Communities for Education and Action (CEA)

The goal of CEA is to improve early childhood educational outcomes in the Downtown, South Valley and Southwest Mesa neighborhoods in Bernalillo County by supporting quality early childhood educational services and supporting community-based advocacy efforts through building upon the collective leadership, values, skills and culture of families in our communities.

CEA uses the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors curriculum, which is an evidence-based parent leadership training program for Latino parents with children 0-5 years of age.

This curriculum, delivered in 10 interactive sessions, is based on popular education and draws on the real life experiences and cultural strengths of its participants. Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors uses “dichos” (culturally-based sayings) to frame the conversation for each session. Every week, parents of 0 - 5 year olds meet in a support group setting to develop their ability to be their child’s first teacher.

In addition, CEA works to:

1. Develop a collective support system for educational success for families /neighborhoods.
2. Build capacity using small group facilitated discussions that recognize existing cultural knowledge, skills and values as the foundation from which to build a focused effort around early childhood development.
3. Assess the gaps within educational system and organized actions that take a bottom up/top down approach to reform by engaging all stakeholders with families/ neighborhoods leading the efforts.

For information please call Jessa Bunker, the Family Leadership Coordinator, at (505) 247-9222.