We collectively mourn the killing of George Floyd and all victims of police brutality and racial violence.

We call for justice for them, their families, and their communities.

We stand with and for Black communities and we state unequivocally that Black Lives Matter.

_______________________________________

We reflect on our own work serving children and families in Massachusetts.

We acknowledge the institutionalized racism that has created disparities in the education, housing, employment, and health of the families that we serve.

We consider our own biases and those in our organizations and communities.

We commit to examine our individual and organizational practices, including a commitment to raising underrepresented voices within the early childhood field.

We call on all our elected officials at the federal, state, and local level to examine policies, funding, and practices with regard to race and racial disparities.

We call on Governor Baker and the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to consider the racial and gender implications of major structural changes to child care in the short- and long-term.

We cannot keep adding to the ranks of the working poor and especially disadvantaging women of color for whom the costs of inequitable compensation are greater.

_______________________________________

We recommit ourselves to achieving racial equity in early childhood and school-age programs through advocacy, action, and policy change.

Together we will stand up, speak out, and work to dismantle the historical systems of racism and inequity.

Acre Family Child Care

Alliance of Massachusetts YMCAs

Boston Opportunity Agenda

Clarendon Early Education Services, Inc.

Commonwealth Children’s Fund

Early Care & Education Consortium

Early Childhood Consulting Group

East Boston Social Centers

Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)

Edward Street Child Services

For Kids Only Afterschool

Governmental Strategies, Inc.

Harbor City School

Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation, UMass Boston

Jumpstart

Little Folks Community Day Care Center, Inc.

Neighborhood Villages

Nurtury

Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership

Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young Children (MAAEYC)

Massachusetts Association of Infant Mental Health, Birth to Six, Inc.

Massachusetts Child Care Resource and Referral Network

Massachusetts Head Start Association

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

ParentChild+

Parenting Journey

Raising a Reader MA

SEIU Local 509

Strategies for Children

The Boston Foundation

The Care Institute

The Community Group, Lawrence, MA

The Williston Northampton Children’s Center

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Wellesley Centers for Women

YMCA of Greater Boston