Angela de Silva
Director of Creative Center for Children and former director of Palisades Montessori
Forged from the Fires: Rebuilding Child Care in L.A. and Beyond Through Storytelling That Facilitates Policy Change
- Virtual
- 12PM – 1PM EDT
This interactive virtual event, produced by the Re-Scripting Gender, Work, Family, and Care Initiative at New America in partnership with CHANGE (City Hub and Network for Gender Equity), will bring together entertainment storytellers with child care practitioners and systems experts to examine truths about early care and learning in the wake of a major disaster, the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Building on data and stories about the emotional and practical toll the wildfires had on child care providers, children, and families in Los Angeles, this event will use key insights from a research initiative called “Rebuilding L.A. With Care” as a jumping-off point for television and film storytelling. The event will highlight actionable narrative shifts for TV and film storytellers, as well as one or two very practical story points that could shift the needle for child care infrastructure in states and cities across the country as this report is aiming to do for emergency response plans in L.A. County.
Learn more about Re-Building L.A. with Care:
Learn more about Re-Scripting Gender, Work, Family, and Care at New America at https://newamerica.org/entertainment and on Instagram at @rescriptingworkandfamily
Speakers
Barbara Friend
Co-Executive Producer on the TV series "Fire Country"
Debra Colman
Director of the Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, Los Angeles County Office of Public Health
Holly Milburn-Smith
Co-Executive Director, CHANGE
Joy Kecken
Writer/Director, on the TV series "The Wire"
Moderator
Vicki Shabo
Senior Fellow for Gender Equity, Paid Leave & Care Policy and Strategy, Better Life Lab