--- title: "From Problems to Progress to Promise: Highlights from Symposium 2025" description: From Problems to Progress, Symposium 2025 recap image: https://info.childcareaware.org/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A8040.jpg --- [![Child Care Aware of America Logo](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/social-suggested-images/usachildcareaware.site-ym.comgraphicslogo-new.png?width=690&height=350&name=usachildcareaware.site-ym.comgraphicslogo-new.png "Child Care Aware of America Logo")](https://www.childcareaware.org/) - [English ](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/from-problems-to-progress-to-promise-highlights-from-symposium-2025#) - [Español (Spanish) ](https://www.childcareaware.org/?lang=es) - [Child Care Career Center](http://careers.childcareaware.org/) - [Help for Military/DoD Families](https://www.childcareaware.org/fee-assistancerespite/) Search ![CCA Logo/Homepage link](https://info.childcareaware.org/hubfs/ChildCareAware_October2019%20Theme/Images/menu_img.png) ## Blog & News For media requests, please call 703-341-4161 or email [news@usa.childcareaware.org](mailto:news@usa.childcareaware.org). # From Problems to Progress to Promise: Highlights from Symposium 2025 May 20, 2025 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Two weeks have passed since we concluded our most successful Symposium yet, and the energy from *Child Care Strong: From Problems to Progress* still resonates. Held from May 4–7 in Arlington, VA, CCAoA brought together national, state, and local child care leaders, advocates, and changemakers to collaborate on building a stronger child care system.  There were truly too many amazing moments throughout the week to name here (search social medial channels for #ChildCareStrong and #Symposium2025 for more), so here’s a quick highlight reel of some of the most amazing moments.  - ![1R0A8606](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A8606.jpg?width=6720&height=3920&name=1R0A8606.jpg) - ![1R0A7969](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A7969.jpg?width=6720&height=4480&name=1R0A7969.jpg) - ![1R0A7861](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A7861.jpg?width=6720&height=3920&name=1R0A7861.jpg) - ![1R0A9815](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A9815.jpg?width=6720&height=4480&name=1R0A9815.jpg) Seat 1: Michelle McCready, Senior Vice President of Organizational Advancement, CCAoA  Seat 2: Helene Stebbins, Executive Director, Alliance for Early Success  Seat 3: Marica Cox Mitchell, Chief Program Officer, Bainum Family Foundation  Seat 4: Hannah McIntire Senior Associate, Family Well-Being Strategy Group, The Annie E. Casey Foundation  - ![1R0A9667](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A9667.jpg?width=6720&height=3360&name=1R0A9667.jpg) Seat 1: Sandra Bishop, Senior Director of Research, CCAoA  Seat 2: Jason Fichtner, Executive Director, the Retirement Income Institute, Alliance for Lifetime Income; Consultant, the Bipartisan Policy Center  Seat 3: Theresa Hawley, Executive Director, The Center for Early Learning Funding Equity at Northern Illinois University  Seat 4: Linda Smith, Director of Policy, the Buffett Early Childhood Institute  - ![1R0A8803](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A8803.jpg?width=6020&height=3512&name=1R0A8803.jpg) Senator Tim Kaine - ![1R0A8965](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A8965.jpg?width=6720&height=3411&name=1R0A8965.jpg) Susan Gale Perry and Reshma Saujani - ![ayannapressley](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/ayannapressley.jpg?width=800&height=670&name=ayannapressley.jpg) - ![1R0A8066](https://info.childcareaware.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025%20Symposium%20Selected%20Photos/1R0A8066.jpg?width=6720&height=4480&name=1R0A8066.jpg) Susan Gayle Perry and Layla Zaidane - With more than 400 attendees, Symposium 2025 was a sell-out crowd. Creating space for learning, community building and networking is a primary goal of Symposium, and we saw countless connections among stakeholders on site and through the event app.   - Attendees join us at Symposium for cutting edge programming—and this year we offered more than 50 sessions cutting across systems work, advocacy, innovation, and research.   - We welcomed a surprise guest! **Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA)** joined us to speak about the importance of high-quality, affordable child care and his work on the bipartisan Child Care Availability and Affordability Act, which he leads alongside Senator Katie Britt (R-AL). His inspiring, personal story energized attendees for Advocacy Day.  - And during Advocacy Day, advocates attended nearly 170 meetings with Congressional offices, delivering the message that investing in child care is critical and transforms lives. Attendees received a sneak peek into our [annual report on the price and supply of child care](https://www.childcareaware.org/price-landscape24/), and used that important national *and *state-specific data to make compelling cases to policymakers. These meetings underscored our collective commitment to ensuring that all families have access to affordable, high-quality child care.  - We were excited to host two remarkable plenary speakers:  - **Layla Zaidane**, President & CEO of [Future Caucus](https://futurecaucus.org/), who engaged in a dynamic fireside chat with CCAoA CEO Susan Gale Perry, discussing the intersection of policy, leadership, and social impact. - **Reshma Saujani**, Founder & CEO of [Moms First](https://momsfirst.us/), who inspired attendees with her insights on finding progress within the challenges faced in the child care sector.  - And finally, we had the chance to honor several incredible people in the child care field: - The current cohort of **Head Start Fellows**, who recently lost funding for their program were able to join us and be recognized. - Several leaders in the child care system are retiring this year, and we were able to honor them with the CCAoA Legacy of Leadership award. Thank you **Fannie Glover, Dr. Beverly Lynn, Ann McCully, Janet Singerman**—you are leaders who have brought this field to where it is today.  Hundreds of child care system builders coming together to learn, grow, and share inspired and energized us—and we’re excited to keep the momentum going as we work together to make #ChildCareStrong. Because when child care is strong, everyone is stronger.  Want to be part of what’s next?  👉[Stay connected](https://www.childcareaware.org/events/).  👉[Receive exclusive event discounts, training opportunities, and access to a national network of professionals driving change in child care.](https://info.childcareaware.org/child-care-aware-of-america-membership)  We’ll see you at the next one!  Topics: [Events](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/events) ### Written by [Child Care Aware® of America](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/author/child-care-aware-of-america) Previous Post [Workforce well-being is systems work—CCR&Rs are leading the way](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/workforce-well-being-is-systems-work-ccrrs-are-leading-the-way) Next Post [![Mental health is a workforce issue—and a healthy child care priority](https://info.childcareaware.org/hubfs/05_15_25Amanda%20Green.png) ](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/mental-health-is-a-workforce-issue-and-a-healthy-child-care-priority) [Mental health is a workforce issue—and a healthy child care priority](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/mental-health-is-a-workforce-issue-and-a-healthy-child-care-priority) ### Subscribe to Our Blog ### Topics - [Best Practices (61)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/best-practices) - [Brain Building Tips (7)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/brain-building-tips) - [Business Operations for CCR&Rs (64)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/business-operations-for-ccrrs) - [Capacity Building and Partnerships (3)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/capacity-building-and-partnerships) - [ccaoaleadership2024 (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/ccaoaleadership2024) - [childcarestrong (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/childcarestrong) - [Data & Research (4)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/data-research) - [emergency preparedness (61)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/emergency-preparedness) - [En español (4)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/en-español) - [Events (3)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/events) - [Family & Community Engagement (33)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/family-community-engagement) - [Family Stories (6)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/family-stories) - [Food Insecurities (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/food-insecurities) - [Health & Safety (98)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/health-safety) - [leadership (3)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/leadership) - [leadershipinstitute (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/leadershipinstitute) - [military (6)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/military) - [News (12)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/news) - [Parenting (18)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/parenting) - [Policy & Advocacy (88)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/policy-advocacy) - [pro (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/pro) - [Professional Development (30)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/professional-development) - [Provider Appreciation Day 2022 (3)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/provider-appreciation-day-2022) - [Provider Appreciation Day 2023 (2)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/provider-appreciation-day-2023) - [state of the union (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/state-of-the-union) - [STEAM (1)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/steam) - [Systems Building (29)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/systems-building) - [Workforce (11)](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/tag/workforce) [See all](https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/from-problems-to-progress-to-promise-highlights-from-symposium-2025#) [![Child Care Aware of America logo](https://info.childcareaware.org/hubfs/ChildCareAware_October2019%20Theme/Images/footer_logo.png "Child Care Aware of America logo")](https://www.childcareaware.org/) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.childcareaware.org/about/privacy-policy/) - Copyright 2023 Child Care Aware® of America