Laura McGowan was a floral designer. She grew up in the industry, watching her family do this work. And as part of a small family business, McGowan herself provided floral services for individual customers and corporate clients. She arranged flowers, and she promoted her floral work on social media. 

Then McGowan had a baby, and right after that the pandemic arrived in the United States, shutting down many of the events that feature flowers. Although she didn’t know it, this was the beginning of McGowan’s story of becoming a family advocate.

“While I was home with my daughter, I did the same reevaluation a lot of people did with their extra time at home, you know, Where do I want to go? How is this career path going to work out for me and my child?”

To cope with the isolation of the pandemic, McGowan participated in online programs offered by the local Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) program, which was run by Self Help Inc. The CFCE covers 23 towns in southeastern Massachusetts, including Dedham where McGowan lives.

The online programs evolved into outdoor programs. And then a CFCE early education specialist — and McGowan’s mentor — Marsha Wright, told McGowan about a new pilot program designed to include the authentic voice of parents. Wright asked if McGowan would be interested in becoming a Parent Ambassador.

McGowan hesitated, then she enrolled in a training program run by Families First. 

“That was really transformational for me,” McGowan says. “I’ve always been involved in my community and done volunteer work, but Self Help Inc. refocused me on working with parents of young children like me, and Families First gave me the tools to do that.”

Currently, McGowan is a Family Ambassador for Self Help Inc., and she serves as the chair of their Advisory Council. She is also a Community Impact Project Ambassador for Families First’s Ripple Program, which is the updated version of the program she attended. 

“Parenting had been so isolating for me, and once I found support, it was really inspiring. Having the support helped me become a better parent and take better care of my child. Usually, you have a village to help you, but I didn’t have that village. So I found it with these organizations.”

Now McGowan is converting some of her goals into action. She decided to go back to school at Southern New Hampshire University, where she is majoring in Human Services with a focus in Child and Family Services.

And it was at a Families First training that McGowan first learned about Strategies for Children and The Early Childhood Agenda, which was looking for lived experience leaders. McGowan applied for the job.

“During my interview, I said, I’m not a professional. I’m not in this field. I don’t know how much I can give.” 

McGowan was, however, exactly what The Early Childhood Agenda was looking for, a parent who cared about her family and her community.

“I circled back to that empowerment that Families First helped to plant in me, the idea that being a parent is experience. It is knowledge. And I want to remind other parents of that. No one is just a parent. It sounded so cliche and cheesy when I started doing this, but now I say parenting is a big deal. One of the most important jobs you can do is creating little humans.”

As a lived experience leader for The Early Childhood Agenda, McGowan is a member of the Agenda workgroup that’s focused on supporting developmental monitoring, screening, referrals and delivery of services. 

“Screening is so important providing children with the tools they need to succeed at a young age,” McGowan says. “It’s better to do this now than to play catch up when kids have already struggled through five tough years of school. If we can provide the correct support now, that’s life changing.”

One strategic aspect of this work, McGowan says, is including everyone. That means sharing with everyone in the group, listening to them, and incorporating their feedback — all with an open mind geared toward drawing on everyone’s expertise. 

One challenge McGowan points to is how to educate parents, especially reluctant ones. 

“People who need services for their children don’t have access to them, often because they don’t know about them, or they feel embarrassed to use them. They feel like using services means there’s something wrong with their kid, and nobody wants to think that.”

Next for McGowan is paving her own career path. She has been inspired by the early childhood and nonprofit professionals that she’s met so far, people who have coped with bureaucracy and funding challenges for years but remain resilient, still doing important work and making meaningful connections. 

“Seeing that,” McGowan says, “makes me think, I can do this, too. It’s doable, and it’s sustainable.”