Letter from Mindy
Dear Friends,
As we ring in 2020, GEEARS is excited to celebrate its 10th year of service! As Georgia’s leading advocacy and research group for the state’s youngest children, we have made great strides in achieving our mission to support high-quality early learning and healthy development for all children, from birth to five. We’ve done so by championing child-focused policies, promoting innovative and evidence-based practices, and strengthening the public’s knowledge of these issues.
I’m also happy to announce that the GEEARS team has grown! We have recently welcomed Brittany Collins as our new PAACT Director, Ethel Bynum as an Executive Assistant, and Payson Schwin as our new Director of Communications.
Strolling Thunder, one of my favorite GEEARS’ events is less than a week away. For the third year in a row, with the support of our national partner, ZERO TO THREE, we are bringing babies and parents to the Capitol to call attention to what babies—and families—in Georgia need to thrive. This event is free and child friendly. In addition to advocacy training, there will be free breakfast and lunch, a photo booth, and entertainers. We would love for you to join us with your little ones.
I’m looking forward to another installment of our Speaker Series – Conversations on Early Childhood. This year, we are engaging the business community with a message from Josh Levs, the award-winning author and leading global expert on modern fathers, gender-equity, and making a better workplace for employees and businesses. Join us as we discuss how family-friendly workplace policies can help our economy thrive!
We’ve dedicated ourselves to inspire and provide leadership for a statewide movement on quality early learning and healthy development for young children. As we continue our mission this new year, we are eager to strengthen our relationships with partner organizations, business leaders, policymakers and members of the community.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mindy
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Strolling Thunder 2020 - A Storm of Advocacy for Infants and Toddlers
On Monday, January 27th, 2020, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, in partnership with ZERO TO THREE, will bring babies and parents from around Georgia to meet their elected officials during Strolling Thunder.
We’re coming together for advocacy training, Capitol visits, and roundtable discussions so families can share their stories about the joys and challenges of raising infants and toddlers in Georgia. We’re pushing strollers to put babies in the spotlight to encourage Georgia's leadership to Think Babies - for stronger families, vibrant communities, and a prosperous state.
This event is ONLY for families with children ages 0-3.
Monday, January 27, 2020
8:00AM - 1:00PM
Central Presbyterian Church – 201 Washington ST SW. Atlanta, GA 30303
Families that attend for the entire event will receive a gift card for participation. Breakfast and lunch will also be provided.
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Balancing Act: How Business & Policy Support Modern Parenting, featuring Josh Levs
GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students invites you to lunch and another installment of our Speaker Series, Conversations on Early Childhood, featuring Josh Levs, the award-winning author and leading global expert on modern fathers, gender-equity, and making a better workplace for employees and businesses. Join us, policymakers, and other business leaders at the Buckhead Club to hear how a range of family-friendly policies can attract top talent, keep it, and help our economy thrive. Tables are available.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
11:30AM - 1:00PM
Buckhead Club - 3344 Peachtree Road Ste. 2600 Atlanta, GA 30326
Tickets: $20
Table for 8: $100
Seated lunch served at 11:45AM.
Free parking available.
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2020 Mayor's Summer Reading Club Updates
This year, the Mayor’s Summer Reading Club (MSRC) will enter its 8th summer of reading and community partnerships. Past and future partners of the MSRC are invited to attend a meeting with the author of the 2020 Mayor’s Summer Reading Club book.
This summer, Playwright Will Power and Illustrator R. Gregory Christie are teaming up with GEEARS’ Mayor’s Summer Reading Club, the Alliance Theatre, and the Atlanta Speech School for another original MSRC book, funded by our partners at PNC. At this meeting, partners will meet the author and illustrator and get a sneak peek at our book selections for MSRC 2020.
- WHEN: Friday, February 12, 2020, 9:30AM-10:30AM
- WHERE: Junior League of Atlanta - 3154 Northside Pkwy NW. Atlanta, 30327
- RSVP: Send an e-mail to mayorsreadingclub@geears.org with your name and partner organization.
The 2020 MSRC Partnership Application is Now Open!
All applications are due February 21, 2020.
Click here to apply.
Mayor's Summer Reading Club Program Goals:
- to engage the community in encouraging our youngest children to read and learn during the summer,
- to encourage families to instill literacy as a core value in the home, and
- to increase family awareness of the importance of reading with children everyday.
How do Partners Participate?
Partners agree to do at least one "read" during the summer and host at least one activity related to the books selected. These events are intended to be low cost and easy for the sponsoring organizations. The Mayor's Summer Reading Club is not intended to be simply a book give away.
Partners agree to send GEEARS information about their event(s) to include on our summer reading calendar, to ensure that the event is open to the public and assist us in publicizing the program. Partners who wish to receive books will also participate in a storyteller training for those in their organization who will be executing the programming and readings. In addition, partners agree to complete a short survey after their event(s) so that we can keep track of attendance and other information.
