Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBoVVm-0Z5c
“Hi, I'm Jessica Vega Pederson, a Multnomah County Commissioner and for the past few years I've been working with United Way on Preschool for All.“,
Preschool for All is a plan to bring free preschool to every three and four-year-old in Multnomah County, to pay our incredible teachers and staff the wages they deserve and to build out a stable preschool system. We started with a simple vision: every child has access to a preschool that's right for them and every family could afford it.
With an intentional and stated commitment to confronting and challenging racism, Preschool for All's plan was designed with the community centering the values and priorities of families of color within Multnomah County.
Preschool for All was also developed with a strong commitment to supporting existing community care providers most of whom are women and disproportionately women of color.
The Task Force met for nine months to develop recommendations for an equitable local preschool system and the work was built around the PAC's (Parent Accountability Council) vision for preschool and their guiding principles.
It was truly a community-driven policy-making process and the program would not be as strong as it is today without ELM (Early Learning Multnomah) and the PAC.
The United Way's partnership has been so important in so many ways, but I think the greatest contribution to early learning conversations in Multnomah County is its unwavering commitment to racial equity. In every conversation United Way and Early Learning Multnomah push us and challenge us to focus on designing programs and support with families who face the greatest disparities in our community in mind.
When United Way is at the table there is no question that equity will be a focus and not only that, United Way has invested in the Parent Accountability Council in a way that has developed the leadership of black and brown parents, which means when early learning policies are being written or talked about parents are always in the decision-making role.
That's an incredible contribution to our community and I'm so grateful that we've had the opportunity to work with United Way and ELM and the PAC over the last few years!