The Lincoln Family-Friendly Workplace Certification creates a clear opportunity for employers to strengthen their workforce by better supporting working families. However, many businesses are unsure where to start, how to meet the criteria, or how these practices connect to real business outcomes. This session addresses that gap by helping employers move from awareness to action, understanding not just what the certification is, but how to realistically implement and benefit from family-friendly workplace practices. 

Why this topic matters for Nebraska communities in Lincoln, and across Nebraska, workforce challenges are deeply connected to family stability and access to child care. Employers that support working parents see stronger recruitment, retention, and employee engagement. The certification program was created to help businesses attract and sustain a strong, inclusive workforce while contributing to the overall economic vitality of the community. This topic matters because it bridges business needs with community impact helping employers become part of the solution while improving outcomes for children and families. 

Content that will be covered in this session will walk participants through: An overview of the Lincoln Family-Friendly Workplace Certification, including the purpose, process, and benefits The 10 qualifying criteria and what they look like in real workplaces (e.g., paid parental leave, flexible scheduling, child care supports, inclusive policies) Common barriers employers face when trying to implement family-friendly practices Real examples from certified employers in Lincoln and how they approached meeting the criteria How businesses of different sizes and industries can meet at least 7 of the 10 requirements in practical ways 

What will participants learn or take away: Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how to navigate and apply for the certification (including the self-assessment process). The ability to assess where their organization already aligns with the criteria Practical, achievable steps to strengthen family-friendly policies without needing large financial investments A deeper understanding of how these practices impact workforce stability, culture, and productivity Confidence to begin or advance their certification journey Tools, Examples, or Models Shared This session will include: A simplified Certification Readiness Checklist aligned to the 10 criteria

What Surrounds Us Shapes Us - learn more about what children need to thrive, what influences development and how to use research to build support for young children in your community.

Effective boards are built through intention, clear roles, and consistent practice, not by chance. This interactive session explores how boards evolve from informal groups of volunteers into effective governance bodies that provide strategic direction, accountability, and long term leadership. 

Using the blob to box continuum, participants will reflect on where their board currently sits and examines what distinguishes governance boards from advisory boards, committees, and other volunteer structures. 

The session highlights why governance boards matter, emphasizing their role in strategic planning, fiscal oversight, leadership evaluation, and organizational sustainability. 

Presenters will discuss how board turnover, whether expected or unexpected, can disrupt momentum, stall progress on strategic priorities, and challenge continuity if not intentionally managed. 

Participants will explore practical strategies boards can use to maintain focus, transfer institutional knowledge, and stay aligned to long term goals during transitions. A central focus is placed on how boards meet. Participants will examine practical approaches to meeting protocols, agenda design, defined roles, discussion practices, decision making processes, and follow up expectations that support strategic conversations rather than reactive problem solving. Attention is also given to how strong governance and community engagement support informed, mission aligned decisions over time. 

Designed to be participatory and reflective, this session invites attendees to bring real questions about board development, strategic focus, and sustainability. Participants will leave with shared language, practical tools, and concrete next steps to move their boards confidently from blob to box.

Early childhood research consistently demonstrates the powerful influence of children's environments on development, including access to stable, high-quality childcare and strong families and communities. Nebraska families show many strengths, yet we face barriers to achieving great starts for all children. Childcare costs remain prohibitively high for many families, contributing to financial strain and limiting access to quality care. Many parents experience financial strain and emotional stress. 

Policymakers, advocates, and service providers increasingly seek timely, population-level data to guide decisions about childcare investment and family support. Drawing on a representative sample of more than 2,700 Nebraska parents of children, ages birth to six weighted to reflect the state population this panel presents new insights into childcare access, family economic stress, and early child development using Kidsights Data. The survey includes the Kidsights Measurement Tool, a parent-report measure of child development validated against direct assessment (Waldman et al., 2025), allowing us to connect family experiences with developmental outcomes. In this session, participants will learn about Kidsights Data and how it may be applicable to their needs for reliable, recent data on young children and families. 

We begin by describing our methodology, including use of Nebraska's birth registries to construct a representative sampling frame and early engagement with First Five Nebraska to ensure policy relevance and alignment with state priorities. We then share key findings, including: (1) the proportion of families reporting that childcare costs prevent them from meeting basic needs; (2) differences in reliance on various types of care across rural and urban communities and family characteristics, including hours worked and socio-economic factors; and (3) associations between childcare access, family strain, and child development outcomes. Finally, we share recent insights on how to frame results for action. 

We will demonstrate how these findings can inform policy and practice across the state and in support of specific advocacy goals, such as funding for childcare and other programs. We will share approaches for collecting quotes and opinions from parents in response to survey findings. 

Our communications lead and policy partner will discuss strategies for translating results for decision-makers, highlighting collaboration with First Five to generate timely, actionable data on childcare access and cost. 

We conclude with lessons learned about integrating population-level child development data into policy discussions and outline future analytic directions to inform investments in Nebraska's young children and families statewide.

Come ready to explore the world of natural outdoor classroom design using hands-on materials, with the guidance of an experienced Nature Explore designer. 

Engage ten research-based guiding principles of design and learn how outdoor natural classrooms can build community and enhance educational experiences for all. Engage your hands and minds in playful outdoor classroom planning to experience and highlight key considerations for outdoor learning, play, and exploration. Hear and see how it works in programs in Nebraska, and across the nation, and gain practical insights you can apply in your community. 

Plan your next steps towards bringing more nature, playful, intentional design, and heart-centered support to your communities. Many early childhood programs in Nebraska face challenges related to educator burnout, limited resources for facility improvements, and the need for learning environments that better support children's social-emotional development. 

