Dear Members, Partners, and Friends,

As 2024 comes to a close, let’s take a moment to celebrate an extraordinary year! Together, we marked 25 years of ISSAand 30 years of Step by Step—a testament to decades of shared passion, commitment, and impact for young children and their families.

This year, we embraced fresh energy and bold changes. We began implementing our 2024–28 strategy, focused on stronger distributed leadership and shared ownership in our diverse, growing network, with the aim of furthering our collective impact. The long-awaited ISSA Conference brought us together for the first time in five years, inspiring connections and reaffirming our commitment to an early childhood ecosystem where all children can thrive.

Together, yet again we took great strides this year in advancing the Early Childhood Development field—through advocacy, knowledge-sharing, and capacity-building initiatives that promote quality practices and systemic change. Reflecting our momentum, we unveiled a vibrant branding refresh to carry us confidently into the next 25 years. It captures the spirit of who we are: a dynamic network dedicated to championing holistic and integrated systems, policies, and high-quality services for all young children. Throughout, we’ve also shown incredible resilience in the face of challenges, remaining steadfast in our mission.

As we look to 2025, exciting opportunities await us! We’ll continue to push boundaries, amplify our impact, and harness the new network tools such as the Members Room introduced this year to help members connect and collaborate more effectively.

But before we dive into the new year, let’s pause to celebrate and recharge. This holiday season, we invite you to explore a special cookbook we’ve compiled with recipes from each of the countries where we have members, featuring submissions from members and others we’ve sourced. We hope you’ll try some of these dishes as you gather with loved ones, sharing the warmth of good food and cherished company. May this season bring you peace, laughter, and inspiration to greet the year ahead with renewed energy and hope.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Together, we are building a brighter, more equitable future for all young children—and we can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve next.

With festive cheer and gratitude,

The ISSA Network Hub