must be part of that solution.
Built with parents and for parents, the Parent Leadership Network invests in parents as partners and changemakers. Fellows strengthen leadership and advocacy skills, deepen their understanding of early childhood systems and policy, and build lasting relationships with other parent leaders across the state.
The program launched with an in-person kickoff retreat in Sarasota, where fellows began developing personal advocacy goals and connecting their lived experiences to statewide policy conversations. Participants will remain engaged throughout the year with opportunities to apply their learning with elected officials and in their local communities.
Applications for a second cohort of participants will open in July.