About

The North Carolina Early Education Coalition works to ensure that all children have access to high-quality early care and learning experiences.

Since 1990, we have highlighted the proven power of quality early childhood education by sharing information and resources with parents, professionals and policymakers.

The Coalition is the only statewide advocacy coalition dedicated to promoting high quality, accessible and affordable child care in North Carolina. Our membership includes statewide organizations, regional and local child care agencies, child care providers and individuals committed to improving the quality of child care and early childhood education in North Carolina.

The NC Early Education Coalition also serves as the backbone organization for the Think Babies™ NC Alliance. Think Babies™ NC seeks to ensure that North Carolina’s youngest children, prenatal to age 3, benefit from effective and equitable public policies, programs, and funding so that all children have what they need to thrive: healthy beginnings, supported families, and quality early care and learning experiences.

We accomplish our mission of advocacy and education by:

  • Developing policy positions shared with elected officials.
  • Researching and producing fact sheets for our members, policymakers and the media.
  • Providing training and resources on critical early education issues.
  • Engaging early childhood policy staff and a full-time lobbying team at the NC General Assembly.
  • Creating advocacy alerts to mobilize our members to action on early education issues.
  • Collaborating with national and state early childhood organizations and other partners to advance policies to support young children and their families.

Learn more, get involved, and take action! We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our work, how you can become a member, and how to make your voice heard for young children, their families, and their educators. Together, we can make North Carolina a state where every child has access to high-quality early care and education, regardless of race, family income, or zip code.


Contact Us

For general and membership questions:
[email protected]
(919) 442-2000

Our Staff:

Angela Burch-Octetree
Interim Executive Director
[email protected]

Azizi Culpepper
Administrative Assistant
[email protected]

Elaine Zukerman
Advocacy and Communications Director
[email protected]

Our Board
Please click here for a list of members of our Board of Directors.

Become a Member of the Coalition

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Support the Coalition

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Learn More About Our Work

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