Who We Are
The Early Care and Education People of Color Caucus (ECEPCC) exists for the purpose of addressing and challenging issues of inequity and injustice as they apply to people of color, especially as they relate to the opportunity/achievement gap, the compensation/workforce development gap, and the higher education/career advancement gap. We organize, mobilize, and act to:
- Create and promote a collaborative agenda through shared leadership among various affinity groups
- Cultivate a collective knowledge regarding effective policies, practices and procedures that work to the benefit of people of color by dismantling inequities
- Concentrate our efforts toward promoting professional development, leadership development and mentoring opportunities for people of color
Our History
The ECEPCC grew out a shared reaction and response to a national effort in 2018, among 15 organizations seeking to define the early childhood education profession, birth through age 8, across states and settings, by establishing a framework for career pathways, preparation, competencies, responsibilities, and compensation, titled a Unifying Framework for the Early Education Profession. In April of 2020, the ECEPCC released a Wage Gap Manifesto
Barriers We Want To End
The Achievement/Opportunity Gap is a barrier to All children realizing their full potential
The ECEPCC identified the goal of surfacing the issues and needs around The Achievement/Opportunity Gap as the first barrier to All children realizing their full potential.
The Wage Gap, borne primarily by women of color in the early care and education workforce, is another barrier to the goal
Next, we identified The Wage Gap, borne primarily by women of color in the early care and education workforce, as another barrier to the goal.
The Higher Education Gap makes degree and credential attainment inaccessible to women of color in the early care and education workforce due to affordability and availability issues
Most recently, a third barrier has been identified: The Higher Education Gap. This gap makes degree and credential attainment inaccessible to women of color in the early care and education workforce regarding affordability and availability.
These three interrelated barriers have been further exacerbated by the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism in this country.
Learn more about the resources and activities of the Early Care and Education Social Justice and Equity Council
Today, the Early Care and Education People of Color Caucus (ECEPCC) has become a self-organized, informal collective of groups and individuals committed to identifying and mitigating barriers to all children's success.
The Early Care and Education People of Color Caucus (ECEPCC) has already acted by launching three essential workstreams to keep considerations of equity front and center for the early care and education field.