February 2021 was an exciting month for the NOW Network. Members from across the nation gathered for virtual connections during this month's NOW Coffee Hour, hosted by Altorice Frazier and Stephanie Waters. By the end of today, all 3 Peer Learning Clusters will have launched thanks to the incredible continued leadership of the original NOW Learning Community Members. The Child Wellbeing Tracker has also officially launched the second and growing cohort of community data champions, be sure to check out the blog by Soojin Conover below. The NOW team would also like to take a moment to congratulate the retirement of Clifford Johnson, Executive Director of the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. Thank you Cliff for being a partner of the NOW Network. We hope you will continue to stay connected as we jump into spring and tune in to one of the upcoming NOW events including the March 25th NOW Webinar. Stay tuned with the NOW Innovation Forum newsletter throughout 2021 for the latest conversations, stories and resources for advancing and promoting child wellbeing. We look forward to connecting with you NOW and in the future! 

Febrero de 2021 fue un mes súper emocionante para NOW. Miembros de todo el país se reunieron para establecer conexiones virtuales durante la Hora del Café NOW de este mes, organizada por Altorice Frazier y Stephanie Waters. Para el final de hoy, los 3 grupos de aprendizaje entre pares se habrán lanzado gracias al increíble liderazgo continuo de los miembros originales de la comunidad de aprendizaje NOW. Child Wellbeing Tracker también lanzó oficialmente la segunda cohorte de campeones de datos comunitarios; asegúrese de consultar el blog de Soojin Conover a continuación. El equipo de NOW desea felicitar la jubilación de Clifford Johnson, director ejecutivo del Instituto para la Juventud, la Educación y las Familias de la Liga Nacional de Ciudades (NLC). Gracias Cliff por ser socio de NOW Network. Esperamos que continúe conectado a medida que nos acercamos a la primavera y estar al tanto de uno de los próximos eventos de NOW, incluido el seminario web NOW del 25 de marzo. Esté atento al boletín informativo del Foro de Innovación NOW a lo largo de 2021 para conocer las últimas conversaciones, historias y recursos para avanzar y promover el bienestar infantil. ¡Esperamos conectarnos contigo AHORA y en el futuro!

In The Arena with NOW Podcast:

• Episode 13: Essex County Council for Young Children: Centering Parent Leadership to Foster a Trauma Informed Newark: Tune in to learn about the innovative work that the Essex County Council for Young Children (ECCYC) is leading to foster meaningful cross-sector partnerships between agencies and parents to create healthy, thriving, and resilient communities. Listen here > >

• Episode 12: Brazelton Touchpoints Center: Honoring the Strengths and Expertise of Children and Caregivers: This podcast episode brings us back home to Boston, Massachusetts, where the Brazelton Touchpoints Center is committed to shifting mindsets and mental models to honor the dignity of children and their caregivers as a key strategy for creating a sustainable world where children grow up to be thriving adults in their local community. Listen here >>

NOW Webinars:

• Register Today! March 25 at 1-2pm ET- NOW Webinar: Redefining Justice for Children and Families. As communities across the country confront the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism, what does justice mean moving forward? Learn from local leaders who are leading transformative work to achieve justice and dignity for children and families across multiple arenas, from health and climate justice, to immigration and housing justice. Register today at http://bit.ly/NOWWebinar-March2021.
• Webinar Archives: Learn more about previous webinars that were part of the 2020 Webinar series, Learning and Transforming Together: Community-Centered Equity Practices.

NOW Blog Highlights:

• Social Justice Transformation - All Minds, All Hearts, All Hands on Deck, by Camila Beiner, Boston University Graduate Journalism Intern & Language Justice Community Champion. This blog series profiles the work of community leaders across the country working to address the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice in their local communities. Learn more about leadership of VVN network member, Latoya Gayle, in this piece.

• Growing Our Collective Data Sharing Efforts: Introducing the NOW Child Wellbeing Tracker Phase 2, by Soojin Conover, Senior Research Analyst at Vital Village Networks. Check out our ongoing parent and family engagement data sharing efforts co-designed by the participant coalitions. Read this blog post to learn more about phase 2 of the Child Wellbeing Tracker.

• The Importance of Technology Justice, by Jenna Novy, Community Mobilization Coordinator at Vital Village Networks. Learn more about Vital Village Network’s journey with implementing Technology Justice during the 2020 National Community Leadership Summit. 

• Submit a resource or tool to the NOW Innovation Forum Resource Library. The resource library is a space created for you to lift up the work of yourself, your coalitions and your community. Share data tools, infographics, reports and other tools centered on advancing community equity. Submit here >>

• Equitable Evaluation Framework, by Equitable Evaluation Initiative. The goal of this framework is to reimagine the purpose and practice of evaluation to advance equity and expand notions of validity, rigor and complexity. Learn more >>

• Getting Ready for Evaluation, by Racial Equity Tools. Learn about how an organization can prepare for evaluation with a racial justice lens. Explore here >>

• Working Principles for Health Justice and Racial Equity, by The Praxis Project. This framework is designed to be used as a checklist to ensure that our health initiatives and programs will be transformational for our communities. Read here >>

• Making Connections Backpack, by Prevention Institute. A comprehensive guide to creating gender- and culture-relevant community-level approaches to improving mental health and wellbeing. Learn more >>
   

#VillageinMind

The NOW community hopes to stay connected and lift up the work and stories of all of our members. Follow and tag us on Twitter, @NOW_WellChild & @Vital_Village, so that we can virtually highlight the community led transformation you are leading.