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House Study Committee on Infant-Toddler Social-Emotional Health Releases Final Report with Recommendations
The final report of the Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Health Study Committee was released this month. You can find the full report here, with the recommendations on the last page. GEEARS and the Georgia Infant-Toddler Coalition are featured in the report. GEEARS’ Health Policy Manager Callan Wells testified to the Committee on behalf of the Georgia Infant-Toddler Coalition and worked closely with Chairwoman Katie Dempsey to draft agendas for the Committee meetings.
The recommendations break down into three categories:
- establishing state-level leadership on infant and toddler social emotional health;
- determining Medicaid reimbursement of emotional health services for young children and their families, and;
- promoting workforce development for mental health professionals who work with young children.
The most direct recommendation is for the inclusion of funding in the FY 2021 budget for an infant and early childhood mental health coordinator at the State of Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL). This person will be tasked with developing a public awareness campaign on infant and toddler social emotional health, creating a cross-agency leadership team with representatives from the child-serving state agencies, establishing an agreed-upon set of competencies for professionals, convening meetings with Medicaid, working with health care providers on developing touchpoints for referrals, and seeking grants to expand the workforce.
Beyond that, the recommendations focus on ensuring Medicaid coverage and accessibility of services and creating a workforce development plan that includes buy-in from state agencies and the college and university systems. It also suggests extending Medicaid for new moms out to one year postpartum, a recommendation that also came out of the Maternal Mortality Study Committee.
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Fulton County Early Learning Awareness Summit
Fulton County Schools is excited to launch its plans to improve outcomes for early childhood and improve school readiness across Fulton County. The county is hosting an Early Learning Awareness Summit with school and district leaders, community partners and other early childhood stakeholders to discuss how to impact school readiness. GEEARS Executive Director, Mindy Binderman, will be a featured speaker at the Summit.
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GEEARS Welcomes New Staff
Brittany Collins, Director of PAACT (Promising All Atlanta Children Thrive)
Brittany Collins is a trusted, strategic adviser and equitable education advocate with over 10 years of experience in urban public education, community development, and the non-profit sector.
Prior to joining GEEARS, she served as the Managing Director of Program for OneGoal Metro Atlanta. In that role, she was chiefly responsible for setting, defining and managing the overall direction of the OneGoal program in Atlanta, ensuring efficiency and efficacy in delivery of the model. She collaborated with OneGoal’s national team and leveraged local partners to augment a national model and tailor it to Metro Atlanta’s unique context and community. Under her leadership, she doubled the team’s human capital and managed high performing individuals during local and regional organizational change.
Brittany’s love for Atlanta was ignited as a student at Spelman College, where she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. She also earned a Master of Early Childhood Education with honors from Georgia State University. Driving her work is the inflexible belief and obsessive commitment, that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background, deserve access to equitable systems that intentionally remove barriers to success. She resides in Atlanta with her husband and three children and enjoys traveling abroad and reading the latest mystery novels.
You can welcome Brittany to the team by sending an email to bcollins@geears.org
Ethel Bynum, Executive Assistant
A native of Houston TX, raised in Maryland, Ethel is a 2004 graduate of Strayer University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Networking. She has over 20 years of experience as an Administrative Professional working mostly in the non-profit sector. She specializes in administrative support services, project management, and program and event coordination.
She has received formal training in the art of Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and African dance at various schools. She served for 15 years as the coordinator of the dance ministry at Fort Foote Baptist church in Fort Washington, MD. In 2008, she coordinated the dance component of the “Write the Vision Conference” in Washington DC. Ethel has written and directed two plays, “Got Issues” and “The Man in the Mirror”, which demanded two performances each.
You can welcome Ethel to the team by sending an email to ebynum@geears.org
Payson Schwin, Director of Communications
As the new Director of Communications, Payson will develop marketing and communications strategies to increase public awareness of GEEARS and the issues affecting young children and their families. He brings a depth of knowledge and experience gained during his more than ten years as a communications professional.
A native of Atlanta, Payson received his B.A. in Government from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Georgia Tech with a focus on innovation and marketing. He has worked at non-profits including Center for American Progress and the World Resource Institute, as well as in local government for the City of Atlanta and Invest Atlanta.
Payson currently lives in Decatur with his wife and two children, Matilda and Oliver, who are both proud beneficiaries of a high-quality public pre-K education. In his free time, Payson enjoys playing the piano and attending every Atlanta United match he can.
You can welcome Payson to the team by sending an email to pschwin@geears.org |
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As we work to serve Georgia’s youngest children and their families, it’s important that we collect their stories to learn more about what they need. It’s helpful to have the ability to share family’s personal accounts and testimonies with change makers when we’re advocating on their behalf. We’re happy to introduce a new segment of our newsletter, “A Family’s Perspective.”
“It speaks volumes when the people who take care of you also take care of your family.”
- Columbus mother on the importance of family-friendly policies in the workplace.
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Follow Along Online
Are you following GEEARS on your favorite social media platforms? Stay updated on what's happening by following us at the links below!
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Please consider supporting GEEARS’ advocacy efforts by making a donation that will support Georgia’s earliest learners and their families. Your tax-deductible donation supports our work as early childhood advocates and the leaders of this movement.
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