Jenna Bannon, MNM

Jenna Bannon, MNM

Jenna is an associate director of the Children and Families Program at the National Conference of State Legislatures where she oversees NCSL’s work with state legislators on child care, early childhood systems, child welfare and the prevention of child maltreatment policy. She is currently leading a bipartisan Child Care Policy Work Group of state legislators from across the country on how legislatures can address the child care crisis, and they released their final report and recommendations in July 2026: Childcare at a Crossroads: A State Legislative Framework for Strengthening Childcare Systems.

Ms. Bannon has been working in child and family policy for over 30 years. She started out as a legislative aide in the Colorado Senate and worked for Governor Roy Romer on welfare reform and early childhood policy. She then worked for NCSL from 1990 – 2001 on welfare and child care issues, and left NCSL to get on-the-ground experience implementing legislation she had worked on to create the Colorado Early Childhood Councils. In 2017 she become the director of health and well-being for Denver’s Early Childhood Council, where she managed a multi-year collaborative policy and program initiative focused on reducing preschool suspensions and expulsions and increasing social and emotional supports for young children and their families. She has also been a preschool teacher and served on the board of multiple community-based nonprofits.

Jenna was raised in New Mexico. She received her Bachelor of Art from the University of Minnesota and her Masters in Nonprofit Management from Regis University. She is also a fellow of the Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program at University of Colorado, Denver.