Early childhood professionals play an essential role in communities, helping young children to develop, supporting working families, and enabling business operations.  While affordable and high-quality childcare is critical, the early childcare sector is underfunded and dysfunctional. COVID-19 has exacerbated longstanding issues, exacting a devastating impact on childcare centers and the professionals that staff them. In this program, we will hear more about the issues impacting the early childhood workforce at the individual, employer, and systems levels. We will explore the role of employer collaboration with funders and other stakeholders to advance necessary changes in business practices and public policies to support these essential workers.

Community Health Workers, Home Health Aides, Personal Care Attendants, and Nursing Assistants are among the direct care workers on the front lines of the Pandemic. COVID-19 spotlighted both an incentive towards accelerating the delivery of care directly in communities and the inequities experienced by direct care and community health workers.  During this program, we will have a discussion with David Rodwin of the Public Justice Center and the Maryland Regional Direct Services Collaborative, Dr. Chidinma Ibe, of the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health. We will learn from our speakers how we can support, advocate, and sustain community health workers and direct home care programs to meet the increasing need to change the delivery of healthcare from institution-based to the community. 

To kick off 2022, the Arts Funders Affinity Group is pleased to welcome Eddie Torres, president & CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts. In late 2020 and again in mid-2021, Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) surveyed their members about recent and upcoming changes in arts grantmaking practices in response to the pandemic and the movement for Black lives. Eddie will share his national perspective of arts grantmaking and discuss the findings from GIA’s latest survey. We’ll then bring it home with a brief update from Nicholas Cohen from Maryland Citizens for the Arts and have a whole group sharing session about our grantmaking practice and if it reflects the national trends in increased giving, flexibility, support for individual artists, and support for BIPOC organizations. Will also identify opportunities for collaboration and continued learning.