Early Childhood Policy & Advocacy Lab
Parents and caregivers are essential stakeholders who are an important part of building a high-quality, equitable early education system that is aligned with community needs.
Our Early Childhood Policy & Advocacy Lab equips parents and caregivers from across New York State, particularly communities of color and from low-income backgrounds, with tools to inform policymakers and advocate to improve systems that impact families with young children.
Dimple Jobanputra
Dimple Jobanputra is the Associate Director at the New York Women’s Foundation, where she leads civic engagement and capacity-building strategies. She has extensive experience developing educational policies with Native parents, educators, and tribal leaders, advocating for early learning, K-12, tribally operated schools, and supporting Bureau of Indian Education schools. Dimple centers equity in her work and seeks to create an early childhood system that supports all families and children. She is a certified vinyasa and prenatal yoga teacher and youth worker at heart.
Anika Joseph
Anika Joseph is a health care executive and community advocate based in the Bronx. As a parent, Anika experienced firsthand the challenges families face in accessing affordable, quality child care, which shaped her commitment to making early childhood programs more accessible, affordable, and inclusive. She is the Founder and CEO of Women’s Empire, Inc., a nonprofit empowering women and girls through education and leadership development, and leads the EmpowerHer Fund, which awards quarterly grants to women driving community-building efforts.
Cynthia Lizardo
Cynthia Lizardo works in the health insurance industry and has been involved in Harlem Children’s Zone’s Baby College, which equips parents and caregivers with essential tools to support their children’s development. As a parent, Cynthia has navigated challenges in her child’s daycare and works collaboratively with educators and speech therapists to meet her child’s needs. Through the Lab, Cynthia hopes to support the changes she wants to see in early childhood systems, including stronger support for both neurotypical and neurodivergent children.
Shadaria McDuffie
Shadaria McDuffie is a parent and advocate for families navigating early childhood systems. She has faced challenges in supporting her son’s medical care and not feeling heard, an experience that inspired her to advocate not only for her own child but also for other families experiencing similar difficulties. Shadaria participates in programs such as newborn and early childhood intervention groups and hopes to gain more information about early childhood policy to support her child.
Masooma Mohammadi
Masooma is a new mother and immigrant living in Brooklyn, navigating the challenges of building a life in a new society with limited family support. Her lived experience adapting to a new culture while raising her son inspires her advocacy for more equitable and culturally responsive early childhood systems. She is committed to being the best mother she can be while also working toward personal and professional growth. Through community learning programs and mother-child development initiatives, Masooma actively engages with resources that support immigrant families and strengthen opportunities for parents and children alike.
Ariela Rothstein
Ariela Rothstein is a school librarian within New York City Public Schools and a longtime community advocate. They have worked with NYCORE, the Movement of Rank and File Educators, and have led local initiatives supporting immigrant rights, transgender rights, and racial justice. As a parent, Ariela has navigated the complexity of accessing early childhood care in New York City, reinforcing their commitment to equitable and accessible early childhood systems.
Brandon Scott
Brandon Scott has built his career in youth development, community partnerships, and program strategy, with a focus on expanding opportunities for Black and Brown children and families. As a parent, he has navigated the realities of childcare, healthcare, and early education, sharpening his understanding of how policy decisions directly shape family well-being. Through the Early Childhood Policy & Advocacy Lab, Brandon works to advance systems-level solutions that strengthen family engagement and promote equitable access to services. He lives in Harlem, where he remains actively involved in mentoring and community-based initiatives.
Susanne Sparks
Susanne Sparks taught middle school English Language Arts for 12 years and now serves as an assistant principal. She sees firsthand how critical early childhood education is for long-term development and how underinvested it remains. As a parent, she has experienced the challenges families face navigating preterm birth, early care, and parental leave, which informs her advocacy for stronger investment in programs and services that support families during the earliest years.
Latest Resource
On the Blog: Child Tax Credits Help. The Working Families Tax Credit Can Do Even More.
Parent advocate Amy Lee Funes, a member of the EdTrust-New York and Raising New York’s Early Childhood Advocacy and Policy Lab, writes about how The Working Families Tax Credit is one way that New York State can show a commitment to young children and their families
More Resources
Parent Voices: Two Districts, Two Different Approaches to Literacy Instruction
Literacy stakeholders, including parents and caregivers, are deeply impacted by the choices school districts make regarding curriculum and professional learning. One of the goals of the New York Campaign for Early Literacy is to emphasize the essential role parents and caregivers play in early literacy and to demonstrate how schools can empower families to support their children’s reading development.
Child tax credits help. The Working Families Tax Credit can do even more.
Read more from Amy Lee Funes, a NYC parent, on how the Working Families Tax Credit is one way that New York State can show a commitment to young children and their families.
EdTrust-New York Empowers Parents with the Launch of Early Childhood Policy & Advocacy Lab
The Early Childhood Policy & Advocacy Lab to empower and expand parent leaders’ knowledge of critical early childhood issues, NYC and NYS funding sources, available programs, and resources, and to support parent advocacy efforts.
Parent leaders present plans for how they will advocate for equity in New York State
To cumulate their Parent Advocate Policy Lab experience with Ed Trust–NY, parent leaders presented plans to address a challenge in their communities and apply tools from the Lab. Here are some of the ways these parent leaders will continue advancing educational equity in their communities.
Congrats to our 2023-24 Equity Partnership Program grantees!
Each year, through our Equity Partnership Program, we provide technical assistance and grants to support advocacy capacity to community-based and parent-serving organizations. This year, we made changes to the program to deepen our impact on several key issues and are thrilled to announce eight organizations that will be taking on critical equity work that advances our policy priorities.
Parent Advocate Policy Lab members reflect on how their Lab experience has helped them advocate for educational equity
For the past 10 months, New York State parents have engaged in Ed Trust–NY's inaugural Parent Advocate Policy Lab by attending sessions twice a month and collaborating with each other to help resolve education issues. Throughout the Lab, parent participants developed...