This brief covers the Advancing Early Education Collaborative (AEEC)'s efforts to address the lack of equitable opportunities for early childhood educators and the quality of early child care and childhood education in DC. The AEEC has the goals of enhancing early education career pathways for Black and Latina women in Wards 7 and 8 and improving the overall quality of early education in Washington, DC. Beginning with an overview of the project and its early accomplishments, this brief highlights findings from a focus group with program participants from American University and concludes with reflections on the AEEC's successes and challenges thus far, including opportunities to incorporate lessons learned into the collaborative's activities in year two.