The Children’s Leadership Council strives to serve as the ‘Big Tent’ for our children—a space for all child- and youth-serving organizations to connect and innovate solutions to local issues.
The Children’s Leadership Council aims to intentionally develop and strengthen the ecosystem that recognizes and supports child, youth, family, and community resilience and wellbeing.
The Council is led by First 5 Contra Costa, the Employment and Human Services Department, Contra Costa Health, and the Contra Costa County Office of Education. The Council uses a rotating leadership model with one of the leadership partners coordinating the effort. Currently the Employment and Human Services Department is coordinating the effort. In FY 2023, First 5 Contra Costa coordinated the effort.
The Children’s Leadership Council began in 2019. After several successful community convenings, the effort took a hiatus during the Covid pandemic. Given that the pandemic exacerbated many inequities facing our children and their families, the Children’s Leadership Council has re-launched to facilitate systems and service providers working together around shared goals and strategies.
Latest Efforts

Children’s Leadership Council June 21, 2023 Convening
More than 115 service providers, professionals, elected officials, and others working to support children and their families attended the event to connect, learn and be empowered. Attendees heard from several elected officials and county department leaders about the about the power of collaboration and had an opportunity to learn about nine county-wide collaborative projects aiming to improve systems and outcomes for children and families. The projects included: Trauma-informed practices and approaches, families’ economic security, oral health, guaranteed income for childcare teachers, quality early learning programs, Black infant health, Perinatal health, workforce programs for youth, and resource parents for foster youth.
Children’s Leadership Council Re-launch Virtual Event: April 6, 2023
This virtual event re-launched the council after a break during the pandemic, and marked the release of a new report that uses local data to highlight the opportunity gaps facing children and families in our county.