This session highlights how Nebraska programs can use research-based outdoor classroom design drawing on work from the Nebraska-based Dimensions Educational Research Foundation to improve educator well-being, strengthen family engagement, and enhance developmental outcomes for children. By demonstrating practical strategies that use locally available materials and community support, the session offers scalable solutions that Nebraska providers can implement in both rural and urban settings. 

For nearly two decades, Dimensions Educational Research Foundation teachers and researchers have been documenting the significant learning that happens when children and adults spend time learning in and with nature. Findings conclude that when children are engaged in authentic play in a nature-filled outdoor classroom they develop skills in a variety of domains simultaneously. Based on this knowledge, programs around the country have effectively incorporated Nature Explore Classrooms into their daily programming with children and families and have experienced great benefits, including increased family involvement, a decrease in behavior difficulties, and a higher level of general health and wellness. While children learn a great deal by exploring their natural surroundings, deeper learning involves interpreting what they see, touch and smell as well as synthesizing this information to construct meaning. Through post-occupancy research and years of study in these outdoor classrooms, Dr. Sam Dennis and colleagues conclude that children who spend time in intentionally designed, nature-rich spaces seem to be less impulsive, more relaxed, and better able to self-regulate. And this goes for teachers as well, leading to higher job satisfaction and decreased turnover. 

Learning outcomes for this session include: Participants will create individual plans of action, applying what they have learned to help tackle existing challenges and barriers to implementing an outdoor classroom. 

Through working with hands-on natural materials, participants will recall why these nature-rich spaces and materials work for children and educators and how to create spaces where children and adults thrive in community. They will be able to list the many ways learning occurs and how the design makes them accessible to all children. Participants will retell and incorporate real-life experience from the Nature Explore Network as they relate to ways nature and design come together with children in mind both intentionally and magically.

The first eight years of life lay the foundation for childrens long-term learning and development, yet many children in Nebraska experience fragmented early childhood systems and limited access to coordinated supports. 

This session addresses the opportunity to strengthen early learning systems by leveraging elementary schools as central hubs that connect children and families with comprehensive, continuous services from birth through Grade 3. The School acts as a hub for Early Learning Approach, strengthens access to high-quality learning experiences and supports by creating a cohesive pathway that integrates early childhood programming, elementary education, and family and community partnerships. 

This topic is especially important for Nebraska communities, where access to high-quality early care and education varies and can influence children's early learning experiences and transitions into school. The School as Hub model, positions schools as trusted community anchors that connect families to resources, services, and learning opportunities. By aligning home visiting, preschool, and K-3 instruction within a single framework, the approach strengthens continuity and supports stronger attendance patters, including reductions in chronic absenteeism. 

During this session, participants will explore the core components of the School as Hub framework, including birth - age 3 home visiting and family facilitation, high-quality preschool programming, aligned PreK -Grade 3 instruction, and intentional family and community partnerships. Emphasis will be placed on leadership structures, cross-sector collaboration, and strategies for aligning early childhood and elementary systems. Presenters will share examples of how schools function as connectors bringing community resources into the school while extending school support into the community to build authentic, two-generation partnerships with families. 

Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how to begin or strengthen implementation of a Birth - Grade 3 approach within their own contexts. Key takeaways include actionable strategies for building leadership capacity, fostering meaningful family engagement, and aligning systems across early learning settings. Attendees will also gain insight into how coordinated, relationship-centered practices can expand access, strengthen experiences, and improve outcomes for children and families. The session will provide practical tools and models, including an overview of the School as Hub framework, implementation components, and real-world examples from Nebraska schools. Participants will be equipped with ideas, structures, and entry points to adapt this approach within their own communities, ultimately supporting a more integrated and responsive early childhood system.

Across Nebraska, communities are working to expand access to preschool while navigating limited space, workforce shortages, and competing priorities. 

This session shares the story of how one community built its own sustainable solution through a public-private partnership that continues to serve children and families more than a decade later. In 2010, Little Learners Preschool was founded by Deb Reiman through a partnership with Auburn Public Schools, the Nebraska Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services. As a certified teacher operating a Rule 11 program, Deb maintained the flexibility of a private business while receiving critical support from the school district. The district provided a full-time paraeducator and per-child funding tied to state aid, creating a shared investment in high-quality preschool programming. 

Samantha Wehenkel, now the district's Director of Curriculum and Instruction, was one of the first preschool teachers at Auburn Public Schools and played a key role in the early implementation of the district's preschool efforts alongside this partnership. This model allowed the community to expand access to preschool without requiring additional classroom space within the school, an ongoing need that still exists today. 

Since opening in 2010, Little Learners Preschool has consistently operated at full capacity, serving 40 children each year. The preschool is located within a child care setting owned by Lynsey, creating a seamless experience for families and reducing transportation barriers by prioritizing children already enrolled in care. Together, this layered approach supports working families while maximizing existing community resources. A defining strength of this model is its sustainability and commitment to workforce development. 

When Deb relocated, she intentionally transitioned ownership of Little Learners Preschool to Chantel, who had previously visited the program while working in a Head Start classroom. Recognizing her passion and potential, Deb sold the business as an LLC with a shared commitment to continue serving the community. Today, Chantel is the owner and operator of the preschool, continuing its legacy and impact. Now back in Auburn, Deb is able to see firsthand the long-term impact of consistent, high-quality care on children and families. Together, Deb (founder), Samantha (district leader), and Chantel (current owner) bring a unique, multi-perspective view of how this partnership was built, sustained, and evolved over time. 

Participants will gain a clear understanding of how this partnership was developed, funded, and sustained. 

Participants will also leave with practical strategies to build public-private partnerships, maximize existing child care and community assets, and support leadership transitions that ensure long-term success. Real-world examples will provide insight into both the opportunities and challenges of implementing this model in other communities.

