10 Ways to Demonstrate Parent Leadership

Meaningful parent leadership occurs when parents gain the knowledge and skills to function in meaningful leadership roles and represent a “parent voice” to help shape the direction of their families, programs and communities. Parent leadership is successfully achieved when parents and early learning professionals build effective partnerships and share responsibility, expertise and leadership in decisions being made that affect families and communities. There are numerous areas where parent leaders can take on active, meaningful parent leadership roles. Here are ten ways to establish Parent Leadership in your early learning organization:

• Advocate for Individuals, Families and/or Programs
• Participate in Focus Groups
• Advisory Board Member
• Participant at Conferences and Working Meetings
• Grant Reviewer
• Member of Hiring Committees
• Witness at Public Hearings
• Policy Committee member
• Member of Boards of Directors
• Role Model for Other Parents

The Gravely Group has provided many ways parent leaders can experience their personal pathways to identifying and building their leadership skills and taking on leadership roles. We love this quote: “Children learn more from what you are than what you teach. Developing strong parent leaders is an impressive goal for your organization.

Tags: parent leadership