Summer is a season of growth, and this month’s Strengthening the Grid update reflects just that. From new roles to new resources, the work featured here points to the steady, collective momentum building to support Arkansas families and young children.

Rebecca Berry Joins E8 Team as Communities Manager

Join us in welcoming our newest communities manager, Rebecca Berry! Rebecca will support strategies in Poinsett County to help children and families thrive. With a background in grassroots organizing and social work, she brings a strong commitment to relationship-building and community-led change.

Get to Know Rebecca

Business Coalition Launches Child Care Toolkit for Employers

Our business coalition now includes more than 80 members across the state helping to identify solutions that help make child care more affordable and accessible to working families. As part of this growing effort, we’ve launched the Arkansas Employer Child Care Toolkit, now available as a microsite at arkansasemployertoolkit.com.

The toolkit outlines the business case for child care; offers practical strategies for employers to become more family-friendly; and includes resources such as state and county-level data, financial assistance programs for families with young children, and child care reports from UAMS.

Quarterly coalition meetings will continue throughout the year. If you're not yet a member and want to be part of the conversation, sign up here or contact coalition director Alison Williams to get involved.

Explore the Toolkit

Child Care as Infrastructure and Why Arkansas is Poised to Lead

In a recent USA Today opinion piece, Olivia Walton, founder and CEO of Ingeborg, highlights Arkansas as a national model for supporting working families. Ingeborg is a member of Excel by Eight’s Business Coalition, and Oliva’s article reinforces a central coalition message: Working families need real support to raise children, including affordable, accessible child care. She calls for investing in child care as infrastructure, alongside expanding the Child Tax Credit and paid leave.

Additionally, new polling from the Associated Press shows widespread agreement among Americans that child care costs are a major problem.

These articles emphasize the urgent need to support working families as well as the opportunity we have in Arkansas to lead the way. With the involvement of our business coalition, we’re bringing public and private partners together to identify solutions and strengthen the systems families depend on.

Do Americans need to have more kids? This red state shows how to help families. | Opinion by Olivia Walton (USA Today)

Most US Adults Say Child Care Costs Are a ‘Major Problem,’ a New Poll Finds (Arkansas Business)

Excel by Eight named a “Champion for Children” for working to improve maternal health in Arkansas

We are honored to receive a Champion for Children award from the Arkansas Kids Count Coalition and the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families for working to improve maternal health care. Our policy team was proud to accept this award at the recent Children’s Policy Summit in Little Rock alongside our fellow award recipients in this category: the Doula Alliance of Arkansas, Ujima Maternity Network, Sen. Jamie Scott, and Rep. Ashley Hudson. We are proud to work alongside these partners to improve outcomes for moms and babies across Arkansas.

Pictured, from left: Jamie Ward (Curricula Concepts, Excel by Eight); Angela Duran (Excel by Eight); Nicolle Fletcher (Ujima Maternity Network, Doula Alliance of Arkansas); Anna Strong (Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Excel by Eight); Lori Ross (Doula Alliance of Arkansas); and Liyah Wasson (Doula Alliance of Arkansas).

E8 Network Spotlight

Fredricka Tabor joins team at National Center for Family and Parent Leadership

We are excited to share that Fredricka Tabor has joined the team at the National Center for Family and Parent Leadership as a Technical Assistance Consultant!

Fredricka is an active member of Excel by Eight’s Family Advisor Council and Leadership Team and brings a powerful blend of professional expertise and lived experience to her new national role. Her deep commitment to families combined with her background in child development and mental health make her a trusted voice in Arkansas and beyond.

We’re so proud to see Fredricka’s leadership recognized on a national scale and grateful for the continued wisdom she brings to the E8 network. Congratulations, Fredricka!

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