The First 10 Tools are a practical facilitation framework that will have you thinking differently about how to create highly engaging, trust-rich group spaces - any leader or convener can begin using them in their next meeting. 

Brady will walk through the full framework, connecting each tool to the realities of Nebraska collaborative work and drawing on examples from coordinating the Community Impact Network, a 70+ partner cross-sector collaborative based in Hastings. 

Participants will leave with practical ideas for integrating the tools into their own group work and a set of tool cards to carry and use.

Nebraska communities face ongoing shortages in early childhood educators, and high schools offer an untapped opportunity to help grow this workforce. 

This session showcases a replicable, student centered model for building early childhood pathways within high school career academies. Presenters will share their multi year process developing aligned coursework, dual credit options, industry credentials, and hands on practicum experiences that prepare students for immediate employment or seamless transition into two and four year educator preparation programs. 

Attendees will explore how thoughtful pathway design, strong cross sector partnerships, and intentional scheduling can boost engagement, deepen community connections, and support long term career success for future early childhood professionals.

Communities across Nebraska are facing a common challenge: families cannot find or afford quality child care, providers are struggling to sustain their programs, and the workforce that depends on reliable care is impacted every day. While many communities are working hard to address these issues, efforts are often siloed. 

This session highlights a powerful opportunity, bringing public health and early childhood systems together to create more coordinated, effective, and sustainable solutions. In Lincoln, Lincoln Littles and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department have built a collaborative approach that leverages the strengths of both sectors. Public health brings expertise in population-level data, prevention, family engagement, and community-wide systems, while early childhood partners bring deep knowledge of child care operations, workforce needs, and quality improvement. Together, this partnership is helping move the needle on access, quality, and long-term system building. 

This session will walk participants through how the partnership was formed, how priorities were aligned, and how trust was built across sectors that do not traditionally work closely together. Presenters will share real examples of collaborative work, including emergency preparedness efforts, coordinated provider supports, and strategies that connect health, safety, and early learning environments. We will also highlight how data and community input have been used to identify gaps, guide investments, and ensure that solutions are responsive to both providers and families. 

Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how a health department can serve as a critical partner in strengthening early childhood systems. They will gain practical strategies for initiating or deepening cross-sector collaboration in their own communities, including how to align goals, share resources, and create mutually beneficial outcomes. The session will also explore how these efforts contribute to broader community and economic vitality by supporting working families and stabilizing the child care sector.

Why This Topic Matters for Nebraska Communities Nebraska's early childhood workforce and families include a growing number of Spanish speaking and multilingual communities, many of whom live in rural or under resourced areas. When information and learning opportunities are not accessible in families' preferred languages, it creates inequitable access to services and professional growth. This topic matters because it offers practical, scalable solutions that help Nebraska communities create inclusive, language accessible systems that better support children and families statewide. 

Content That Will Be Covered: Overview of common language access challenges in early childhood and community settings, Introduction to AI translation tools and Canva's AI features, Practical ways to use technology to create bilingual materials and communications, Strategies for implementing AI tools in low resource settings, Ethical and culturally responsive considerations when using AI for translation.

What Participants Will Learn or Take Away: Participants will gain practical knowledge on how to: Use AI tools to improve language accessibility and communication, create bilingual and visually accessible materials quickly and efficiently, Support families and providers in their preferred language, apply technology in ways that strengthen relationships and trust, not replace them, identify when human review and cultural context are essential.

Tools, Examples, or Models That Will Be Shared, AI translation tools (text based and voice based), Canva AI features for designing and translating bilingual materials, Real world examples of using AI and Canva in early childhood and community work, Simple models for integrating language access tools into existing systems, Reflection prompts and implementation ideas for participant's own communities

This session will help child care center owners and managers better understand how to visualize and maximize their outdoor spaces and how this can be done on various budget levels. In this session, explanations will be shared on the various types of play that should be considered and how to offer a variety of play, while considering space, budget, layout and safety. This session will also discuss care and management of the outdoor play spaces, and the importance of material selection and equipment placement.

Grounded in real examples from the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative's (NECC) statewide programs, the session highlights the variety of supports available to educators as they grow in their roles, strengthen their practice, and navigate workforce challenges. 

Participants will be introduced to NECC's Child Care Network, a key resource hub serving more than 2,000 members across Nebraska, and will learn how its comprehensive tools, guidance, and professional supports can empower educators at all stages of their careers. 

Throughout the session, attendees will engage in discussions designed to surface the existing assets, lived experiences, and educator driven strategies already present within Nebraska communities. Rather than focusing on deficits or gaps, the workshop emphasizes the strengths educators bring to their roles, the resilience they demonstrate daily, and the resources that can help them continue to thrive. 

Participants will explore how initiatives such as NECC's CDA Coaching to Completion, Licensing Toolkit, and other workforce focused programs contribute to a robust and supportive ecosystem for early childhood professionals. By digging into these examples, attendees will gain insight into how intentional, collaborative supports can reduce barriers, expand opportunities, and enhance professional pathways for those working in early learning settings. 

Session attendees will work together to identify what is already working well in their local context, where additional support could be beneficial, and how community driven solutions can be amplified and sustained over time. Emphasis will be placed on highlighting local voices, recognizing community expertise, and elevating educator leadership as central components of workforce advancement. A key objective of the session is to help participants reflect on the learning question: How can the early childhood workforce be supported to grow in their roles, strengthen their practice, and navigate workforce challenges? 

By the end of the workshop, attendees will have a clearer understanding of the types of supports structural, relational, educational, and financial that collectively shape an educator's pathway. They will also leave with strategies they can bring back to their organizations or communities to further strengthen a professional landscape for early childhood educators that's equipped with the resources, relationships, and opportunities needed to flourish. With a focus on collaboration and shared learning, the workshop aims to inspire continued action toward building a strong, sustainable early childhood system across Nebraska.

