This session of the DemocracyXChange Festival will show you how ICL trainers worked with early-childhood educators (ECEs) to teach the skills they needed to win concrete progress from three levels of government towards a safe reopening, a fair workplace and a publicly funded childcare system system. 

In early June, the Institute for Change Leaders (ICL) concluded a three-month-long online training series with 200 early childhood educators (ECEs) and parents. 

Ten days after completing our training, ECEs held a Virtual Rally of 1,500 participants and over 20,000 viewers demanding a reopening plan that ensured quality and safety for all. 

The government had no choice but to act.

In the September 23rd Speech From the Throne, the Federal Government announced a commitment to “a significant, long-term, sustained investment to create a Canada-wide early learning and childcare system.” The Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) called it a “bold statement which shows the power of advocacy and raising our collective voice.”

Register now to learn how this victory was won, and what happens next in the fight for universal childcare and fair working conditions for ECEs.

I still remember how discouraged I was when I first began working as an early childhood educator. The waitlist was disgraceful, the paycheque wasn’t enough to start a family, and parents were struggling to afford ever-rising costs. And as a young woman beginning my career, I did not know how to face such an enormous challenge.

That's when I discovered Olivia Chow’s course. The Institute for Change Leaders taught me the skills I needed to win lasting change. With Olivia Chow’s energy and expertise, we trained and launched teams of early childhood educators who have in turn engaged thousands of childcare workers and reached tens of thousands of parents and voters. 

—Lyndsay Macdonald, Early Childhood Educator