Looking Ahead Together: A New Year for Early Childhood in Denver
Dear Friends,
As we enter a new year, Denver’s Early Childhood Council is stepping into an important moment for our city and for the early childhood field. The year ahead brings both challenge and opportunity, and it calls for steadiness, clear priorities, and strong collaboration across the communities we serve.
Over the past several months, the Council has spent time listening to providers, educators, partners, and advocates across Denver. What we hear consistently is this: the early childhood ecosystem is strong, deeply committed, and full of expertise, but it is also under extraordinary strain. Programs continue to navigate financial pressures, workforce shortages persist, and policy shifts require constant adaptation. And yet, every day, educators and caregivers continue opening their doors, creating safe, responsive environments where young children can learn, grow, and thrive.
At Denver’s Early Childhood Council, our role is to support this work by strengthening the systems that surround it. We focus on building coordination across programs, advancing policies that reflect the realities of the field, and investing in the people who care for and educate young children. Our goal is not only to respond to today’s challenges, but to help create the conditions for long-term stability and opportunity.
As the year moves forward, we are focused on shaping the next chapter of early childhood support in Denver. This includes updating our five-year strategic plan to better align services, advocacy, and internal systems with the needs of providers, caregivers, and families. We are strengthening our operational and financial infrastructure to ensure we remain a stable, accountable partner for the field. We are expanding workforce pathways through credentialing support, multilingual professional development, and career navigation, and continuing to grow Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregiver initiatives that recognize and support the full spectrum of early care.
Policy leadership will remain central to this work. Building on conversations convened at RMECC 2025, we will continue elevating provider perspectives and shaping statewide dialogue focused on equity, workforce stability, and sustainable funding structures. We are also preparing for a refreshed brand and redesigned website in 2026, creating clearer access to information, resources, and connection across the community.
As the year unfolds, Denver’s Early Childhood Council remains focused on building the conditions that allow children, families, and educators to thrive. This work requires coordination across systems, trust among partners, and a willingness to adapt as the field continues to evolve.
We are committed to listening closely, aligning our efforts with community needs, and advancing solutions that strengthen the early childhood ecosystem as a whole. Through collaboration, thoughtful planning, and sustained partnership, we will continue working toward a more equitable, stable, and responsive system for Denver’s youngest learners and the adults who support them.
We are grateful to the providers, educators, families, partners, funders, individual donors, board members, and staff who make this work possible. Together, we enter the new year grounded in shared responsibility and a collective commitment to supporting early learning across Denver.
Sincerely,
Melissa Janiszewski
CEO, Denver’s Early Childhood Council
Melissa can be reached at melissa@denverearlychildhood.org.