Reimagining Parent and Family Leadership: Moving towards Shared Power and Agency

Welcome back! We are excited to kick off our third season of In the Arena with NOW, where we explore two timely questions with community leaders across the country: What does it look like to harness, activate, and build community power? How can healing-centered advocacy transform systems and change policy? For the first episode of the season, long-time Vital Village Networks leader and founding circle member, Josette Williams, reminds us that for many, systems change advocacy is deeply rooted in our own personal journeys and early experiences that shape our understanding of who has access and opportunities to important community resources and spaces. As Director of Boston Public Schools’ innovative Countdown to Kindergarten program, Josette asks us to rethink the oft- asked question, “Who has a seat at the table?” and consider, “How did we get to this table” and the historical and systemic processes that shape who has access and opportunity to decision making power within communities. Tune in to hear Josette explore what shared power looks like in practice between agencies and families in Boston and examples of strategies she has been leading to center parent and family leadership within community systems.

Featured guest:

• Josette Williams, Director, Countdown to Kindergarten, Boston Public Schools

Host:

• Ronda Alexander, Director of National Partnerships, NOW at Vital Village Networks

Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing

Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0

Edited By: Resonate Recordings