Children’s Council Teams Share Expertise on Range of Topics at Annual Child Care Conference 

Five teams from Children’s Council presented at the 2025 Joint Hybrid Annual Conference hosted by the Thriving Families California Foundation and the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. This year’s conference was held October 15-17 in Sacramento, CA and focused on the theme, The Power of Partnerships: Uniting to Create Impact.  The conference was well attended, and participants were eager to engage in discussion and take new learnings and resources back to their communities and organizations.

Our teams led the following in-person presentations: 

• Seizing the Moment: Advocacy Strategies and Easy-to-Use Tools that Work; presented by Children’s Council’s Advocacy Team including:
  • Alan Wong, Senior Director of Public Policy Communications
  • Alex Maykowski, Senior Manager, Public Policy & Organizing
  • Maria Luz Torre, Organizer, Parent Voices San Francisco 

• Partnering for Impact: A Phased Approach to Internal Program Evaluation at Children’s Council (pictured at right); presented by the Research, Data and Evaluation Team at Children’s Council including:
  • Lauren Frank, Director of Research, Data and Evaluation
  • Lucia Cazares, Evaluation Manager

• Empower Together: Centralized Training for Shared Success (pictured above); presented by the Compliance/Operations Team at Children’s Council including:
  • Lorita Yip, Director of Child Care Benefits Support
  • Jennie Kong, Training Manager, Program Supports
  • Maria Matus, Family Services Manager
  • Angelina Mesta, Quality Assurance Coordinator
  • Jocelyn Avila, Family Support Trainer

• Breaking the Chains: Disrupting the Preschool to Prison Pipeline; presented by:
  • Cecily “Cee Cee” Banks, Family Services Manager with the Compliance and Programs Support team
  • Cheryl Whitfield-Stokes, Family Services Specialist with the Child Care Family Services team

• Supporting Children with Disabilities; presented by the Child Care Quality Business Supports Team at Children’s Council including:
  • Margarita Spataro, Business Support Manager (pictured below) and
  • Damina Bellot, Child Care Business Coach

One participant, deeply moved by Margarita Spataro’s personal story, exclaimed, “Your story is my story!” — a powerful moment that affirmed the relevance and emotional impact of the session.

Cee Cee who presented Disrupting the Preschool to Prison Pipeline (presentation slide pictured below) said the session was “incredibly refreshing and energizing!” Everyone was deeply engaged in the conversation and case studies presented. Participants actively contributed thoughtful insights, personal reflections, and actionable strategies for the planned activities. They also enjoyed looking deeper at a Black child as they enter the ECE system and how to connect with them.

Children’s Council is grateful to Thriving Families California Foundation and the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network for the opportunity to share best practices and insights with others in our larger CA community.

To view more photos of the presentations, please see our FB photo album.