Iheoma Iruka, Ph.D. (Emeritus)
Research Professor, Fellow, & Founding Director The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
Expert
Equity
Movement Building
Philanthropy
Public Policy
- Organization
- Early Childhood Funders Collaborative | Grantmakers for Education
Is our democracy in crisis, teetering on the verge of implosion, or is our country still in its infancy, and these are just growing pains we can respond to with love and nurture?
In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Trust for Learning, EdFunders, and the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative is co-hosting a provocative series connecting the dots on children’s formative experiences in publicly-funded learning environments and our country’s democratic ideals. We believe that ideal learning environments not only support children’s cognitive, emotional, and academic development, they also create the foundation for the realization of our shared civic aims.
While it may at times feel that democracy is in peril, the United States is still in its formative years – in a sensitive period that we can respond to with presence, vision, and love. How will we shape the future of a peaceful, multiracial, just and free democracy through investments in our youngest community members?
Episode 1: From Neurons to Nation – Early Learning that Fosters Democratic Ideals
Enjoy this candid discussion on how children’s formative experiences in publicly-funded learning environments contribute to our democratic ideals, shaping the future of a peaceful, multiracial, just, and free democracy.
- Dr. Iheoma U. Iruka | Research Professor, Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (moderator)
- Dr. Fabienne Doucet | Executive Director, New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
- Ellen Roche, M.Ed. | Chief Media and Philanthropy Officer, Trust for Learning; PhD Candidate, University of Maryland, College Park
Episode 2: Toward Languages of Liberation in Learning Environments
What will it take to support all children and youth to flourish in both their home or native language and English? What is lost for our democracy when children lose their family’s languages? How can early childhood and youth development programs affirm positive cultural identities that build resiliency and honor cultural traditions?
This episode’s discussion delves into how early childhood programs can affirm positive cultural identities that build resiliency and honor cultural traditions.
- Dr. Shantel E. Meek | Executive Director, Children’s Equity Project (moderator)
- Julie Garreau | CEO, Cheyenne River Youth Project
- Vanessa Goodthunder | Director, C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi
- Veronica Robles | Co-Founder and Director, Veronica Robles Cultural Center
Episode 3: Toward a Climate of Care in Learning Programs
How can we connect movements for high-quality early childhood programs with the growing movement for climate justice? Our panelists discussed opportunities for funders to bridge these critical areas to center children and youth in policy.
- Dr. Anita Krishnamurthi | President, Collective for Youth Empowerment in STEM & Society
- Ellicia Lanier | Founding Executive Director, Urban Sprouts
- Dr. Joan Lombardi | Adjunct Professor, Stanford University; Co-Founder and Senior Fellow, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues
- Ellen Roche, M.Ed. | Chief Media and Philanthropy Officer, Trust for Learning; PhD Candidate, University of Maryland, College Park (moderator)
Episode 4: Relationship as Revolution to Support Children Thriving
On the eve of the 2024 Presidential Election, our speakers delved into a conversation that elevated the connections between young people’s moment-to-moment development in close relationships and the trust and collective willpower we need to build effective and sustainable movements that support children thriving in election years and beyond.
- Lucy Recio | Third Bloom Consulting
- Marcus Strother | Executive Director, MENTOR California
- Marina Rodriguez | Educational Mentor Coach, All Our Kin
Episode 5: Feeling our Way toward Freedom
In the final episode of Infant Nation, Trust board member Cynthia Robinson Rivers (founder of the Whole Child model) led an engaging conversation about how socioemotional learning (SEL) can support children’s learning and development outside of a compliance paradigm. Rather than narrowly conceptualizing SEL as a tool for getting children to “sit still and learn,” which can drive racial disparities in discipline, suspension, and expulsion, Dena Simmons and Adenike Huggins shared a vision for culturally-sustaining SEL in support of all children’s agency and freedom.
Learn more about Adenike’s work with the National Urban League to develop a new framework for SEL and Dena’s approach to SEL at LiberatEd.
- Cynthia Robinson-Rivers | Managing Partner, Transcend (Moderator)
- Dr. Dena Simmons | Founder and Executive Director, LiberatED
- Adenike Huggins | Senior Director, Education Policy & Advocacy, National Urban League
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