Family &
Community
Engagement

Family &
Community Engagement

Family &
Community
Engagement

Focus Areas:

-Equitable access to high quality education
-Closing the opportunity gap
-Family engagement
-Parent leadership in schools

- Early Childhood Education and School Readiness
-Equitable access to high quality education
-Family engagement
-Supporting Young Parents and Advocacy

-Equitable access to high quality education
-Closing the opportunity gap
-Family engagement
-Parent leadership in schools

The Partnership for Community Action has worked to improve educational opportunities for students and families, focusing on education policy and closing the opportunity gap. PCA works to equip families with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively advocate for their children. We work with parents, community members, and educational leaders to ensure success for students and their families.

Kids are our priority and our future. We need to make bold and permanent investments in our children. Every child deserves the resources and opportunities to succeed in school and throughout life.

– Adrian Pedroza, Executive Director, Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors

Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors Curriculum

Utilizing the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP/OD) curriculum, the Partnership for Community Action supports parents build leadership skills and guide their children's early development. The curriculum focuses on early learning and advocacy within the school and emphasizes that parents are their child's first teacher. During the multi-session courses for parents, they can become certified to teach the AP/OD program to others, building capacity that is integral to long-term sustainability. Interested in becoming a facilitator of the program? Find a class near you.

Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors Curriculum

Utilizing the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP/OD) curriculum, the Partnership for Community Action supports parents build leadership skills and guide their children's early development. The curriculum focuses on early learning and advocacy within the school and emphasizes that parents are their child's first teacher. During the multi-session courses for parents, they can become certified to teach the AP/OD program to others, building capacity that is integral to long-term sustainability. Interested in becoming a facilitator of the program? Find a class near you.

Supporting Young Parents

Future Focused Education and Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors Young Parents Cohort
Young Parents are a community that contribute to local policy solutions and engagement in tremendous ways. To support the centering of this essential community of leaders, PCA deepened a collaboration with long-time partners Future Focused Education and Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors to support two young parent cohorts, where a total of 24 leaders built upon their parenting and professional development experience. In partnership with UPLAN, PCA engaged an additional 10 young parents in a similar internship program.

The collaborations hosted a group internship that focused on early childhood development, parent advocacy, and leadership development. Interns were trained on the Abriendo Puertas evidence-based curriculum, and the participants in the Future Focused Education internship worked directly with a peer coach from Future Focused Education. These low pressure, scaffolded experiences for young parents built foundational work-based skills and highlighted the importance of creating spaces for young parents to rise as leaders, centering opportunities for their voices, which are critical for them to experience economic mobility.

Our work with young parents continues in 2023 with support from a new grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Supporting Young Parents

Future Focused Education and Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors Young Parents Cohort
Young Parents are a community that contribute to local policy solutions and engagement in tremendous ways. To support the centering of this essential community of leaders, PCA has collaborated with long-time partners Future Focused Education and Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors to support two young parent cohorts, where a total of 24 leaders built upon their parenting and professional development experience. In partnership with UPLAN, PCA engaged an additional 10 young parents in a similar internship program.

The collaborations hosted a group internship that focused on early childhood development, parent advocacy, and leadership development. Interns were trained on the Abriendo Puertas evidence-based curriculum, and the participants in the Future Focused Education internship worked directly with a peer coach from Future Focused Education. These low pressure, scaffolded experiences for young parents built foundational work-based skills and highlighted the importance of creating spaces for young parents to rise as leaders, centering opportunities for their voices, which are critical for them to experience economic mobility.

Our work with young parents continues in 2023 with support from a new grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.