The Early Childhood Leaders Of Color (EC LOC) Collaborative

A self-organized, national network focused on increasing the sustainability, social capital, and power of Early Childhood Leaders of Color.

2025 REST Conference Attendees in New Orleans with guest speaker Tricia Hersey

Our Guiding Principles

We are a national EC LOC–organized network with EC LOC–directed programming.
We affirm the experiences of EC LOC.
We respect and value our time, burdens, and responsibilities.
We provide value for members at the individual, organization, and the field level.
We center liberation as our end goal.

What We Do

Our annual in-person convening — Restoration. Enlightenment. Solidarity. Transformation.
Over 190 EC LOC gathered in New Orleans in April 2025 to recharge, vision, and be in community.
Learn more at www.rest.ecloc.org.
$250 stipends for members to invest in their own self-care and healing. Over $68,000 distributed to members since 2023.
Member-led spaces that build relationships across shared identities and geographies, strengthening sustainability, social capital, and collective power.
Organized by members, these gatherings support connection, learning, and local action.
Workshops, learning circles, and communities of practice led by EC LOC for EC LOC — from policy advocacy to collective healing.
Member-driven teams that bring ideas to life through co-creation. Each group is focused on shaping the Collaborative’s direction and impact in a specific area.
Active Working Groups Include (as of July 2025):
- Power Building Working Group
- EC LOC Working Group (Governance & Impact)
- Funder Advocacy Working Group
- Onboarding Working Group (New Member Experiences)
- R.E.S.T. Conference Co-Creation Committee
The Philanthropic Action Group for Equity (PAGE) is a group of funding organizations that work in collaboration with EC LOC from the Collaborative to steward in more equitable and liberatory funding policies and practices that are transformative for BIPOC-led organizations in early childhood. To shift power to leaders and communities, the EC LOC Collaborative influences the action agenda and priorities of the PAGE through the Funder Advocacy Working Group (FAWG) within the Collaborative.

Become a Member

Members of the Early Childhood Leaders of Color Collaborative work toward our three impact goals of sustainability, social capital, and power for EC LOC in the field through co-creation and self-determination.