HeadStarter Network: Thinking and Acting
by Yasmina Vinci
During my time at SXSWedu in Austin, I was surrounded by inspiring, energetic, and innovative thought leaders from different sectors and industries who share a passionate interest in education. I was honored to facilitate a panel about fostering the maker movement in early childhood education.
My colleague, Rick Mockler, also had the opportunity to be part of a panel about bringing innovation into early learning and how innovative approaches can better support children and their families in developing a base for lifelong learning.
The capstone of the week was launching the HeadStarter Network, a non-profit with a mission to serve as an early education think and action tank that explores, facilitates, and accelerates practitioner-based innovation. Governed by a Board of Head Start alumni, this organization aims to become the nation’s leading network for advancing innovation in child development and education.
Building on the best practices and innovations of Head Start’s more than 50 years of experience, the HeadStarter Network will combine an established knowledge base and the latest scientific insights on early learning, with the disruptive potential of technology innovations. It will facilitate collaborations, experiments, research, products, services, and ventures between Network members: practitioners, alumni, corporate partners, academic, venture philanthropy, and foundations.
Head Start was born out of a spirit of interdisciplinary thinking and disruptive innovation, and it is this very spirit that we want to apply to advancing the field of early childhood education. The HeadStarter Network is another pioneering step forward in ensuring our nation’s most vulnerable children and their families receive the comprehensive, quality education they need.
Yasmina Vinci is the Executive Director of National Head Start Association.
