the FORUM for EARLY CHILDHOOD ORGANIZATION and LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Our mission is to increase leadership, management and organization capacity of current and emerging early learning and care leaders in the six state Midwest region.  The Forum accomplishes this task with the assistance, guidance and support of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership and the National and Regional Advisory Councils.

Established in 1996 with three-year start-up support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Danforth Foundation, The MCNL Forum establishes a national model for:

• Developing leaders and managers in early childhood education and care.
• Establishing specialized master’s degree programs in early childhood organization and leadership.
• Creating new career ladder opportunities for early childhood education and care professionals.
• Building linkages between early childhood education and care and allied fields.
• Promoting broad understanding of the crucial role quality early childhood education and care programs play in human development, family stability and community well-being.