I recently sat down with board member Kali Thorne Ladd, CEO of the Children’s Institute and a visionary leader with a long track record of working to transform early learning and healthy development for children and families in Oregon.

We know that we can accomplish transformative change by starting upstream and connecting families with the resources they need to thrive during the critical first 1,000 days of life, which includes prenatal to age two. This is exactly what the Pollywog Program was designed, developed and implemented to achieve.

Last month I interviewed Cara Copeland, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Relief Nurseries. We talked all about infant and maternal well-being and the role of Relief Nurseries.

Just before a winter storm descended on the Willamette Valley and paralyzed much of the city for an entire week, Chelsea King (Executive Director of the Oregon Collaborative) and former Governor John Kitzhaber (Chair of the board of the Oregon Collaborative), visited Lane County Design Pilot as part of the Upstream Initiative.

The Oregon Health and Education Collaborative would like to announce five unique and geographically diverse statewide communities who are partnering with one another and with OHEC to create a blueprint for a Child Success Model that will be specific to their region, and will inform statewide policy, practice and investment.

I recently met up with Kim Scott, outgoing OHEC board member and immediate past CEO of Trillium Family Services. We explored the current state of youth mental and behavioral health, the impact of stress on our families, and how authentic collaboration is the simple (but challenging) answer to making systemic improvements.

Dr. David Willis, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, is a national expert in pediatrics and early relational health. I had the pleasure of interviewing him and during our conversation we explored the power of strong community support networks and how that can shape early relational health.

Gustavo Morales was in medical school when he grew disenchanted. We are still overcoming systemic challenges.

I invite you to watch the 8 minute TED talk where 7 year old Molly Wright demonstrates how a simple game of peek-a-boo can change the world.

Chelsea King, Executive Director of the Oregon Health and Education Collaborative, and Peter Buckley, Program Manager for Southern Oregon Success, met up to discuss the work of communities in Josephine and Jackson counties to co-imagine a blueprint for a Child Success Model.

The US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, cited an epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the USA, with health risks as detrimental as smoking daily.

The selection committee has decided to extend the invitation for Letter of Interest submissions until Friday, June 9th at Noon.

Watch the video to hear former Governor John Kitzhaber (Board Chair of OHEC) describe the Upstream Initiative.

When Dr. Greg Blaschke and I sat down a couple weeks ago to discuss Heckman's Curve and how it is related to The Collaborative's Upstream Initiative, I knew I would learn something.

The Oregon Health and Education Collaborative is inviting Oregon communities to submit a Letter of Interest to participate in the Upstream Initiative.