I joined First 5 Alameda County at a high-stakes moment in 2024. Measure C, a countywide sales tax that brings in about 150 million dollars a year for early childhood education, was finally moving from years of legal delays into real public action. The agency needed clear messaging, strong internal alignment, and a communications plan that could hold up under pressure. In partnership with Band Together Communications, I was able to deliver all of this and more.

We were clear from the start that things would need to happen fast. The communications director was leaving, a new website had just gone live and needed some fixes, and the Early Care and Education Emergency Grants Program was days away from public release. Program teams were sprinting, and timelines kept shifting as the project cleared some administrative hurdles while running into new ones. It was the internal team’s first time designing a grant program to scale, and everyone wanted a grant process that felt simple and respectful for child care providers who already face too many administrative barriers. We had to meet daily communications needs for the agency and the grant program, and also put in place an overarching strategy and messaging that would serve the organization into the future.

We focused on bringing order, clarity, and intentionality. I worked with staff and developers to strengthen the website’s navigation and content so it could handle a major spike in visitors. We revised the agency’s core language about Measure C and created explanations that staff and partners could use consistently.

At the same time, the 5-Year Plan and Budget for Measure C was heading toward a Board of Supervisors vote. The plan is more than 150 pages long and needed careful editing, a clear executive summary, and a public webpage that made the goals easy to understand. I managed the final editing and graphic design process and produced materials that supported staff, families, and elected leaders during the approval process.

The Emergency Grants came with a big goal: make sure every one of the nearly 1,500 eligible child care providers applied. To support that goal, I rewrote the messaging, simplified application language, and created automated emails that guided providers step by step. I produced an FAQ, helpline scripts, and coordinated outreach across email, partners, social media, and mailers. Everything our team wrote and designed for applicant communications centered on accessibility, so the grant would be truly available to everyone who qualified, not just those with good computer knowledge and English skills.

Along with the BTC team, I also supported First 5’s public voice and thought leadership. When the Stanford Center on Early Childhood was ready to release a case study about First 5, we created a foreword for CEO Kristin Spanos and shaped messaging to position Measure C as a model for what it looks like to grow early childhood investment in communities nationwide.

Thanks to our work in partnership with staff, First 5 had coordinated messaging, a clear website, accessible materials for providers, and an approved 5-Year Plan. The Emergency Grants went out with clarity and confidence. Providers understood what they needed to do. Staff had the tools to support them. The public narrative around Measure C was grounded and strong.

The results reached well beyond a single launch. The work strengthened internal communication, reduced barriers for providers, and helped build early trust in Measure C’s implementation. It also elevated First 5’s presence in a growing national conversation about early childhood systems and laid the foundation for the agency’s long-term success in strategic communication, executive leadership and systems change.