Upcoming Webinars
Our online series unites the early childhood learning community around timely issues and provides professional development opportunities.
Webinars are offered without cost and are open to all. An archive of recorded webinars are available in our video library.
2026 SERIES:
Reflect for Insight,
Reset for Action!
Welcome back to the CAYL Catalyst webinar series!
The CAYL Catalyst webinar series brings to you bold conversations of interest to early childhood educators. Our online series is intended to unite early childhood learning communities around timely issues and provide professional development opportunities. Join us every first Thursday of each month for one hour at 4 PM EST.
In 2026, we will host top practitioners, analysts, and thinkers to help us reflect and reset our daily work and strategic adaptations. As always, CAYL’s talks and panels feature prominent leaders alongside on-the-ground educators.
The field of early childhood education is facing increasing scrutiny in both policy and practice. As we consider our next steps, the CAYL Institute invites you to join these three dynamic conversations. We intend to have a phenomenal year of reflection, new insights, resetting, and taking action.
Cecilie Surasky
CAYL Catalyst Ep. #65 – Reflect for Insight, Reset for Action! – Featuring Cecilie Surasky
November 5, 2026
4pm ET / 3pm CT / 2pm MT / 1pm PT
What stories are we telling about early childhood education?
Do the messages we use to talk about the field build public will for change—or unintentionally hold us back?
And what can the work of the Othering & Belonging Institute teach us about building a broader movement for children, families, and educators?
Join us on November 5 for CAYL Catalyst as we welcome Cecilie Surasky, a communications strategist, movement builder, and leader at the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley.
Cecilie brings a powerful lens to the question of how movements create change—not only through policy and research, but through the stories we tell, the communities we build, and the sense of belonging we create. Together, we’ll explore how the early childhood field talks about its work today, what those messages make possible, and what might need to change if we want to build greater public will and momentum for systemic change.
Hosted by Dr. Valora Washington – CEO and President, The CAYL Institute
Kim Grady
Jamal Berry
Natalie Flores
Makia Akinola Thomas
CAYL Catalyst Ep. #66 – Reflect for Insight, Reset for Action! – Featuring Next Generation Leaders
December 3, 2026
4pm ET / 3pm CT / 2pm MT / 1pm PT
What does the future of early childhood leadership look like — and what can we learn from the next generation of leaders shaping the field right now?
On December 3, CAYL Catalyst brings together three next-generation leaders for a conversation about where they are today, what they’re learning along the way, and what they envision for the future.
Featuring:
Kim Grady, early childhood educator and licensed family child care provider
Jamal Berry, President and CEO of Educare DC
Natalie Flores, Workforce Development Advocate for the Early Childhood Ecosystem
Makia Akinola Thomas, program officer, Powell Foundation
Together, we’ll explore the experiences shaping their leadership, the challenges and opportunities they see in the field, and the changes they hope to help lead in the years ahead.
Hosted by Dr. Valora Washington – CEO and President, The CAYL Institute