Nebraska is at a critical moment for early childhood policy. This session will highlight key lessons from recent efforts and explore practical strategies to drive lasting change. 

Presenters will share approaches for building strong coalitions, engaging policymakers and business leaders, and advancing early childhood as both a family and economic priority. 

Participants will leave with actionable ideas to help move Nebraska toward more transformative, long-term solutions.

Over the past year, organizations and communities have worked to align messaging, resources, and campaigns to educate the public, build support, and influence policy to benefit young children and their families.

This session will highlight how coordinated communications strategies can advance early childhood initiatives while providing attendees with practical takeaways for their own communities. The 2025 advocacy campaign to defend the national Head Start program amid unprecedented funding threats is one of the examples this session will explore. Payment delays and a leaked federal budget proposal put thousands of Nebraska families and the broader workforce at risk. 

The communications strategy is aimed to raise public awareness, position early childhood leaders as trusted voices, align partners around consistent messaging, mobilize advocacy, and demonstrate visible statewide support. 

Tactics included op-eds, a Capitol rally, video and live engagement, organic and paid social media, unified messaging resources, and on-the-ground visibility. These coordinated efforts led to widespread public engagement, bipartisan legislative support, and ultimately the continuation of Head Start funding for the next year. Building on the momentum from the Head Start campaign, Nebraska's early childhood ecosystem mobilized around LB304 during the 2026 legislative session, which will also be utilized as an example to illustrate effective communications strategies in this sessionLB304 is a bill that makes permanent the current income eligibility requirements for child care assistance, ensuring more working families can afford quality care and remain in the workforce. Without it, thousands of families would lose access to essential support. 

The communications effort left no stone unturned: paid advertising, grassroots letter-writing, social media campaigns, op-eds, and partner network mobilization were all deployed to build awareness, generate momentum, and put pressure on legislators. While the final vote is still pending as of this submission, these efforts illustrate the power of coordinated communications to advance critical early childhood policy. 

Participants in this session will: Explore concrete examples of successful communications campaigns for early childhood issues in Nebraska. Learn strategies for aligning partners, coordinating messaging, and engaging the public, Gain tools to apply in their own communities, Understand the value and role of strategic communications for advancing early childhood initiatives Whether you are a communications professional, program leader, or advocate, there is a role for everyone in amplifying early childhood issues. This session will provide the insights, strategies, and inspiration needed to elevate early childhood efforts in Nebraska and beyond.

Child care is one of the biggest workforce and community challenges facing rural Nebraska, yet many providers are still working in isolation while trying to meet growing needs with shrinking capacity. In Nebraska's Panhandle, this challenge is especially visible in communities like Chadron, where the child care landscape has changed dramatically over time, and fewer licensed programs remain to serve families. 

This session shares the evolving work of PACCS, the Panhandle Area Child Care Services support group, as it grows from a long-standing local provider network into a broader regional approach intended to strengthen child care across the Panhandle. Built through Child Care Policy Leadership Academy work, provider leadership, and community partnership-building, this model focuses on helping providers become more connected, more visible, and more prepared to lead in their communities. 

Presenters will share how this work has developed over time, including rebuilding leadership after COVID, co-leading across both home- and center-based perspectives, and creating a regional vision that aligns with broader efforts such as 6 Regions One Nebraska. The session will describe strategies being explored and refined, including provider outreach, relationship mapping, listening sessions, community conversations, cross-sector engagement, and efforts to better understand where licensed care exists, what capacity looks like, and where gaps remain. 

Participants will also hear how this work extends beyond support meetings into leadership development and advocacy. One example is the Panhandle providers Capitol engagement around child care policy, which showed how a more connected rural network can move from local conversation to collective action. Rather than presenting advocacy as separate work, this session frames it as part of building a stronger early childhood system in which providers are visible, informed, and able to speak into decisions that affect families, businesses, and communities. This session matters for Nebraska because rural communities need practical, replicable approaches that do not depend on large budgets or outside experts to get started. 

Attendees will leave with lessons, ideas and early tools from a model that is still being build, along with strategies for strengthening provider connection, community partners, local visibility, and future leadership in their own area.

The issue: In 2023, Nebraska Head Start staff members completed surveys and participated in focus groups about their well-being. Staff members described coming to work ill, and taking on responsibilities outside their job descriptions due to unfilled positions, and thinking about the challenges facing the families they serve outside of work hours. They also described real financial strain, struggling to pay for medical care, utilities, and food, while earning wages significantly below those of public-school teachers with comparable experience. This session presents those findings and uses them as the starting point for a structured conversation about what communities, programs, and systems can do in response. 

Why it matters: The challenges staff members described have direct consequences for program quality and workforce stability. When staff come to work ill or take on responsibilities outside their job descriptions, the quality of care and instruction children receive is compromised. When wages fall significantly below those of comparable public-school positions, programs struggle to recruit and retain qualified staff, and the data show they are already filling the assistant teacher and co-teacher positions most frequently. When staff members report difficulty affording medical care, utilities, and food on their current salaries, the financial strain follows them into the classroom. These are not incidental findings. They reflect a workforce under sustained pressure, and the consequences extend beyond individual staff members to the children, families, and communities Head Start programs are designed to serve. 

Content covered: The session will move through five themes from the study, presenting key findings from each before opening structured brainstorming around what communities, programs, and systems could realistically do in response:

-Well-being and resilience staff members reported significant rates of sleep disruption, difficulty concentrating, and feelings of anxiety and sadness, alongside limited access to adequate breaks during the workday. 

