About Us
The Collaborative Parent Leadership Advocacy Network (CPLAN) is a nonprofit organization and statewide coalition committed to empowering parent leaders in education across Massachusetts. Grounded in principles of educational equity and mental health awareness, we endeavor to cultivate an inclusive, informed, and collaborative educational environment that uplifts students, families, and the broader school community.
Our Belief
CPLAN believes that students thrive when families and schools have the relationships, knowledge, capacity, and shared responsibility to work together as genuine partners.
The people closest to students hold essential knowledge about what students and communities need to thrive and when that knowledge is valued, developed, and brought into partnership with the expertise of educators and school leaders, it can lead to stronger decisions, stronger relationships, and better outcomes for students.
Mission
As a parent-led organization, CPLAN builds the capacity of families, educators, and school communities to develop meaningful partnerships, share leadership, and work together to enhance student outcomes.
Vision
We envision schools where families, educators, and community partners work together to ensure every student is valued, supported, and equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to thrive in school and in life, with the opportunity to pursue college, career, civic life, and a meaningful life of purpose.
Our Values
Relationships are essential:
CPLAN facilitates authentic, powerful, and mutually-beneficial relationship-building between all school community members. CPLAN members leverage those relationships to shape education based on that school or districts collective priorities. CPLAN leaders provide invaluable input and support for advancing high-quality education.
How we Create Change Together
Our History
Ten years ago, a small and diverse group of mothers came together around a shared experience. They had different immigration statuses, educational backgrounds, incomes, races, and cultural experiences, but they shared a common concern: navigating an education system that did not always reflect or respond to the realities of their families and communities.
They gathered around coffee tables and in community spaces across Boston, sharing experiences of children struggling to find the support, connection, and opportunities they needed to thrive. They saw how families could feel disconnected from decisions affecting their children and recognized that too many parents lacked the knowledge, relationships, and access needed to meaningfully participate in their children's education.
Rather than accept these conditions as inevitable, these mothers came together to learn, organize, and create new possibilities for their families and communities.
From that determination, the Collaborative Parent Leadership Action Network (CPLAN) was born.
From the beginning, CPLAN understood that lasting change could not happen through families or schools working in isolation. Meaningful improvement requires shared understanding, shared goals, and shared responsibility.
Over the past decade, CPLAN has grown from a grassroots parent-led advocacy efforts into a collaborative partner to parents, educators, schools, districts, and community organizations. We have worked to strengthen the knowledge, relationships, leadership, and structures that enable families and schools to work together more effectively to ensure that family experience and community knowledge are valued alongside professional expertise.
Today, CPLAN continues to build the capacity for families, educators, and communities to become partners with purpose, working together to strengthen educational experiences and create better outcomes for students.
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