Six leading Illinois organizations working in the field of early childhood are serving as hosts and providing leadership mentors to the 2011-2013 class of Illinois Early Childhood Fellows.
 
HealthConnect One, formerly Chicago Health Connection, is a nationally recognized nonprofit training and technical assistance agency that uses innovative, community-based approaches to support direct-service providers in promoting the health of mothers, infants, and families. The organization trains community health workers, develops community-based initiatives, and mobilizes diverse stakeholders to build policies and programs that improve maternal and child health. Since 1986, HealthConnect One has trained thousands of parents, community health workers and direct service providers to promote breastfeeding, provide pregnancy and birthing support, and prevent infant mortality, with significant documented results. In addition, it assists organizations in developing and implementing innovative, research-based initiatives that directly impact health disparities, including breastfeeding peer counselor and community-based doula programs.
 
Health & Disability Advocates is a national organization, based in Chicago, Illinois, that uses multiple strategies to promote income security and improve healthcare access and services for children, people with disabilities and low-income, older adults. HDA’s team of legal and policy experts provides a range of services including individual client services and legal representation, and customized trainings and technical assistance for a range of audiences, including consumers, service providers and state agencies. The organization also develops innovative projects and policies to protect and strengthen federal and state safety-net programs including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare and Medicaid.
 
As a catalyst for organizing, developing, and supporting strong families and powerful communities where children matter most, Illinois Action for Children has worked for over forty years to advance policies and create infrastructure within communities, so that children and families in the state—especially children and families who are most fragile and isolated—have access to high-quality early care and education, nutrition programs, and other vital supports. Program services include Family Resources (child care referral and financial assistance), Provider Resources (program improvement and professional development), numerous Early Learning Programs, Outreach and Home Visiting, Mental Health Consultation, Public Health Outreach, and the Healthy Food Program. The Public Policy and Advocacy program works with and on behalf of a member base of child care providers, parents, educators, and other advocates. By building state and national policy advocacy around a grassroots membership, the organization ensures a focus on the priorities identified by those most directly affected.

The Latino Policy Forum is the only organization in the Chicago area that facilitates the involvement of Latinos at all levels of public decision-making. The Forum strives to improve education outcomes, advocate for affordable housing, promote just immigration policies, and engage diverse sectors of the community. It does this by conducting analysis to inform, influence, and lead, all with an understanding that advancing Latinos advances a shared future. In 2006, a group of Latino leaders and experts identified the policy issues that must be addressed to ensure greater participation of Latino children in early childhood education programs.  Since then, the Latino Policy Forum has developed alliances to advocate for funds and for policies that increase access to and improve the quality of early childhood education programs in the state of Illinois, with a particular emphasis on policies that attend to the needs of English Language Learners.
 
The Ounce of Prevention Fund gives children in poverty the best chance for success in school and in life by advocating for and providing the highest quality care and education from birth to age five. The Ounce promotes the healthy development and school readiness of at-risk infants, toddlers, and preschool children by providing family-focused direct services to more than 3,600 Illinois children; conducting specialized training for more than 2,000 early childhood professionals that serve 10,000 additional children and families; researching and evaluating what works when helping children and families; disseminating best practices and lessons learned to inform the early childhood field; and advocating for public policy changes that better serve the comprehensive needs of young children and their families. The Ounce also promotes investments in high-quality programs for children birth to five in states across the country and in Washington, D.C. It provides technical assistance to early childhood program leaders in a growing number of states working to establish Educare Centers through the Bounce Learning Network; garners increased awareness of and investment in early childhood at the federal level through the First Five Years Fund; and develops state-level early childhood advocacy leadership in states with support from the Birth to Five Policy Alliance.

Positive Parenting DuPage brings together organizations throughout DuPage County that work with families during the first years of a child's life to increase effective parenting and lower the incidence of child abuse and neglect. Positive works to create a collaborative birth-to-five infrastructure and build the capacity of all organizations that touch the lives of young children, to ensure that all families have access to quality services and support. Launched by the DuPage community in 2004, Positive’s network of collaborating organizations enhances the ability of parents and caregivers to stimulate protect and nurture young children.
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