Working for just,

equitable, and quality

early childhood education and

care for every young child.

Marcy 2025 Updates

Donate to Support Our Work

Defending the Early Years, Inc. is a

501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Donations are tax deductible.

Our Tax ID: 82-4308558

Follow DEY for the latest updates

Register for DEY 7th Annual Summer Institute

Registration is open for our 7th Annual Summer Institute June 23-25. Stay tuned as we will begin announcing our keynote speakers and panelists very soon! You don't want to miss this FREE three-day event where we discuss how a commitment to the values of Equity, Truth, and Care can strengthen our resolve as we resist future threats and challenges.

Episode 26: Starting with Yourself First

Season three of the DEY Podcast with Kisha Reid is here! Kisha talks with Denisha Jones about the new DEY framework Fostering Healthy Identity in Young Children.

National Advisor News

Check out what our DEY

National Adviors are up to!

Professional Love: The Heart of Our Work by Carol Garboden Murray

"Love is the very foundation of relationships and of ethical encounters with and through the other." -Lynda Stone Dr. Jools Page, from the University of Brighton, United Kingdom, has drawn upon the work of care theorist Nel Noddings to develop the concept of professional love.

The Movement to Free Schools of Smartphones Is Winning by Susan Linn

The unprecedented and much publicized upswing of what advocates call “phone-free schools” is good news for anyone who cares about children. Scores of schools around the country now have, or are creating, rules to prevent students’ access to cellphones in classrooms and even throughout the day.

2025 PLAY EMPOWERS TEACHER RETREAT From Kisha Reid

We acknowledge the immense challenges our field has withstood these past five years and are ready to come together to do the work to shift from Surviving to Thriving! Calling all Play-based preschool educators! Join us for a fun-filled weekend of reflection, deep discussion, networking, learning, and refueling our deep passion for working with children.

Class In Session- Complex Literacy, with Nancy Carlsson-Paige - BustED Pencils

Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, educated educator to the extreme, Pencil Buster extraordinarie, and also Matt Damon's mom, joins us. We begin by checking in with Dr. Nancy. Since we last spoke, President Trump began his second term in office with a barrage of anti-education executive actions. Hold strong, educated educators.

DEY Banned Book Club Feature

Social Justice Books 13 Guiding Principles Book List

DEY ED Denisha Jones is back with another Banned Book Club feature. This time she shares the Social Justice Books 13 Guiding Principles Book lists. Find out how you can you teach the Black Lives Matter at School Black Woman principle during Woman's History Month! You can find all of our Banned Book Club features here!

Do you teach or work with pre-service teachers?

Are you looking for exciting extra credit opportunities? Consider having your students record Banned Book Club Features! For more information, email denishajones@deyorg!

Contribute to DEY Campaign Statements

The next phase in our campaign to Restore the Link Between High Quality and Child Development is to publish short campaign statements highlighting what we know supports child development. These brief statements will help you advocate for polices and practices based in supporting optimal whole child development!

Would you like to contribute to a statement? We’d love to include your stories related to our statement. You can share your thoughts by filling out each of these Google Forms that have specific questions for campaign statements 1-5 and 6-10. You can also email your thoughts to denishajones@dey.org.

DEY Dialogue Fostering Healthy Racial Identity in the Early Years

DEY National Advisor Takiema Bunche-Smith talks with DEY ED Denisha Jones about the framework for fostering healthy racial identity in the early years!

Honor an Educator and Sponsor the Summer Institute

We are thrilled to have received our first Summer Institute Sponsor! Will you be our second? Honor an Educator and Sponsor the Summer Institute Today!

Mini-Grant Update

Families Write to Legislators During Storytime Event: Kimberly, WI

While the children read books, the families had the opportunity to work with a CCR&R staff to write letters to legislators regarding the issues they face with child care.

Advocacy Spotlight

Check out our Advocacy Spotlight, a series dedicated to highlighting advocacy efforts around the country to advance early childhood education.

Visit our Advocacy Map to view more advocacy efforts. Do you know of early childhood advocacy happening in your community? Add it to our Advocacy Map!

DEY Advocacy Map

Our Leadership

Board of Directors

Nancy Carlsson-Paige

Founder and Senior Advisor

Diane Levin

Founder and Senior Advisor

Blakely Bundy

Secretary

Geralyn Bywater

Treasurer

Executive Director

Denisha Jones

Project Coordinator

Zoe Kim

Founding National Advisory Board

Constance Kamii

Lilian Katz

Maurice Sykes

Sherry Cleary

Doris Pronin Fromberg

Deborah Meier

Edgar Klugman

DEY National Advisors

Suzanne Axelsson*

Heather Bernt-Santy*

Samuel Broaden*

Takiema Bunche Smith*

Erika Christakis

Bill Crain

Rixa Evershed*

Dale Farran*

Carol Garboden-Murray*

Laleña Garcia*

Michelle Gunderson

Tom Hobson*

Nadia Jaboneta*

Susan Linn

Melinda Marshall*

Kisa Marx*

Peter Rawitsch*

Kisha Reid*

Rukia Rodgers*

Ruth Rodriguez-Fay

Kaliris Yimar Salas-Ramirez*

James St. Clair

Judith Van Hoorn

Dodah Yirusha*

* New Advisor

Defending the Early Years, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Donations are tax deductible. Our Tax ID: 82-4308558

Support Our Work

Defending the Early Years

www.dey.org

Follow DEY for the latest updates.