Forum selects Erin Smeltzer as next President and CEO
The Children’s Forum, along with our Board of Directors, is pleased to announce that Erin Smeltzer has been selected as the Forum’s next President and CEO. Dr. Phyllis Kalifeh announced her plan to retire on July 31, 2022, after serving as the Forum’s leader for the past 22 years.

For nearly 20 years, Erin has worked tirelessly to advocate for advancements in quality early childhood education. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of the Association of Early Learning Coalitions where she actively streamlined best practices across the state’s 30 early learning coalitions and built partnerships to help give all children an equitable early learning experience. She previously managed statewide quality initiatives funded by the School Readiness Program at the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). In addition, she acted as interim manager of Florida's VPK program in her final year at DOE. Read More
The Children’s Forum is excited to announce a new initiative called the Early Childhood Policy WORKS Advocacy Fellowship (ECPWAF) that aims to overcome the challenges and barriers facing advocacy and engagement. The ECPWAF will help novice early learning advocates learn how the system works and best ways to engage in the legislative process. 
 
Through an extensive application process, the ECPWAF committee selected a diverse cadre of 21 Policy Fellows comprised of teachers, parents, directors, and early childhood stakeholders. These Fellows will be equipped and empowered to serve as change agents in local, state, and national conversations around issues of early childhood and the early learning workforce. 
 
The inaugural class will meet this July at the One Goal Summer Conference in Tampa as well as other in-person and virtual meetings in Tallahassee throughout the year. The Policy Fellows will "graduate" as advocacy experts during Children’s Week in Tallahassee in March 2023.  
 
Click Here to meet our inaugural class of Policy Fellows.
Children's Week Florida 2023
We are excited to announce the 28th annual Children's Week FloridaTM will take place March 26-31, 2023. As the largest event held in the state that celebrates children, youth, and advocates, Children's Week delivers the message to our state leaders that every child should be healthy, ready to learn, and able to achieve their full potential.
Stay tuned and visit childrensweek.org for event updates and details on how you can get involved!
INCENTIVE$ is coming to Osceola County soon!
Have you heard the great news? The Early Childhood Educator INCENTIVE$ Florida program will soon be available to Osceola County participants. Designed to address the need for increased hourly pay for the workforce and stability in early learning programs, INCENTIVE$ rewards participants with education-based financial payments. INCENTIVE$ Osceola is funded by the Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County.
More information and details on how to apply will be coming soon. Visit incentives-fl.org to get started and learn more.

From Textbook to Tuscany: ECE professor
shares her experience in Italy
Dr. Maureen O’Neil, a Children's Forum partner in higher education, recently visited Italy with four of her colleagues. She shares her journey and what she learned about early care and education in Italy.
 
“On Thursday, May 12, four early childhood educators and I said ‘arrivederci Florida’ and ‘Ciao Italy.’ These educators included Iris Strachan from Miami, Dr. Sharron Cuthbertson and Dr. Pam Carswel, both from Lake City, and Dr. Iris Davis from Tallahassee. We embarked on a 10-day excursion to examine best teaching practices for early childhood education in the Reggio Emilia region of Italy. Read More