By Kealey Brown, Neighborhood House
The Oregon Child Care Alliance (OCCA) team was able to take a rare opportunity to meet together in person recently for an intensive training session in Silverton. Staff with OCCA are based throughout Oregon as they support communities across the state with coaching to create and grow small child care businesses effectively.
The training gave everyone an opportunity to connect and bond, as many of us had not met everyone in person. We discussed the growth of the OCCA, the goals and challenges of our educators, and how we can reach out to the communities we are working to have a significant impact.
Gathering as a team gave us the opportunity to review a new training, called The Empowerment Series, to make sure it was culturally appropriate. The training creator received direct and immediate feedback from the team for improving and developing the rest of the series with a much broader lens. Having collaborative, constructive conversations is part of our commitment to equity in our training materials.
Our analyst team also presented data collected since OCCA started in 2020, which was an opportunity for group reflection. The data showed us some significant trends in the diversity of our childcare provider/members as well as where more efforts for diversity might be focused.
The trainings were both productive and enlightening, showing us where we are succeeding as well as where we need to pivot our focus. We are eternally grateful for our coaches from the Child Care Resource & Referral programs, our collaborators, and the Neighborhood House OCCA teams to get all of the good ideas rolling! Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to reflect and grow together.
Having collaborative, constructive conversations is part of our commitment to equity in our training materials.
-oregon child care alliance