Brooke Albert, Senior Director of ECIC’s Equity & Leadership Team, represented the National Center for Family & Parent Leadership at the Zero to Three Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Financing Policy Project Convening in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 17-19, 2025. This gathering brought together state teams, experts, and advocates to explore strategies for financing a strong continuum of IECMH services.
On March 18, Brooke served as a co-moderator for the plenary session titled: Increasing Meaningful Family Leadership in IECMH Policy – Spotlighting Michigan. Alongside Meghan Schmelzer, Senior Manager of the IECMH Policy Team at Zero to Three, she facilitated a discussion on family leadership in Michigan’s early childhood system, featuring Janet Timbs from MiLEAP and the Michigan Interagency Coordination Council (MICC), parent leader Cara Sutliffe, Ta’Sheena Williams, a Think Babies Michigan partner from the Michigan Council for Maternal & Child Health (MCMCH), and parent leader Rachelle McKissick-Harris.
As a leader within the National Center for Family and Parent Leadership, Brooke highlighted strategies to elevate family voices in IECMH system development, emphasizing the importance of meaningful engagement and appropriate compensation for family leader participation in systems. The panel explored how each speaker began their journey in parent leadership and the catalysts that led them to this work. Brooke shared insights on the National Center for Family and Parent Leadership’s mission, its progress, and best practices for ensuring families are valued partners in early childhood systems work.
“It was an honor to represent the National Center at the Financial Policy Project Convening and contribute to Zero to Three’s efforts to elevate family voices,” said Brooke Albert. “Michigan has a strong legacy of family and parent leadership, and I’m thrilled that leaders from across the country could engage with the wisdom and insights shared during the panel discussion.”
This plenary session provided attendees with concrete strategies to embed family and parent leadership into IECMH systems and ensure that parents are recognized and compensated for their essential contributions. Through these conversations, Brooke Albert and her fellow panelists helped shape a more inclusive and effective model of early childhood mental health systems.