Building a Provider-Led Early Childhood System in AlabamaLessons from Third Sector's Work With Small Magic
At Third Sector, a core part of our work is helping partners build authentic community leadership and shared decisionmaking structures. Our work with Small Magic addresses longstanding gaps in the early childhood ecosystem in Jefferson County, Alabama, which reflect a national trend of policymakers undervaluing provider expertise and making policy decisions disconnected from the lived experiences and realities of children and families. The recent launch of the Jefferson County Provider Council, a result of our work with Small Magic, serves as a compelling case study on how to establish authentic community leadership and shared decisionmaking. This post examines four key lessons that can guide similar efforts.
Lessons Learned: Building a Provider Led Early Childhood System
Lesson 1: Build Trust Through Intentional Engagement
Building trust among stakeholders is crucial before implementing formal governance. Over the course of six months, we engaged with early childhood stakeholders in Jefferson County, including providers, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, healthcare institutions, and advocacy groups. This careful process bolstered trust between council stakeholders and revealed meaningful insights into their experiences, frustrations, and aspirations for the early childhood ecosystem. These insights highlighted the need for a provider-led, politically independent, and effective advocacy structure.
Our guidance also clarified Small Magic’s vital role as the host organization. We established trust by defining its function as an empowering “backbone organization,” a convener, and facilitator that supports providers while ensuring power remains with the Council members.
Lesson 2: A Strong Center Creates a More Coherent Ecosystem
A strong, centered voice has the power to strengthen the entire early childhood ecosystem. Drawing on community input and models from other jurisdictions, we guided Small Magic through selecting a Council structure that reflects what we heard clearly: providers want to lead, but they also want cross-sector collaboration.
First, we reviewed governance models from peer jurisdictions, held local focus groups, and conducted interviews to identify non-negotiable requirements. We established three membership categories with explicit seat counts, role definitions, and quorum math, scoring each against a rubric prioritizing 1) provider majority, 2) cross-sector collaboration, 3) manageable workload, and 4) growth flexibility. This diligent process led us to an 18-seat council design: 10 providers, four community stakeholders, two public officials, and two at-large seats. This structure, paired with staggered terms and subcommittees, ensures continuity and fresh perspectives. The 18-member Council gives providers a majority (10), while flexible elements like subcommittees and at-large seats ensure ongoing inclusion of parents, caregivers, and other voices. By empowering providers to lead, Small Magic now has a clear, collaborative hub for early childhood efforts.
Lesson 3: Design for Authentic Representation, Not Tokenism
Defining membership is one of the most critical components in designing a governance body. This Council prioritizes provider leadership while ensuring inclusive opportunities for diverse voices to inform the work. While it’s tempting to assign seats to every constituency, this can unintentionally lead to tokenism. In a hands-on workshop with Small Magic staff and providers, we surfaced critical feedback, challenged assumptions, and reframed the goal: to embed diverse perspectives throughout the council, rather than isolate them.
Instead of a designated “parent seat,” we prioritized recruiting providers who are also parents, ensuring caregiver voices are integrated—not siloed. This model champions the intersectionality of lived and professional experience, fostering a richer, more inclusive dialogue that values whole people over symbolic representation.
Lesson 4: Provide Scaffolding for Sustainable Leadership
A foundational equity practice and core tenet of this Council’s design is compensating providers for their time, lived experience, and leadership. This approach acknowledges the real costs of participation for those balancing caregiving and professional responsibilities, supports sustainability, and ensures the Provider Council accurately reflects the diversity of the early childhood workforce.
The design process also includes a phased approach to leadership and advocacy development, ensuring member retention by providing foundational training and support at each stage of the term. Members access ongoing professional development (including policy education and skill-building), empowering providers to lead, co-create advocacy priorities, and drive change. This model builds alignment and skills before introducing complex advocacy.
Our work with Small Magic addresses a critical governance gap by establishing an equitable and trust-based structure. The Provider Council model exemplifies how intentional design can transform”community voice” into a practical reality through community-centered advisory boards. This model provides a roadmap for other communities seeking to develop responsive and effective systems that genuinely engage and collaborate with the people they serve.
For more information on our work with Early Childhood Councils or to learn how Third Sector can support your state’s initiatives, please contact Kesha Lee, Managing Director, Early Childhood (klee@thirdsectorcap.org) or Dre Szegedy-Maszak, Director, Projects and Partnership Development (dszegedymaszak@thirdsectorcap.org).