-Work-life balance and staffing and chronic understaffing forced staff members to take on responsibilities outside their job descriptions, skip breaks, and miss professional development opportunities, contributing to high rates of burnout.

-Employee benefits, access to health insurance, paid leave, and behavioral health services varied significantly across programs, with cost remaining a barrier even where employer-sponsored options existed.

-Financial stability and pay parity, Head Start staff members earned significantly less than public school teachers with comparable experience, and many reported difficulties affording basic necessities including food, medical care, and utilities.

-Relationships with children and families despite the challenges above, staff members described deep commitment to the children and families they serve as a primary reason for staying in the field, while also identifying access to services for families as an ongoing challenge.

Participant takeaways: Attendees will leave with a grounded understanding of what Nebraska's Head Start staff members identified as the most pressing barriers to staying in the field, and with community-generated ideas for addressing those barriers that are grounded in their own programs and contexts. The structured brainstorming component is designed to move participants from data to action, producing responses that are realistic and relevant to the communities they represent.

Across Nebraska, families, providers, and grass-tops advocates feel the urgency to act on our child-care crisis. But urgency without strategy leads to frustration. This session addresses a gap between community conversations and actions that lead to change: the organizing capacity of communities themselves. Grassroots community organizing is not protest or advocacy in the traditional sense. It's the disciplined, relational work of bringing people together around shared challenges, developing local leadership, and building enough collective power to create change that lasts. When applied to early childhood issues and access, provider sustainability, employer engagement, and organizing offers a community-owned path forward that complements state systems and policy efforts. 

This session matters for our communities because child care solutions must be locally rooted to be locally sustained. A strategy designed in Lincoln or Washington, D.C. rarely survives the realities of a rural county, a meatpacking town, or an indigenous community. Conversely, larger cities with complex social infrastructures need a strategy suitable to their context. Organizing starts where people are. 

Participants will be introduced to the core values of grassroots organizing and self-determination, relational power, collective action, and long-term accountability, and will honestly examine the tensions that make organizing complex: pace vs. urgency, representation, burnout, and the difference between tactical wins and systems change. From there, the session moves into a practical seven-step planning framework, from listening and issue identification through power mapping, team-building, and first action. 

Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how organizing differs from service delivery and direct policy advocacy, a set of best practices drawn from successful community campaigns, and a personal planning worksheet to apply to their own community context. The session closes with a written commitment one concrete action each participant will take within two weeks. 

For the 90-minute deep-dive format, the session includes: a paired values discussion, small group scenario analysis exploring real organizing tensions, a collaborative best practices activity, and a whole-group commitment close. 

Participants will work through hands-on, gamified learning activities designed for use in the room and replicable for training community organizers back home. Leave with a practical planning framework, ready-to-use facilitation tools, and one concrete next step you're ready to act on. Facilitation materials and a one-page resource guide will be provided.

Local governments are increasingly recognized as essential drivers of early childhood success, yet many communities face persistent barriers, fragmented systems, limited coordination, and unclear pathways to action. The National League of Cities developed the Municipal Roadmap to Early Childhood Success and helped lay the foundation for the Early Learning Community Action Guide and Assessment Tool to help cities move from ideation to execution. 

This 90-minute session will introduce participants to the Roadmap and Action Guide as practical frameworks for systems-building. Participants will explore how these tools support municipalities in identifying their role, aligning partners and listening to parent and provider voice, while advancing shared goals. The session will highlight examples of cities who have used these tools. 

Participants will also engage in a structured, hands-on application activity. Working in small groups, they will identify a key challenge from their own community and map current efforts against the Roadmap framework and use the Action Guide to identify ideas for actionable next steps. 

The session will conclude with peer sharing and facilitated discussion to spark and ignite ideas across the participants.

Child care is often discussed in terms of workforce, economics, and policy, but rarely through the experiences and perspectives of children themselves. This session explores how one family child care program followed children's curiosity about their community and turned it into meaningful learning, relationship-building, and real-world connection. 

The opportunity this session highlights is what happens when educators truly follow children's interests. A simple question about who makes decisions in their community led children to explore their local senators, resulting in the creation of senator trading cards. What began as curiosity grew into deeper understanding, stronger relationships, and increased visibility for children within their community. 

In this process, children experienced that their ideas matter, are welcomed, and can shape real experiences, fostering creativity, leadership, and confidence. Returning to places of interest also gave children opportunities to revisit their thinking, ask new questions, and deepen their understanding over time. 

This work matters for Nebraska communities because child care is not separate from the community, it is a central part of it. When children, families, and providers are connected to their communities and local leaders, it strengthens workforce stability, economic vitality, and community well-being. It also helps decision-makers better understand the real impact of early childhood programs. 

Participants will explore how to recognize and follow children's interests, document learning in meaningful ways, and extend those moments into deeper opportunities for connection and understanding. The session will include real examples of the trading card project, strategies for engaging families and community members, and ways to support children in building relationships with the people and places around them. 

Attendees will leave with practical tools, including ideas for documentation, conversation starters, and simple ways to expand children's interests into broader learning experiences. More importantly, they will leave with a mindset shift, understanding that when we follow children's lead, learning often goes further than expected and creates lasting impact beyond the classroom.

Hispanic families in Nebraska often face language and cultural barriers when accessing early childhood education and parenting support. Many families struggle to find resources in Spanish, guidance on child development, and practical strategies that respect their cultural values. 

This session addresses the opportunity to bridge these gaps by showcasing a local, community-driven model that uses modern media to support families and strengthen communities. Three Latina early childhood providers co-created the podcast Criando con Amor y Sabiduría to deliver culturally relevant parenting education, emotional guidance, and practical tools directly to families. 

