Episode 056: Child Care Educators with Jessica Sager of All Our Kin.

All Our Kin is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that trains, supports, and sustains family child care educators—transforming opportunities by ensuring that children and families have the foundation they need to succeed in school and in life.

Jessica Sager is the co-founder and chief executive officer of All Our Kin. A graduate of Barnard College and Yale Law School, Jessica co-teaches a Yale University seminar on “Child Care, Society, and Public Policy”. She has provided commentary on child care issues for Time, The Hill, New America, and Education Week. She currently lives in New Haven, CT, with her husband and their fifteen-year-old daughter.

00:58 Welcome, Jessica Sager!

• Paul Tough: Helping Children Succeed & How Children Succeed
• Child care as profession in the home
• Making invisible workers as child care professionals visible through All Our Kin

04:18 Changing the way we value child care in our society

• Low income, closures, possible risk of losing convenient access
• More visible with current covid crisis
• At a crossroads

06:30 We’re not meant to raise kids alone - How All Our Kin helps

• All our kin in supporting child care educators around the country through their model
• Advocate for a different way to treat child care
• Direct work to educators and family; delivery ppe, public health guidance, supporting emotional and mental wellbeing of child care educators, playing new virtual roles

10:03 How can others help advocate for child care

• View as public good
• Employers need to step up

12:40 The impact in marginalized communities

• Positive impact on the economy; all our kin as a rate of return 15-20% on their investment
• Equity; making sure kids have a safe place to go even during the pandemic
• Non standard hours are needed most by essential workers

16:50 Family care network

• Designed as a hub and place of support for educators; helping people become licesned to become a professional educator, support them as educators, training on how to run a business, located in a place/community and building out their network.
• Educators are often passionate and utilize all the support and tools of All Our Kin to make meaningful and lasting change

20:20 Moving to the virtual space

• People are showing up! Connection is desired and needed

22:10 Local support wins

• Cultural differences, but deep similarities for shared passion and love for raising kids
• New Haven model succeeds in the Bronx and Nebraska

25:50 Genius / fail moments

• Kwu makes an awesome new corn chowder recipe, but her toddler wasn’t enjoying it.. #fail
• Chris struggles to get his kids online for zoom school.. As a senior engineer himself.. #fail
• Jess is at a crossroads over too much screen time for her son… but minecraft.... #genius/fail
• Jessica got an adorable pandemic kitten, but the kitten has been zoom bombing important school and work presentations. #genius on the kitten #fail on the zoom bombs

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KWu
Chris S
Jess

Special Guest: Jessica Sager.