Parent Ambassadors elevates parents to show up as their authentic selves, claim their seats at tables, amplify their voices and embrace their deep responsibility to leading our diverse communities. Additional funders to continue the work are the Perigee Fund, the Ballmer Group. Partner organizations are MomsRising, and Save the Children Action Network. The parents selected for this program partici
pate in a yearlong parent advocacy and leadership training program. Parents receive training on communications, leadership, legislative advocacy and grassroots organizing, and are responsible for training parents in their local programs and participating in advocacy efforts on both the state and federal level. Ambassadors will provide testimony on key issues that impact children and families including funding for early childhood education, TANF, and child care and WAKIDS—a kindergarten readiness assessment process. Ambassadors have been featured in newspapers, TV and radio including coverage on KIRO 7, NPR, KING 5, and KHQ. Because of the buzz surrounding the program within the early childhood community, ambassadors have been requested to speak at National Head Start Association institutes and state training conferences, conducting successful training in Washington DC and Pennsylvania. They trained other Head Start parents how to give effective testimony, mobilize members of their community, and write effective letters to the editor -- several of which were published. Parent Ambassadors has also been a founding organization in supporting creation of Parent Ambassadors in other states.
