About Us

Who We Are

The Common Start Coalition is a statewide partnership of organizations, providers, parents, early educators and advocates working together to make high-quality early education and child care affordable and accessible to all Massachusetts families. Our goal is to ensure that all families have the care solutions they need and that all children in our Commonwealth have the same, strong start and enter school on a level playing field. We are a diverse coalition including community, faith-based, labor, business, and early education and child care organizations, as well as early educators, parents, individuals, and direct service organizations.

Access to affordable, high-quality early education and child care is critical to building a stronger, more equal and just Massachusetts. The Common Start Coalition is committed to making this vision a reality.

 

Get Involved

Massachusetts families need affordable, high-quality early education and child care now! If you're a parent, an early educator, a provider, an employer, or an advocate — we need your voice. Sign up here to join our movement!

 

Common Start Coalition Contacts

Deb Fastino, Statewide Director: dfastino@aol.com

Vanesa Morales, Organizer (Early Educators): EarlyEducators@commonstartma.org

Sandy Faiman Silva, Organizer (Program Administrators and Providers): ProgramAdministrators@commonstartma.org

Kathy Blackwell, Organizer (Parents and Families): Families@commonstartma.org

Liz Sheehan-Castro, Organizer (Family Child Care Providers): FCCs@commonstartma.org

James Wu, Organizing Consultant: james@field-first.com

Carl Nilsson, Organizing Consultant: carl@field-first.com

Andrew Farnitano, Communications Consultant: andrew@crawfordstrategies.com

Is your organization interested in joining the Common Start Coalition? Start here.

The Common Start Coalition is coordinated by the Coalition for Social Justice.

Our Members/Endorsers

 

​Steering Committee Member
 

Is your organization interested in joining the Common Start Coalition? Start here.