The Early Childhood Networked Improvement Community (EC NIC) brings together practitioners, educators, leaders, students, faculty, researchers, and other professionals committed to improving outcomes for young children, families, and the systems that support them.
Members contribute diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise while working together to explore challenges, identify promising solutions, and support meaningful improvement across early childhood and early elementary settings.
Who Joins the Community?
EC NIC members represent a wide range of roles and disciplines, including:
- Early childhood educators and caregivers
- Program leaders and administrators
- Elementary school leaders
- Early intervention and developmental specialists
- Mental health and behavioral health professionals
- Family support professionals
- Higher education faculty
- Undergraduate and graduate students
- Applied researchers
- Community partners
Why Join the EC NIC?
Membership provides opportunities to connect, learn, contribute, and collaborate with others committed to improving outcomes for young children, families, and the systems that support them.
Membership Benefits
Connect Across Roles and Disciplines
Build relationships with educators, practitioners, leaders, families, faculty, researchers, students, and community partners from across early childhood systems.
Participate in Collective Learning
Engage in conversations, projects, and activities designed to explore challenges, generate knowledge, and support meaningful improvement.
Share and Showcase Your Work
Highlight projects, presentations, resources, publications, and improvement efforts through the EC NIC website, Knowledge Hub, podcast, and community activities.
Access Community Resources
Receive updates about member-generated resources, tools, presentations, learning opportunities, and emerging insights from across the network.
Contribute to Knowledge Generation
Help identify questions, test ideas, document learning, and contribute to a growing body of practice-informed knowledge.
Expand Professional Networks
Connect with potential collaborators, mentors, students, faculty, practitioners, and organizations who share similar interests and goals.
Explore Leadership and Learning Opportunities
Participate in presentations, podcast conversations, project teams, conference submissions, and other community-led initiatives.
Stay Connected to Emerging Work
Learn about ongoing projects, member contributions, improvement efforts, research, and opportunities for engagement.
Membership Is More Than Participation
The EC NIC is built on the belief that some of the most valuable learning happens when people from different roles, experiences, and disciplines have space to think together.
Membership provides an opportunity to contribute to and learn from a community committed to inquiry, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Membership Options
Core Member
Core Members actively participate in the EC NIC and a topic based cohort.
Participation may include:
- Attending virtual meetings
- Exploring problems of practice
- Testing improvement strategies
- Sharing lessons learned
- Contributing to tools, resources, and recommendations
- Collaborating with colleagues across disciplines and settings
Estimated time commitment: 1 to 2 hours per month
Learning Partner
Learning Partners participate in selected learning opportunities based on their interests, expertise, and availability.
Participation may include:
- Attending individual sessions
- Accessing shared resources
- Contributing expertise to specific projects or discussions
Estimated time commitment: Flexible
Investment
Membership is currently free for individuals who join during the EC NIC’s founding phase.
Founding members will help shape the development of the community and will be recognized as early contributors to the network’s growth and learning.
As the EC NIC expands, membership options and fees may be introduced to support ongoing operations, resources, and community activities.
Interested in Joining?
Membership is open to individuals interested in contributing to collaborative learning, improvement, and systems change efforts across early childhood and early elementary settings.
Questions? We’d love to hear from you.
earlychildhoodnic@gmail.com
Early Childhood Networked Improvement Community 