The Tennessee State Department of Education (TDOE) was one of 21 states to be awarded a Preschool Development Birth-5 (PDG-5) federal planning grant in the Spring of 2023. This grant provided funding to support research on the current early child care & education (ECCE) system, conduct stakeholder engagement and experimentation to determine a new vision and strategies for improving ECCE across the state. TDOE and its partners have grounded a Strategic Plan in the human needs uncovered through its extensive stakeholder research and have incorporated voices from across the ECCE system to shape the initiatives that will address those needs. TDOE and the Preschool Commission are committed to the successful implementation of the strategic initiatives contained in this plan. Consistent with their iterative approach, they anticipate an ongoing evolution of the plan's initiatives as new methods are piloted, learnings internalized, and future ideation is considered. The Strategic Plan comprises an overarching vision for the future of early education in Tennessee: "We envision an early childhood education system where families are fully supported through their ECCE journey, all children have equal access to high quality learning environments and educators have the resources they need to pursue and sustain an ECCE career." Strategies to make that vision a reality focus on the three key beneficiary categories, each with its own aspiration and set of strategic initiatives: (1) program quality; (2) ECCE workforce ; and (3) family.