Head Start has always moved forward by coming together.
At moments of challenge, change, and uncertainty, our community reconnects—with one another, with the children and families we serve, and with the purpose that brought us to this work in the first place.
We do not yet know the specifics or full scope of the changes ahead. But we do know that change is coming. Before rushing toward predictions, positions, or answers, this is an opportunity to gather as a community: to share, listen, care for one another, and restore ourselves for the journey ahead.
Head Start Forward: A Global Town Hall
You are invited to a Zoom gathering for everyone who carries Head Start forward—staff, leaders, parents, alumni, partners, and friends of the program.
This will not be a presentation or a debate. It will be a facilitated space to reflect on this moment, hear one another, reconnect with what is enduring in Head Start, and leave more grounded, connected, and ready to move forward together.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 | 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time
Join via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81043163845
Meeting ID: 810 4316 3845
About the Gathering
This gathering is made possible through the World Forum Foundation, an international community of early childhood practitioners and leaders dedicated to connection, shared learning, and improving the lives of young children and families around the world. Through its global network and convening work, the World Forum Foundation is helping create the space, technology, and outreach needed to bring this Head Start conversation together.
The town hall will be hosted and facilitated by Jerry Parr, CEO of Willow Tree Early Education Team. Jerry brings more than five decades of early childhood experience—as an infant/toddler and kindergarten teacher, a Tribal Head Start/Early Head Start executive director, and through national roles supporting senior Office of Head Start leadership, including Head Start monitoring. Through Willow Tree, he works alongside Head Start and early childhood communities nationally and internationally.
Please join us. We may not have every answer, but we do not have to face the road ahead alone.