Executive Director/Staff Report October 2015 PUBLIC POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS Annual Report – Michelle met with our graphic designer to begin work on our annual report for FY 2014-15. The printed document will be presented to the commission in January 2016. Breastfeeding – The Marin Breastfeeding Coalition sponsored a “milk drive” to register donors of mother’s milk. The event was held at Marin General Hospital in partnership with the Mother’s Milk Bank of San Jose. Marjorie Delgadillo designed a bilingual poster/informational flyer for the event. (FYI—it was noted that just 3 ounces of milk can provide 12 feedings for a pre-term infant.) Marjorie also arranged for the First 5 Kits for New Parents to be available as giveaways for participants. Child Care – Michelle met with staff from the Marin Child Care Council to talk about writing opinion editorials/commentaries to promote affordable, high-quality child care—and to support the work of Parent Voices. First 5 Association/Staff Summit – Amy and Michelle attended the First 5 Association’s staff summit in Los Angeles. Both attended the keynote presentations; Amy also attended presentations for executive directors: Michelle attended communications workshops, and presented a session on “Telling the First 5 Story” and headed related breakout sessions. Marin Communications Forum – Our monthly workshops continue! One success to report is that the Marin County Public Health Officer recognized the “value of the audience” that regularly attends, and asked to participate in our health equity workshop on October 22nd. September 24 - Legislative Advocacy with State Senator Mike McGuire – Senator McGuire was an animated speaker as he summarized the major issues addressed by the State Legislature during this past session. He fielded questions from a very engaged audience and encouraged organizations to submit bill ideas this fall, before the Legislature reconvenes in December. Save-the-dates for future workshops: - October 22 - Promoting Health Equity in Marin – hosted by the Marin Communications Forum, First 5 Marin and Voces de Marin, in partnership with Marin County Health & Human Services. This will be a 3-hour event, with presentations and break-out sessions. Commissioners are encouraged to attend! RSVP to Michelle@First5Marin.org. - November 19 (Outreach and Advocacy with Facebook) - December 4th Homeless Services for Children and Families in Marin Executive Director/Staff Report 1 [The Marin Communications Forum meets monthly at the Connection Center. For more information including the schedule of meetings for 2016, email Michelle@First5Marin.org. Partnerships Health Equity – Staff have been working with the Marin County Public Health Officer, Dr. Matt Willis, and his staff on the agenda for the October 22nd workshop on health equity. The workshop will feature the three county public health priorities: childhood health weight, health access and economics, and life expectancy. Latino Health Policy – Staff have been participating in the Latino Health Policy Partnership, a coalition of policymakers and their staff, community leaders and advocates. Michelle will be working with them on a document about Latino health disparities and priorities in Marin; Marjorie contributed to this document by compiling facts for the children’s page. (An overview will be presented at our “Health Equity” workshop on October 22nd, and they will be scheduling a subsequent launch event of their own.) Latino Voter Registration and Participation – Via “Voces de Marin,” Marjorie is volunteering with the Registrar of Voters and the League of Women Voters of Marin on outreach to the Latino and Spanish-language community in Marin through a voter registration drive at the San Rafael’s Thursday night farmers market and Novato’s Tuesday night farmers market. Also, the Registrar of Voters asked to meet with staff for new ideas on outreach and advocacy. Marin Latino Leaders - Marjorie Delgadillo represented First 5 Marin at the Marin Latino Leaders (MLL) luncheon, with a keynote address given by Superintendent Mary Jane Burke. The discussion included educating Latino children in our multi-district county and how elections change the composition of school boards. Many administrators and local officials were in attendance. Youth Safety/Human Trafficking – Staff have been working with Greg Knell and Linda Jackson from San Rafael City Schools; they had requested working with “Voces de Marin” on a workshop on youth safety and human trafficking—specifically for a Latino audience in Marin (schools, agencies and advocates). Marjorie has connected with the Marin Women’s Commission, Marin County Probation and Sheriff’s Department, and members of the Marin County Human Trafficking Coalition. The workshop, which is scheduled for November 9th; First 5 Marin is providing logistics (at the request of the school board trustees) via Voces de Marin. Homelessness – Amy and Michelle met with Mary Kay Sweeney and Lisa Sepahi from Homeward Bound of Marin to discuss and design an agenda for the December 4th workshop on Homeless Services for Children and Families in Marin. Voces de Marin – First 5 Marin’s project for outreach to the Spanish-language community continues with growing interest and participation. Upcoming presentations include: October 22 - Promoting Health Equity in Marin – hosted by the Marin Communications Forum, First 5 Marin and Voces de Marin, in partnership with Marin County Health & Human Services. This will be a 3-hour event, with presentations and break-out sessions. Commissioners are encouraged to attend! RSVP to Michelle@First5Marin.org. Executive Director/Staff Report 2 November 9 (Youth Safety/Human Trafficking, in coordination with San Rafael City Schools, the Marin Women’s Commission and the Marin County Human Trafficking Coalition). [Voces de Marin meets regularly at the Connection Center. For more information, email Marjorie@First5Marin.org.] MEETINGS – Marjorie represented First 5 Marin at the following meetings/events: Bank of Marin Health Fair Los Cien State of the Latino in Sonoma County Enough is Enough conference MCOLE Hispanic Heritage Celebration OTHER ACTIVITIES Amy has continued to explore the feasibility of a different kind of Annual Breakfast for 2016. More of a conversation with a focus on equity --- what it means, how we talk about (for example, really needing to talk honestly about race and color when talking about equity), what we (as a county) might work on to address institutional barriers to equity. She has had several conversations with the Governmant Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), affiliated with the HAAS Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at Berkeley and a funded project of the Center for Social Inclusion. These organizations have been working with local governments and their partners (the City of Seattle, for example) to develop detailed action plans to improve equity in hiring, funding, services, etc at all levels of City government. She will meet with the Senior Fellow for GARE at the National Equity Conference at the end of October to explore further. Marinkids has 501©3 now and officially establishing its Board of Directors aand expanding it as well. In addition, Kathy Tabor hopes to retire at the end of June 2016, so MK will be conducting a search for a part-time Executive Director in the next several months. The IMPACT and State QRIS grants both call for a broad consortium to participate and provide oversight for the grant implementation. Because the players for both grants and the requirements for both grants overlap to a great degree, these two groups will meet as one. (First 5 is a mandated participant). It also is clear that the grants will roll out more slowly than anyone wished, so that anticipated expenditures (including our match)for FY1516 will reflect only a portion of the grant amount. There will be more information on the work plans as the year goes on. The audit has been completed and will be presented to the Commission at the October meeting. Meetings Marinkids Governance First 5 Assocation Staff Summit First 5 SF Strategic Planning Raising California Together Early Childhood Education Parntership Domestic Violence Summit Executive Director/Staff Report 3