An Abundant Vision for American Childcare

In partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, IDEO.org set out to help early childhood care advocates create a compelling, unifying vision for childcare in America—one rooted in abundance, equity, and dignity for all. Our task was to equip grassroots leaders with the tools, language, and imagination needed to align policy, organizing, and culture around a shared future of liberatory care.

We convened a group of BIPOC leaders—parents, providers, organizers, and policy experts—to co-create a vision that went beyond incremental reform. Through immersive storytelling, creative prototyping, and facilitated workshops, we helped this collective articulate a bold future for childcare and the systems needed to make it real. Their vision became the foundation for a national campaign and community of practice, allowing others to adapt and carry the torch.

We facilitated strategic visioning workshops and retreats with the core leadership group, grounding the project in co-creation from the start. This work led to the development of a modular narrative toolkit—ReimagineChild.care—designed for campaign customization and community outreach. To help audiences imagine what’s possible, we created illustrated vignettes that brought the envisioned future of childcare to life. Our design team also supported state-based organizing efforts by providing communications assets and frameworks. Finally, we introduced a cohort-based engagement model that allowed leaders to go deeper on specific levers of change: policy, practice, culture, and power.