EC LOC's working groups are member-driven spaces where the real work of the collaborative happens, building strategy, welcoming new leaders, shifting philanthropy, and designing the future we're moving toward together.
Working groups are open to all EC LOC members. Each group is member-coordinated, focused on a specific domain, and meets regularly to move priorities forward. Only a limited number of seats become available each year, as determined by the active members of each group, and each working group leads its own recruitment and selection process. Submitting the interest form adds you to the list to be invited to apply when a seat opens.
The Strategy Working Group is the core decision-making partner to the Promise Team, co-creating and stewarding the EC LOC Collaborative through programming strategy, budget approval, governance, and member engagement.
This group asks not just what are we doing, but are we doing it in a way that builds toward self-determination? It exists to ensure EC LOC remains a nationally organized, EC LOC-directed network. Liberation isn't a tagline, it's the destination.
2026 is a bridge year, building the conditions for EC LOC's Three-Year Picture by deepening infrastructure, clarifying pathways for member-led action, and increasing committee member ownership of shared goals. The Strategy WG is focused on increasing transparency and co-creation across the full collaborative.
Power isn't something we wait to be given. It's something we practice together.
The Power Building Working Group deepens EC LOC members' shared understanding of power: what it is, how it operates in early childhood systems, and what it looks like when we build it collectively and across difference. This group creates learning spaces, resources, and experiences that help EC LOC leaders name power dynamics, practice solidarity, and connect the daily work of early childhood to the longer arc of movement building.
After two cycles of active programming, this working group is currently in a listening phase, conducting sessions to elevate member insights on the conditions needed for solidarity and power building within the Collaborative. This pause is intentional: we are investing in understanding before acting and shaping a clearer shared strategy that moves us toward coordinated action.
The EC LOC Funders Partnership exists to change how philanthropy shows up in relationship with Early Childhood Leaders of Color. With the merger of our Member-Led and Funder-Led groups into a unified Funders Partnership, we have a stronger platform to deepen alignment between funders and proximate leaders in a way that actually changes how decisions get made and resources flow.
Partnership is the key word. This group is not about access for access's sake. It is about building trust, shifting power, and translating shared values into shared investment.
The partnership is organized into two pods, each with a specific deliverable.
Dream State Pod: Updating the Dream State document to clarify how funders and EC LOC can take action together across three key areas: trust, power, and accountability.
Recruitment Pod: Recruiting an additional 3–5 aligned funders to join the EC LOC Funders Partnership.
The Onboarding Working Group designs and implements a thoughtful, relational, and values-aligned new member experience, one that ensures every person who joins EC LOC feels seen, welcomed, and clear on how they can uniquely contribute to the collaborative.
Now entering its second year, this group is going deeper, finding more ways for the committee itself to lead the first 90-day experience and own the member directory, building systems that are consistent, values-aligned, and sustainable from day one.
Piloting a standardized onboarding pathway for all new members, with a goal that 85% of newly onboarded members take at least one engagement action within 30 days of joining, attending an event, connecting with a buddy, completing the needs assessment, or joining a regional group.
The REST Co-Creation Committee works alongside Promise Venture Studio staff to design, shape, and lead key elements of the EC LOC REST Conference, our annual 3-day gathering for early childhood leaders of color.
This isn't a planning committee that approves staff decisions after the fact. It's a genuine co-design process, one that centers member voice at every stage and builds toward a fully self-determined conference that reflects who EC LOC is and what we actually need.
REST as Resistance. Inspired by Tricia Hersey and adrienne maree brown, we cannot dream from an exhausted state. Programming is built for freedom of movement, optional participation, and genuine spaciousness. #JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) is not a workaround, it's a feature. Sessions are energy-rated, self-care is woven in, and showing up as your full, tired, alive self is always enough.
The committee is currently focused on rescheduling and relocating the REST Conference, gathering data, identifying a new venue, and pivoting the setup and structure to respond to what EC LOC members need right now. This work is being held with care: making space for the safety and ability to rest of our members is not a secondary consideration, it's the design brief.
REST is EC LOC's annual 3-day retreat, a late-spring gathering rooted in Restoration, Enlightenment, Solidarity, and Transformation. Registration opens each December. Learn more at rest.ecloc.org (password: rest).
A limited number of seats open in working groups each year. Submit the interest form to be added to the list. When a group opens, you will be invited to apply. Each working group leads its own selection process.
