Today I attended the inaugural National Child Care Innovation Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. The event put a spotlight on the inherent connection between child care access and our economy, and the convening felt like a pivotal and necessary step in addressing the child care crisis in our country. Thank you, US Chamber CEO, Suzanne Clark for recognizing The Y (YMCA) as a partner in quality care provider in communities across the country, and thank you Manish Bhatia for highlighting how important it was that Micron Technology's plans for a new facility in Central New York included a contribution to help expand access to high-quality child care and early learning programs at the YMCA of Central New York. A highlight of the day: The Executive Perspective panel discussion with Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy, Nando Cesarone EVP & US President of UPS, John F. Fish, Chairman & CEO of Suffolk Construction, Manish Bhatia EVP of Global Operations of Micron Technology, Arvind Krishna, Chairman & CEO of IBM and Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce, was powerful and informative. #YMCA #ChildCare
Nicole Riehl
1w
I'm glad we had the chance to say a quick hello at our table! Would love for you, me, and Stephanie to connect so we can share more about the national resources we are building out and get the Y plugged in.
Paula Jacobs
1w
Pivotal. Powerful and spot-on. Great to see YMCAs continued leadership in keeping our children safe, educated and thriving. And providing a means for parents to assure their livelihood.
Admiral at s/v Grateful, Citizen of the World
2wHow wonderful! The NPR story I heard about the conference was sadly focused on only tech innovations. It encourages me that the summit acknowledges community-based organizations that have deep roots in applying creative solutions to the needs of children whose mothers were in the workplace to support them, especially during war years. My review of YMCA histories -- local to national -- during my early career helped me make the jump from the burgeoning Child Care Resource and Referral systems (of four decades ago) to the YMCA.