The podcast covers essential topics such as managing parental guilt, developmental milestones, children with big emotions, physical contact and the importance of hugs, and different parenting styles. By sharing their real-life experiences as early childhood providers and collaborative content creators, the presenters demonstrate how everyday childcare interactions can be transformed into accessible and impactful learning opportunities for families. 

Participants will explore the community need that inspired the podcast, understand the process of designing and producing episodes, and learn how to use digital platforms as a tool for engagement. The session highlights the benefits of family and community engagement, illustrating how providers can build trust, foster parent participation, and create supportive networks. 

Participants will also examine examples of episodes, family feedback, and practical strategies for adapting content to their own communities. The session will include interactive elements, such as small group discussions and reflection prompts, encouraging participants to identify ways they could implement similar approaches in their work. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas for developing collaborative, culturally responsive initiatives that strengthen families and communities. They will also gain insight into practical tools for using media to extend their reach, foster communication, and amplify local voices. 

By the end of the session, participants will be able to: Recognize the importance of culturally responsive engagement in strengthening family trust and participation. Leverage podcasts and other media to deliver parenting education and support to underserved families. Identify key parenting content that resonates with Hispanic families, including emotional guidance, developmental milestones, and effective parenting strategies. Plan collaborative strategies to share successes, amplify local voices, and build sustainable support networks. 

This session provides a replicable model that Nebraska communities can adapt to increase family engagement, empower parents, and foster child development. By highlighting local innovation, workforce collaboration, and culturally relevant approaches, it offers a practical roadmap for educators, providers, and community leaders seeking to strengthen children, families, and communities.

The Knowledge Network for Early Childhood Education Workforce (KNEW) Project is a statewide, community-based initiative designed to strengthen childcare access and quality across rural Nebraska by increasing the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators. Led by the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) in partnership with Communities for Kids (C4K) and Nebraska Extension, the KNEW project respond directly to the current childcare crisis across the state, especially in rural areas, where the crisis has its own unique challenges. 

Funded through a two-year, $2 million U.S. Department of Education grant, the project coordinates professional learning, targeted incentives, and collaborative convenings to build educator capacity. The project centers on four mutually reinforcing pillars: (1) workforce support and development; (2) coordinated early childhood system-building; (3) community engagement and partnerships; and (4) data driven decision making research. The workforce strand includes online courses via Canvas and professional development via Zoom, that elevate instructional quality, career pathways, and educator identity positioning providers as skilled professionals and small business owners. Family and community engagement is embedded through cross sector coalitions that connect providers, employers, and civic leaders to create strategies that expand access and improve quality. 

Finally, the research agenda examines social and professional networks among more than 200 rural stakeholders to identify the local conditions and practices most associated with sustained recruitment, retention, and program quality.

 The initiative's geographic footprint spans 15 rural communities and counties: ”Ainsworth; Albion/Boone County; Bridgeport; Buffalo County; Dawson County; Eustis/Elwood; Friend; Holdrege; Keith County; Loup/Garfield Counties; Minden; North Platte; Pierce County; Seward County; and Valentine/Cherry County, creating a distributed learning network that spans the entire state. This networked approach reflects the economic reality that dependable childcare is foundational to labor force participation, business continuity, and local growth; when care is unreliable or unavailable, parents reduce work hours or exit employment, undermining community vitality. 

By addressing educator vacancies and improving program capacity, KNEW directly supports families ability to work and communities ability to attract and retain talent. Early results highlight the promise of coordinated, locally led solutions. Providers across participating sites are accessing new training and resources, while muli-community convenings strengthen peer learning and problem solving across diverse rural contexts. The KNEW project demonstrates how university/community partnerships can work together on funding, research, and practice to meet urgent childcare needs while building relationships at the local level. 

In this 25-minute, Stories & Connections Session, Mary Girard and Philip Lai will recount their visits to these 15 communities across rural Nebraska. They will tell stories of what they learned and who they met as they traverse the state. They will also share research data and summarize the Social Network study.

The Issue Nebraska, like much of the nation, faces a critical shortage of early childhood educators. High turnover, burnout, and limited professional support threaten the quality and availability of child care, especially in rural communities. Yet the voices of the educators themselves are often missing from the conversation about how to address these challenges. 

Why This Matters for Nebraska Communities: When early childhood educators feel supported and heard, children receive better care, families can participate in the workforce, and communities thrive. Understanding what educators actually experience day-to-day, in their own words, is essential for designing effective support and retention strategies that work across Nebraska's diverse landscape. 

Our Model Alpaca is an employee engagement platform purpose-built for educators. In 2025, Alpaca partnered with the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative for a pilot serving 250 early childhood educators. Based on strong results, the partnership expanded in Year 2 to reach 500 educators across rural, urban, and suburban settings in both home-based and center-based environments statewide. 

Alpaca Pulse is a one-minute anonymous survey that captures how educators are feeling using their own words through semantic scale surveying. Results are analyzed for sentiment and mapped to five research-backed drivers of educator retention: Supportive Leadership, High-Trust Teams, Connected Community, Healthy Workplace, and Personal Growth. Leaders receive data dashboards and actionable resources grounded in the Wallace Foundation's school leadership research and the University of Chicago Consortium's 5 Essentials framework. 

In Year 2, the partnership introduced two new components. Alpaca Shout Outs is a peer recognition tool that allows educators to celebrate one another, fostering connection and belonging across geographically dispersed programs. The partnership also added education sessions for all participants, creating shared learning opportunities that strengthen professional growth and community among educators who might otherwise feel isolated. 

Participants will hear how this initiative moved from pilot to scale, including what the data revealed about educator well-being across different settings, how leaders used insights to take action, and what educators themselves say about being heard. We will share specific examples of how pulse survey data informed programmatic decisions and how peer recognition contributed to a stronger sense of community among participants. 

