In a move that strengthens its impact in advocating for early childhood education, The Malvern School – the largest privately owned preschool in Greater Philadelphia – has joined the
Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC). ECEC is a non-profit alliance of America's leading providers of quality early learning programs and is the only national organization exclusively representing the voice of child care providers on Capitol Hill and in the states.
“Our involvement with ECEC enables us to take The Malvern School’s advocacy efforts to the next level. Specifically, it provides a powerful platform where we can increase our impact as we work to support young children, families, early educators and the industry at large,” says Kristen M. Waterfield, CEO & Founder of The Malvern School. “ECEC is a major influencer in advancing these interests, most recently playing a momentous role in securing federal funding to save the industry from collapse as a result of the pandemic and helping to provide frontline teachers access to the COVID-19 vaccine,” Waterfield adds. “We are immensely proud to join other recognized leaders to continue driving important work like this forward.” Through its bipartisan work with members of Congress, the administration, state legislatures and state agencies, ECEC enables members to engage in key policy discussions that affect the future of the early education industry and bring quality to scale. In addition to ECEC, The Malvern School has been an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Public Policy Forum for the past five years. During this time, The Malvern School has amplified the voices of the teachers, children and families it serves to ensure early education continues to be at the forefront of decisions being made at the state and federal level.