The REST Conference Recap — Inaugural In-Person Gathering of the Early Childhood Leaders of Color Collaborative

In February 2024, San Francisco welcomed the inaugural REST Conference, a significant event for Early Childhood Leaders of Color (EC LOC). More than just a conference, REST (Restoration, Enlightenment, Solidarity, Transformation) emerged as a haven crafted to address these leaders’ distinctive narratives, challenges, and aspirations, nurturing an atmosphere of solidarity and collective growth.

Early Childhood Leaders of Color Report Greater Power, Sustainability, and Social Capital

103 members of the Early Childhood Leaders of Color Collaborative participated in the REST conference. 91% of attendees said the experience increased their social capital, sustainability, and power.

“I absolutely feel our ancestors would be pleased with how intentional this retreat was. I have learned so many reasons why rest is important to our work and purpose. I’m grateful to have been called to be in space with so many change makers across the globe. The impact this experience has had on me will impact everyone I touch, see, feel for generations after me.”

Attendees Experienced a Liberating Agenda

Attendees experienced a liberating agenda, featuring the following elements:

Free time: Encouraging self-directed engagement, attendees valued the autonomy to explore, connect, or introspect, enhancing their sense of empowerment. When co-creating our community agreements, Alexandra Hall, a member of the EC LOC working group, shared:

“Let’s also remember to make space for silence and encourage rather than demand participation. The focal point should be REST, which looks different for everyone.”

Storytelling: Through sessions like Origin Storytelling and Sip+Stories, storytelling emerged as a pivotal tool for embodying REST’s themes, fostering unity and collective liberation.

“Embracing lived experiences and hearing people’s stories is powerful to know the power of my own story. Being able to just be and connect with others with similar stories is so restoring.”

Music, Dance, and Movement: Our welcome celebration, featuring world-renowned DJ Lady Ryan, served as a way to get members moving, laughing, and enjoying space together. We found other opportunities to integrate music, dance, and movement into our agenda, which members shared was key for their sustainability and social capital.

“After the off site dinner a group of us went dancing. I absolutely love dancing. I’m not able to dance often due to a disability. That night I danced right out of my shoes. I will cherish that experience forever.”

Regional Dinners: Strengthening local connections was a highlight and will continue to be a point of focus for the Collaborative.

The Essence of the REST Conference

The Early Childhood Leaders of Color (EC LOC) Collaborative, since its inception in September 2022, has strived to be a beacon of restoration, enlightenment, solidarity, and transformation, culminating in this event. The EC LOC Collaborative, and its first-ever in-person convening, titled the REST Conference, were conceptualized through listening sessions, working groups, and co-creation sessions with 75+ leaders of color in early childhood. In recognition of the unique realities these leaders face in the early childhood field, we aimed to provide a nurturing platform for shared learning, community building, and collective empowerment.

The goals of the REST conference were to engage in the themes of Restoration, Enlightenment, Solidarity, and Transformation. Read more about the themes and quotes from participants.:

Restoration — prioritize the need for leaders to rejuvenate as crucial for sustained impact.

“I was encouraged and allowed space and time to rest without pressure to keep going. That made it feel real.”

Enlightenment — embrace growth and gain insights, guided by the power of relationships.

“Well, sometimes leading is lonely…there were times I felt like the only person on a team who truly led by the conviction that change is possible…sitting in a room with folx whose stories are similar and quite different from mine, sharing my perspective and having my ideas validated, my experience validated..that was an incredibly empowering thing.”

Solidarity — because to create lasting change we must build connections that transcend temporary engagements, fostering a lasting community.

“The entire thing reminds me that I am not alone and that together we can transform the systems that hold us back.”

Transformation — embracing personal and professional evolution, driven by the collective wisdom of the community.

“It’s rare to feel belonging in early childhood, and it often finds ways to exit folks who need to stay in this work. People of color with lived experiences in early childhood are the ones that can transform systems. Therefore we need belonging…and social capital to do systems change work. Without the connections to folks doing and thinking differently we cannot collectively transform.”

Reflections from the REST Conference Guide Next Steps for the Early Childhood Leaders of Color Collaborative

The conference underscored the importance of embracing REST in everyday leadership. Key takeaways include the necessity of rest without guilt, and the healing, connecting power of storytelling.

Looking ahead, member feedback and reflections shared through and after REST have steered the collaborative’s focus towards several recommendations and initiatives to continue to increase the sustainability, social capital, and power of early childhood leaders of color:

• Affinity spaces: Calls for specific community spaces, including LGBTQ, South Asian, and Black Women groups, as well as regional spaces to be hosted by members.
• Policy and power: Organizing around policy to amplify our communal voice and influence.
• Sustainability and impact evaluation: Exploring methods to maintain and assess the initiative’s long-term impact.
• Storytelling events: Continuing to harness storytelling as a powerful medium for connection and celebration.
• Community Agreements and Accountability: Finding alignment to ensure commitments are met with responsible actions.
• Peer Support Spaces: An intimate group of peers working toward common goals who meet regularly to share goals, work through challenges, offer advice, and discuss what works and what doesn’t.
• Regional Support: Encouraging continued local gatherings to deepen relationships through quality time in person.

The REST Conference marked a significant milestone for the EC LOC Collaborative and set a precedent for the future, emphasizing the importance of REST in the sustained leadership of Leaders of Color in the early childhood field.

More About the Early Childhood Leaders of Color Collaborative: Launched in September 2022, the EC LOC Collaborative is a national, self-organized network for leaders of color in early childhood. We dream that the Collaborative is a transformative network for members because it is designed by, for, and with them. We strive to center our voices, needs, and aspirations. This practice of co-design and co-creation in community is essential. We believe increasing the sustainability, social capital, and power of proximate BIPOC leaders in the ECD field will lead to thriving, liberated environments for children, prenatal to five, nationwide. Get involved.