Participants will see live examples of Alpaca's pulse survey platform, data dashboards, and Shout Outs tool. We will share a framework for how communities and organizations can adopt a similar listen-and-respond approach to workforce support and one that centers educator voice and translates data into meaningful action. 

Attendees will leave with concrete ideas for implementing data-driven, educator-centered retention strategies in their own communities.

In this session participants can learn how our community has taken 6 strong members who represent our Early Childhood in our community. Together they are having monthly conversations on what's next, what's working, and what hardships they are facing. 

Training ideas have been developed that will be beneficial to other childcare providers, and early childhood educators in communities. This session will focus a lot on social emotional development, and some critical thinking like, 'What is the next step for the children in our community as they begin to transition to the next level?'

A goal of this session is to create opportunities for other communities to join the conversation and share what they are doing, including their successes, strengths, and challenges. We also hope to offer small group mentoring as part of the session.

In today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, many organizations and managers are struggling to stay afloat and aligned. Turbulence, the rapid rate of change is swirling around many of us, tipping us this way and that as we attempt to navigate a safe passage through it all. 

Early childhood educators and childcare facilities are not exceptions. Throughout the state of Nebraska, many childcare providers are facing the same pain points, including small staff, high turnover rates, and insufficient funding. While it is easy to get caught up in the problems, increasing adaptability, especially as a director or owner, can lead to innovations which will support the community at large. 

The Adaptability Quotient can identify strengths while facing these universal changes. Too many providers are still utilizing time-consuming and antiquated procedures to care for children. Helping them streamline their daily tasks can improve both effectiveness and efficiency. 

This session will introduce a new model to assess Adaptability. While many are familiar with Intelligence quotient (IQ) and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) the Adaptability Quotient is new look at dealing with change. The Adaptability Quotient (AQ) will be described, broken down, and discussed for practical application among participants. Attendees of this session with learn the 3 dimensions of AQ Ability, Character, and Environment (Known as the A.C.E. model). Each dimension contains 5 subdimensions of measurement within Adaptability Quotient. What we measure, we can improve through coaching. 

The subdimensions are: Ability, Grit, Mental Flexibility, Mindset Resilience, Unlearn Character, Emotional Range, Extraversion, Hope, Motivational Style, Thinking Style, Environment, Company Support, Emotional Health, Team Support, Work Environment, Work Stress.

 Throughout the session, attendees will join small groups to discuss each of the 3 dimensions, share examples of practical application, and identify personal and team growth opportunities in regard to Adaptability. The AQ (Adaptability Quotient) A.C.E. model will be introduced, discussed, and attendees will leave with practical application steps as they head back to their respective centers and communities.

Rural communities across Nebraska face persistent challenges related to early childhood care access, workforce shortages, and limited local capacity to address complex systems issues. At the same time, community leaders and organizations are often stretched thin, with limited time and resources to take on additional planning or assessment work. 

This session highlights an innovative and sustainable solution: leveraging service-learning partnerships with students to advance community-identified childcare priorities while simultaneously building the future workforce. This session will present a multi-year academic community partnership model developed in collaboration with the Ravenna Area C4K team, where different groups of nursing students have been embedded in community-based work over four consecutive semesters. 

Through this model, students engage in meaningful, applied learning experiences including community assessments, stakeholder engagement, and data-informed planning. A strong emphasis is placed on teaching students to begin with listening, prioritizing community voices and existing efforts before applying data to guide decision-making and action. Rather than completing hypothetical or busy work assignments, students contribute to ongoing local initiatives, creating continuity and tangible impact for the community. 

This partnership is an opportunity to prepare future community leaders to listen first, use data well, and contribute to sustainable community change in early childhood care. The session will also expand beyond nursing to highlight additional partnership opportunities across disciplines and educational levels, including occupational therapy capstone students, public and population health programs, and graduate-level learners. 

Presenters will explore how high school students such as those involved in National Honor Society, FBLA, STEM programs, and high-ability learning tracks can meaningfully contribute to community-based projects. Emphasis will be placed on building a mentorship model that supports both student learning and community goals, while fostering long-term relationships and sustainability. 

Participants will gain insight into lessons learned from implementing this partnership, including strategies for preparing students to engage respectfully with communities, onboarding learners across semesters, maintaining continuity, and aligning academic requirements with community needs. 

The session will highlight student outcomes, including increased understanding of the essential role childcare plays in community and economic vitality, as well as the development of skills in communication, collaboration, and systems thinking. 

Through guided reflection and discussion, participants will identify potential partners within their own communities and consider how to intentionally prepare students for this work. The session will emphasize that when youth and young adults are engaged in authentic, community-driven experiences, they develop a stronger sense of belonging, identity, and investment in local issues as key components for long-term sustainability. 

Attendees will leave with a practical framework for preparing and partnering with students, tools for community assessment and stakeholder engagement, and strategies for building mutually beneficial, sustainable relationships. This session will also offer a model for advancing early childhood initiatives while strengthening workforce development and community capacity across Nebraska.

Nebraska communities continue to face challenges related to recruiting, preparing, and retaining a qualified early care and learning workforce, particularly in rural and higher need areas. At the same time, Nebraska's secondary education system offers a significant opportunity to strengthen this workforce through intentional alignment of Career & Technical Education (CTE) Human Sciences & Education programs with Career & Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs). 

This session explores how high school-based CTE programs and CTSOs can serve as a coordinated, community rooted pipeline into early care and learning careers. 

This topic matters for Nebraska communities because early care and learning access and quality are directly tied to workforce stability. When students are introduced early to careers that support families and are supported through meaningful leadership experiences, communities are better positioned to grow their own professionals who are invested in staying and leading locally. Strengthening these pathways supports families, employers, and children while building long term community capacity. 

