Contact: Tawana Jacobs│tjacobs@dckids.org│301-325-8687
Renaissance Awards will recognize the DC Early Learning Collaborative and spotlight
other changemakers in early childhood, health, youth development, and leadership
Washington, D C (May 18, 2023)—DC Action will honor the DC Early Learning
Collaborative (DCELC) with its first-ever legacy award at the Renaissance Awards on
Tuesday, May 23, 2023, from 5:30-8:00 pm at the Martin Luther King Library, and celebrate
the advocacy of two early childhood educators, a home visitor, a youth champion, and an up-
and-coming youth leader.
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David Daniels, president and CEO of the Bainum Family Foundation, will present the award to DCELC, a nonprofit organization led by pioneering early childhood advocates Carrie Thornhill, Maurice Sykes, and Sia Barbara Kamara. The group was instrumental in the passage of the District’s historic early childhood legislation–Universal Pre-K–in 2008 and the Birth-to-Three for All DC Act in 2019. Their activism continues today, with their engagement in Under 3 DC’s advocacy for the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund and expanding family eligibility for child care assistance, among other initiatives.
Thanks to generous support from the DC Association for the Education of Young Children, DC Action will also honor two superstar early educators–Patricia Bodrick of First Rock Baptist
Child Development Center and Angelique Marshall of Ms. P’s Day Care. Other changemakers for children and youth to be spotlighted for their advocacy to improve the lives of young people, from cradle to career, include:
Betania Pineda of Mary’s Center, Home Visitor of the Year
Hannah Wilson of the Community Enrichment Project, Shooting Star Youth Leadership Award
Tiescheka Stuart of Roosevelt STAY Opportunity Academy, Youth Champion of the Year
DC Action will celebrate advancements made since the merger of DC Action for Children and the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates with a performance by Imagination Stage and by
spotlighting its partnership with American University on the Youth Voices Youth Power Project with a tour of the Humanities Truck traveling around the city this year to gather the opinions of District youth about their experiences in their communities.
As the District nears the end of a brutal and unwieldy 2024 fiscal year budget season, DC
Action looks forward to honoring the work of the city’s champions for children and youth and
celebrating the work of the advocacy community.
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DC Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization working to make the District of Columbia a place where all kids grow up safe, resilient, powerful, and heard. DC Kids Count, Under 3 DC, DC Out-of-School Time Coalition, the DC Home Visiting Council, and the Youth Homelessness Advocacy Coalition bring that power forward, creating space for all residents to raise their voices and make change.