Hello John,

New York is paying attention to universal child care in a way we’ve not seen before, and that collective focus has created a rare chance and possibility for change. A contribution this Giving Tuesday will help us rise to the moment by carrying communities to Albany, nourishing parents and students who will spend the day speaking with lawmakers, and preparing families to share what this change, what universal child care, would mean for them. As AQE Advocacy Day on January 27 approaches, we would be grateful to have you with us in this work.

Your support today would help lift the voices that too often go unheard in the rooms where decisions are made. A contribution of any size can put someone on the bus who otherwise couldn’t go ($75), make sure a parent advocate has lunch after a morning of meetings with their elected representatives ($25), or cover the full cost for a neighbor to spend the day in Albany making sure their community’s needs are impossible to ignore ($100). With the beginning of budget negotiations only weeks away, it matters that lawmakers hear directly from the people living with the impacts of their choices every single day.

Youth from the Ya-Ya Network (left) and AQE Co-Executive Directors, Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari and Marina Marcou-O’Malley (right) at this past year's AQE Advocacy Day.

AQE’s work has always been grounded in the simple conviction that when communities speak up together, we change what’s possible for our children and for the generations coming after them. Your Giving Tuesday gift keeps that movement in motion. Moving people, moving policy, and advancing the conversations about what New York’s children need to grow up with the opportunity and stability every family hopes for. We hope you’ll help make this Advocacy Day the most powerful one yet.