Three-day academy brought together state teams and national experts to examine how governance structures can improve outcomes for young children and families.
Nashville, Tennessee – The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College hosted its State Policy Academy on Early Childhood Governance July 15-17, 2026, in Nashville. The academy brought together legislators, governor’s staff, and state agency leaders from eight states across the nation (AK, AZ, CA, HI, KY, MD, NC, and NJ), along with cross-sector partners from philanthropy, academia, and the nonprofit sector, to examine how governance structures can improve outcomes for children and families during the prenatal-to-3 period.
The conversation moved from big-picture to actionable over the academy’s three days.
The importance of meaningfully incorporating family perspectives was a consistent thread throughout the academy. During a session on national trends in governance, Harriet Dichter, lead consultant and director of the Early Childhood Governance and Finance Project, said families’ input “should be more than casual.” The theme carried through to the academy’s closing session on local-state partnerships, where state teams considered how family experience should shape governance choices. It was a reminder that ran through the academy: governance exists to serve the families and children it is designed to support, not the other way around.
Kentucky State Team
North Carolina State Team
California State Team
Alaska State Team
New Jersey State Team
Arizona State Team
Hawaii State Team
Maryland State Team
Speaking: Elizabeth Groginsky, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department
Speaking: Kara Wente, Director, Ohio Department of Children and Youth
Breakout discussion on data
State team discussion
Speaking: Cynthia Osborne, PhD, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy and Executive Director Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, Vanderbilt University
Speaking: Sara Gardner, Assistant Director, University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships & Research
Speaking: Jenna Conway, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Virginia Department of Education
State team discussion
Speaking: Ann Vandervliet, Director, South Carolina First Steps
State team discussion
Speaking: Sarah Gilliland, Senior Policy Manager, New Practice Lab at New America
State team discussion
Speaking: Ellen Goldring, PhD, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Education Leadership and Policy and Vice Dean Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center Team
Kentucky State Team
North Carolina State Team
California State Team
Alaska State Team
New Jersey State Team
Arizona State Team
Hawaii State Team
Maryland State Team
Speaking: Elizabeth Groginsky, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department
Speaking: Kara Wente, Director, Ohio Department of Children and Youth
Breakout discussion on data
State team discussion
Speaking: Cynthia Osborne, PhD, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy and Executive Director Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, Vanderbilt University
Speaking: Sara Gardner, Assistant Director, University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships & Research
Speaking: Jenna Conway, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Virginia Department of Education
State team discussion
Speaking: Ann Vandervliet, Director, South Carolina First Steps
State team discussion
Speaking: Sarah Gilliland, Senior Policy Manager, New Practice Lab at New America
State team discussion
Speaking: Ellen Goldring, PhD, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Education Leadership and Policy and Vice Dean Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center Team
To date, 14 states have created a dedicated early childhood department. Panelists in a session on states that have consolidated their early childhood agencies pointed to focus and continuity as keys to lasting change. Kara Wente, Director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, credited Ohio’s progress to boiling its early childhood goals down to just three measurable priorities. “What you measure gets results,” she said. Elizabeth Groginsky, Cabinet Secretary for New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department, added that states undergoing governance change should “make sure organization and individuals that were there [prior to implementation] still have a place in the conversation.”
In a session on cross-department collaboration, Sara Gardner, Assistant Director at the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research, said, “It’s really important to have a shared language, take the wins where you can get them, and work with the willing.” Ann Vandervliet, Executive Director of South Carolina First Steps, pointed to the value of “good will building where agencies at the table are equally committed to each other’s success.”
State teams left the academy with a clearer sense of their next steps, though where each team stands varies widely. Some outlined immediate priorities, such as launching a task force to formally examine governance structures, breaking down silos across agencies, expanding family voice in decision-making, or building bipartisan support by educating legislators on early childhood systems. Others identified longer-term needs, including clearer data-sharing systems and stronger workforce capacity.
This academy would not have been possible without support from the Bezos Family Foundation. We also want to extend our gratitude to the Pritzker Children’s Initiative, the Hilton Foundation, the Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, and the Valhalla Foundation. The Center thanks these partners for their continued investment in strengthening early childhood systems nationwide.
About the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center
The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center is a nonpartisan research center at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development that provides state leaders with clear, evidence-based policy solutions to improve the lives of young children and their families. For more information, visit pn3policy.org.
Press Contact
Sydne Lewis, 615-343-9946, sydne.lewis@vanderbilt.edu