During this session, participants will learn how Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) programs intentionally align classroom instruction with real world workforce needs. Family, Career, & Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and Educators Rising (EdRising) will be highlighted as leadership development organizations and career exploration tools. Presenters will share Nebraska examples that illustrate how students move from high school CTE coursework and CTSO involvement into early care and learning roles. 

Participants will leave with increased awareness of Nebraska's CTE programs and CTSOs and their role in supporting the early care and learning workforce. By connecting secondary education, CTSOs, and workforce needs, this session provides an actionable framework for building an early care and learning workforce that supports thriving children, families, and communities across Nebraska.

In rural Nebraska, the math for childcare is broken. When the cost to provide care far exceeds what families can afford to pay, the model isn't just failing; it's disappearing. 

This session addresses the opportunity to stop fighting this battle in isolation and instead pivot to a 501(c)(3) model that invites the entire community to take ownership of its future. 

If our childcare centers close, our hospitals lose nurses, our schools lose teachers, and our main streets go quiet. Rural directors are currently bridging the gap with their own exhaustion working 60-hour weeks and sacrificing time with their own families to keep the doors open for others. This topic matters because the survival of our small towns depends on moving this burden from the shoulders of a few to the hands of the many. 

During this session, I will share the unfiltered narrative of our transition, rooted in the raw honesty of my recent advocacy work: The Raw Truth of the Pivot: Moving past the fear of being "real" with the community. I'll share how being honest about our $411-per-student weekly cost changed the conversation from "why is tuition high?" to "how can we help?" Loving Your Community Out Loud: The strategy of vocal advocacy. I will discuss how to use social media and storytelling to make the community realize that if the center fails, the town fails. 

The 501(c)(3) Rescue: The logistics of the asset sale and the shift to non-profit status, including the "tribulations" of forming a board and navigating the legal hurdles while still managing daily operations. Fundraising as Infrastructure: Moving beyond small-scale bake sales to high-impact events like comedy nights and golf tournaments that engage local banks and industry leaders as true economic partners. 

Participants will leave with a roadmap for radical transparency. I will provide tools for communicating "the impossible math" to stakeholders, strategies for building a non-profit foundation, and the inspiration to turn their own "raw exhaustion" into a community-wide call to action. We will discuss how to *hopefully* build a legacy that outlasts our own individual efforts.'

This session will provide an overview of Elliot Regenstein’s recently released book Readiness through an interactive conversation with participants. It aligns with the conference theme of early childhood system-building by exploring examples from states highlighted in the book. 

The discussion will begin with a brief overview and key strategies—such as strengthening governance, aligning programs, and building capacity to support communities. 

The session will then shift to audience questions, using examples from the book to deepen understanding and spark discussion.

Every child care business needs a properly structured insurance package, no matter if it's a home or a center, for-profit or non-profit. Agents without a deep working knowledge inside the child care industry don't necessary understand the unique risks in child care. Correctly identifying the risks and structuring the insurance solution to responsibly manage those risks without "breaking the bank" is essential. 

This session will empower participants to understand the various insurance coverages, what they respond to, and ensure that the child care business is set up to succeed long-term. We will also address insurance exposures for community-based initiatives during the formative stages and share ideas for managing those risks before they have formed a local 501c3 of their own. 

Participants will leave with a handout to help them wisely navigate the process of selecting insurance. We will allow plenty of time for Q&A to answer real-life questions from participants.'

This session addresses the issues rural communities commonly have in retaining employment and serving large childcare needs. It dedicates a model towards affordable and quality spaces linked to sharing infrastructure and services with the community. It encourages collaboration through partnerships. 

This matters as Nebraska's rural communities continue to face challenges in sustaining early childcare and serving employment needs. Dundy County's personal story will be covered. From the challenges the school district faced with staff due to childcare needs, the preparations to start discussion with the community, collaboration with the architects, and fundraising efforts. 

Participants will learn about the campus model built on the elementary school site. How decisions lead to removal of an existing storage building and to build new, economically, on school grounds. 

This model allowed the school district to accomplish the need for an additional preschool classroom, serve 3-4 In-Home II licensed classrooms in the same building, which leads to sharing work areas and utilizing the school food service. We will share site studies, final floor plans, fundraising tools, photos and feedback from the design process and how operationally this was a successful plan to meet their community needs.

Rural communities often face significant childcare challenges, including limited provider capacity, workforce shortages, and barriers related to licensing and sustainability. While these challenges are widely recognized, solutions are not one-size-fits-all even for communities located just miles apart. 

This session highlights the opportunity for neighboring rural communities, such as Bayard and Bridgeport, to collaborate in ways that respect their differences while leveraging shared strengths to improve childcare access and quality. 

This topic is especially important for Nebraska communities, where rural areas rely heavily on childcare to support working families, sustain local businesses, and maintain population stability. 

Without reliable childcare, communities face workforce challenges that impact economic growth, school enrollment, and overall community vitality. Addressing childcare gaps is not only a family issue but a community-wide priority that requires creative, locally driven solutions. 

Communities can learn how to implement an Early Childhood Summer Interns program in their communities. 

We will provide steps to complete in the process for being an overview organization, for fundraising, for recruiting local potential interns, for selecting interns, for obtaining background checks and fingerprinting, for introducing the project to local licensed providers with dos and don'ts about participation, for contracts, for providing supervision to the interns so all goes smoothly and for engaging community service and completing a community project. 

This matters for Nebraska communities because most are experiencing childcare staff shortages and it can help build a local pipeline. Content is per the opportunities listed above. 

Participants should be able to initiate their own internship and will be provided a web link with the follow up information. We will share tools, modeling from three communities' experiences.'