KConnect brings community partnership and collaboration to the table, intending to drive significant improvements in outcomes for all children and families from cradle to college and career across Kent County. The Common Agenda aims to improve the education, employment, and well-being of children and families by helping to align current efforts and fill necessary gaps. The 2013 KConnect Common Agenda and Roadmap – the organization’s founding document – communicates a goal for Policy and Advocacy aimed to educate and advocate for policies, resources, and practices that can strengthen the political will to pass, implement, and sustain effective long-term solutions that are aligned to the goals of the initiative. It went on to say that the Cross-Cutting Workgroup will collaborate closely with the other teams to identify key policies to support.

In 2022, KConnect hired its first Postdoctoral Fellow – Dr. Shayla Young – to focus on Community Engagement and Policy and Advocacy. Dr. Young created the framework of P.A.C.E. (Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement). This structure highlights the interconnectedness of these two focus areas. It reminds us that the voices of those most impacted by inequitable policies are the very ones that should be brought to the table when advocating for change at a local, state, and national level. 

Together, the Policy and Advocacy Workgroup (A special thank you to the Policy & Advocacy Tri-Chairs, Renell Weathers, Kathleen Bruinsma, and John Helmholdt, and to our Technical Assistance partner Jayme Vosovic from the Michigan League for Public Policy) developed practices and frameworks that led to the development of KConnect’s first Shared Policy Agenda, which was launched in January 2024. This consensus policy agenda features seven system-level focuses on equity and access, applicable legislation, and budget priorities. Overall, we seek to advance equity and dissolve the systems that perpetuate disparity.