In this hands-on workshop, we'll move from inspiration to application. Attendees will use a guided framework to explore a real leadership, advocacy, or community challenge they're facing and consider not only what the situation requires today, but what may be coming next.

Building on the keynote's futurist mindset, participants will identify emerging needs, examine where trust could become vulnerable as circumstances evolve, and determine how they can respond with greater intention. The goal is to help leaders move beyond reacting to disruption and begin actively shaping a more trusted, resilient future for their organizations, networks, and communities.

Attendees will leave with:

• Their own “Trust in Action” assessment for a current challenge or emerging opportunity.

• A clearer picture of where trust needs to be strengthened — with themselves, their team, partners, policymakers, or community.

• Greater awareness of the trends, needs, and changes that could influence their work in the future.

• Two to three specific actions they can put into practice immediately to strengthen trust today while preparing for what comes next. 

Creating a strong future for child care begins with leaders who are clear about who they are, what they value, and how they want to lead. Through reflection and practical exercises, you’ll explore your leadership style and identify your strengths and potential blind spots. You’ll leave with tools to create a compelling vision for the future, set meaningful goals, make values-aligned decisions, and manage your energy and attention so you and your team can thrive through change and help shape what comes next.  

AI is already changing how families find information, how organizations work with data, and how decisions get made across the child care system. And these changes raise bigger questions about how technology will shape the systems and organizations families rely on.

Join Susan Gale Perry and Joe Eichenbaum, a technology and public-sector transformation leader with 17A, for a candid conversation about what these changes mean for CCR&Rs and the child care system. Where can AI and emerging technologies make our work stronger and more effective? What remains uniquely dependent on trusted relationships, local knowledge, and human judgment? And how can CCR&Rs harness new tools while continuing to strengthen their essential role in building child care systems that work for families and communities?

Come ready to think beyond the tools themselves—and explore how technology can strengthen, rather than replace, the people, relationships, and infrastructure that make child care work.

*Space is limited for this free session, so advance sign-up is required. Use the button below to make this session part of your event experience. 

Tech companies have taken on a larger role in the child care field, including providing services that CCR&Rs have long been recognized for. This working session, exclusive to State Networks, meets this evolution head-on: what's really changing, what it means for CCR&R services, and why the true differentiator was never just data, it's the community relationships and trust no platform can replicate. Susan Gale Perry and Joe Eichenbaum take your questions and work with states on what comes next, including how to grow leaders ready for this new era of the work.