Oakland Starting Smart and Strong
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Policy and Advocacy 

Oakland Starting Smart and Strong  leverages the power of our collaborative’s stakeholders to advocate for policies that build and improve the systems that support Oakland children, families, and early childhood educators most impacted by racial and economic inequity.

Additional information on our policy and advocacy work can be found in our blog posts. 
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We are building a community-driven policy agenda, grounded in these equity areas:
  • Systems change for Oakland’s youngest learners​
    • Advocate for long-term public investment in early childhood systems
    • Elevate early childhood as a priority in City government and Oakland Unified School District
  • Parent and family leadership in community investment
    • Listen to parent, family, & community leadership in equitable implementation of publicly-funded early childhood education
    • Leverage data in support of community priorities
  • Equity for early childhood professionals and friend/family/neighbor caregivers
    • Increase access to high-quality training, improved pay and working conditions, supplies, and resources
    • Amplifying Family Child Care (FCC) provider leadership in local advocacy

​Visit our Public Meetings page to learn about the broad range of Oakland and Alameda County public meetings, as well as how to share your priorities with elected representatives. 

All of our policy and advocacy work is grounded racial justice. Read our racial justice statement here.

2026 OSSS Early Childhood Policy Opportunities for the City of Oakland
  • Support Equitable Implementation of Child Care Local Funding Initiatives
  • Preserve and Strengthen Programs for Children and Families 
  • Safe and Family-Friendly Communities
  • Lift Up Needs of Families in Housing and Homeless Solutions

Read the full priorities here.
Many of the photos on this site appear courtesy of Hasain Rasheed Photography
  • ABOUT
    • OUR PURPOSE
    • OUR IMPACT
    • OUR TEAM >
      • STAFF AND CONSULTANTS
      • LEAD PLANNING TEAM
      • SUPPORTERS
      • FEATURED LEADERS
    • GET INVOLVED
  • OUR WORK
    • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT >
      • BOYS OF COLOR
      • TRAUMA-RESPONSIVE LEARNING >
        • ROCK TOOLKIT
      • EARLY LEARNING SYMPOSIUM
      • LET'S TALK EARLY LEARNING
    • DATA, POLICY AND ADVOCACY >
      • POLICY AND ADVOCACY
      • FAMILY CHILD CARE POLICY PROGRAM
      • DATA PORTAL
    • COLLECTIVE IMPACT >
      • OSSS COLLABORATIVE
      • THEORY OF CHANGE
      • PARTNER MAPPING
  • RESOURCES
    • REPORTS
    • PRESENTATIONS
    • PUBLIC MEETINGS
  • EVENTS
  • NEWS
    • Blog
    • NEWSLETTER
  • DONATE