An exciting new project, The Early Childhood Wisdom Initiative (ECWisdomI), has been convened by Bonnie and Roger Neugebauer and Carol Hillman, with the engagement and support of Nancy and John Rosenow, Holly Elissa Bruno, Luis Hernandez, Fern Khan, Arnie Kerzner, Dianne Pape, Mary Ucci, Pam Boulton, Kay Albrecht, Crystal Sanford-Brown, Kishor Shrestha, Michele Ryan, Margaret Akinware, Ron Blatz, Nettie Webb, Marcela Hahn and others who have made major contributions to the early childhood field over the course of their careers. This group of people, in their “wisdom years,” has come together to explore this next stage of their lives. Their passion for their work, and their commitment to children, is as strong as ever. They are motivated to make a difference for early childhood professionals and for the children and families they serve.
The mission of ECWI is to nurture generations of early care and education professionals by providing inspiration through the sharing of personal stories, information and support.
At this point ECWI has spawned two projects:
- Working with Bank Street College of Education to collect and edit stories lived and shared by elders to support and inspire younger, newer professionals in ECE. The intention is that these stories become part of the Bank Street EDUCATE digital library as part of the “College Partner
Collections.” - Building a community of wise people within the World Forum who will reach across generations to offer support and inspiration to educators and providers through the sharing of stories and the power of listening. The intention is to create a visible, dynamic presence of elders and for this peer group to create a sense of lifelong belonging within the World Forum events and work.
Early Childhood Wisdom Initiative carried out a variety of networking activities at the World Forum on Early Care and Education in Vancouver, Canada in 2024. These activities were made possible with the support of the Dodge Family Foundation.
Ongoing World Forum engagement will include planning and hosting the conversations in WoFo Global Café and holding community space as a valued and visible peer group during future World Forum events.
To learn more about ECWisdomI or to sign up to participate, connect with us at:
[email protected]
