Summary: TA: ECFE MN Story Collective Initiative

TA: ECFE MN Story Collective Initiative

Date: December 4, 2025

Audience: ECFE Coordinators and Parent Educators

Key Take Aways

This session highlighted the launch of the statewide ECFE Story Collective initiative and walked Parent Educators through the purpose, process, and tools for collecting family stories in December and January. The goal is to gather at least 100 stories that reflect the diverse lived experiences of ECFE families, including themes of connection, isolation, belonging, parenting confidence, and barriers to participation. These stories will be used to strengthen legislative messaging, enhance the ECFE Marketing Toolkit, and inform priorities within the ECFE Enhancement Plan. The Story Collective tool is available in six languages, and families can submit stories independently or with support from educators, interpreters, home visits, or in-class parent time.

Participants in this session emphasized how valuable family stories will be for outreach, community building, and elevating the authentic experiences of ECFE families. They noted that personal relationships and direct invitations are the strongest drivers of participation. Stories from any point in a family’s ECFE journey are welcome—even those from decades ago—and families may submit more than one story if they wish. Overall, attendees expressed excitement and anticipation to hear the stories families will share, recognizing how closely the themes of connection, reduced isolation, and strengthened community support align with the heart of ECFE’s mission.

Watch the Recording

Resources to Help You Get Started

• This is an email message in the different languages you can copy and paste to send to families, inviting them to share their ECFE story.
• This is a PowerPoint slide you can use in class to help introduce the project and talk with families about sharing their story.

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