Best Starts for Kids offers free workshops, trainings, and peer learning opportunities to build up the knowledge and skills of King County providers, caregivers, and community members. We know it’s essential to invest in the expertise of our workforce to promote the health and well-being of babies, children, and young people.
We are posting this new blog series to highlight upcoming Best Starts workshops and learning opportunities. This blog post features workshops scheduled from May to August 2026. We will continuously update this blog post as new workshops are scheduled.
If you have any questions, please email us at Best.Starts@kingcounty.gov.
Liberatory Leadership & Governance Learning Circle series
Deadline to register is May 11, 2026.
Date: June 9, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm; June 10 – July 30 (1 to 3 coaching sessions); July 16, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Facilitator: alterNative consulting in partnership with the Communities of Opportunity Learning Community
Liberatory Governance is a learning circle series designed to help community leaders, staff, and board members learn how to strategically and intentionally leverage governance and leadership to transform how power flows, how systems are structured, and how culture is felt at the organizations.
Cultivating Prenatal to 5 Community-Based Facilitators
Deadline to apply is May 16, 2026.
Date: June 2026 – February 2027 (7-month program)
Facilitators: Adana Protonentis; Haydee Lavariega; Ivania Delgado
Apply for this 7-month program to build skills and practices to conduct culturally-responsive trainings on the topics of Healthy Child Development, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, and Racial Equity. This opportunity is for King County’s prenatal to five community members to network, share wisdom, and receive individual and group mentorship.
Capturing the Heart of your Program: Documenting Key Activities and Impact of Your Work
Date: May 20, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Facilitator: Innovation Supports Team
Join this half-day in-person workshop to create tools that demonstrate what happens within your program and clearly define the positive impacts that capture the heart of your program. This workshop is part of an ongoing series to support the sustainability and ongoing success of community-designed programs. Participants may attend one or all workshops in the series.
Behavior and Belonging: Race, Innocence, and Restorative Justice in Early Childhood
Date: May 30, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm (Part 1); June 13, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm (Part 2)
Facilitators: Jamie Cho and Ninderjit Gill
This two-part virtual professional learning series explores how assumptions about race, innocence, and ability shape adult responses to children’s behavior and contribute to exclusion and pushout in early childhood settings.
Keep the Heart of Your Program Running: Documenting Program Materials that Reflect Your Values and Community
Date: June 10, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Facilitator: Innovation Supports Team
This hands on in-person workshop is for anyone who wants to better document their program practices. Staff with programs underway will have time to clarify key practices and how they work, improving shared understanding within their organization and beyond. This workshop is part of an ongoing series to support the sustainability and ongoing success of community-designed programs. Participants may attend one or all workshops in the series.
Stay True to the Heart of Your Program: Creating Community-Centered Evaluation Plans
Date: August 12, 9:30 am -11:30 am
Facilitator: Innovation Supports Team
This event is for anyone wanting to think through how they evaluate their program. Individuals new to evaluation will learn fundamental principles and tools. Individuals with some evaluation experience will have time to practice with their own program. Participants will begin to develop ideas for how evaluation can provide insight into program progress, help make adjustments, and identify opportunities for growth. This workshop is part of an ongoing series to support the sustainability and ongoing success of community-designed programs. Participants may attend one or all workshops in the series.
Newsletter sign-ups
In addition to finding workshops and learning opportunities on the Best Starts blog, subscribe to the following newsletters for updates:
- Best Starts for Kids Innovation Supports newsletter
- Best Starts for Kids Workshops newsletter (Click “Subscribe for updates” in bottom right corner)
- Communities of Opportunity Learning Community newsletter
To stay up to date on Best Starts for Kids funding opportunities and announcements across the initiative, sign-up for Best Starts monthly community newsletter.
