As Publisher of Exchange magazine, I wanted to take my turn to write to you, our wonderful readers, to thank you for the dedicated, life-changing work you do each day on behalf of children and families. We hope the information and new ideas included in Exchange make your work a little easier and more rewarding, and remind you of your connection to a community of like-minded early care and education advocates. We have a diverse collection of articles in this issue that I think you’ll enjoy.

Our world can feel like a challenging place, I know. Change is happening around us at a rapid pace. I’m writing this a month before you’ll be reading it, so it’s likely there will be new challenges I don’t know about right now. If you need some inspiration, I urge you to read Kimberlee Hendrick’s uplifting piece, “Gardens and Leadership.” She writes, “My exploration into gardening became a reflective metaphor for the state of our ‘world garden’ today and the transitions I believe are calling our true values and beliefs to the surface.”

I am also inspired by our Focus On articles that highlight the ways one generation can uplift the next. They remind me of two projects I’ve experienced here at Dimensions Foundation, which is the parent organization of Exchange Press, Nature Explore, and Dimensions Early Education Programs, as well as the Administrative Partner for the World Forum Foundation. Our Early Education Programs are enjoying an initiative called Roots and Wings, where retired teachers take over the classrooms of current teachers for an hour so the younger teachers can meet for reflection and professional development. This is done multiple times a month so all staff have a chance to participate.

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Then there’s the Early Childhood Wisdom Initiative, started by the founders of Exchange Press, Bonnie and Roger Neugebauer, along with Carol Hillman. It’s an uplifting group that passes along hard-earned wisdom to younger generations of early childhood professionals, using storytelling and discussion. Some of their conversations happen in World Forum Foundation online events. Watch for more information in the next issue of Exchange, which will be focused on storytelling.

For now, remember how important you and your work are. I’ll leave you with another quote from Kimberlee Hendrick’s article, an African proverb that reminds us that our efforts support a brighter future: “We must be willing to plant gardens from which we may never eat.”

With hope and great appreciation,

Tara Schroder
Chief Executive Officer
Dimensions Foundation