We believe that all Waterloo Region families should have access to the 3 L’s

- language, learning and literacy supports -

both at home and in the community, regardless of circumstances.

Nurturing the social soil with the power of relationship, shared knowledge 

and co-creation so that all children and their families can find their voice, 

connect to story and participate fully in modern life.

Empowering every child, and their caregivers with the words and interactions 

they need to find their voice and create their own story.

Our collective work is in support of community, with a focus on influencing the influencers 

who are working in the early years, with families, or across our 3 L’s of 

language, learning and literacy.

Our Alliance focuses on relationship and trust building so that we can create containers 

that reframe expertise, facilitate encounters and co-create responses to changing needs and opportunities

 in service of tiny humans and their caregivers.

We value being stakeholder driven, participatory, action oriented, risk tolerant & invitational.

Learning: ELLA recognizes the importance of investing in learning 

— because the time spent listening, asking, and exploring builds mutual understanding, 

and mutual understanding fosters the development of trust. Science, traditional wisdom, lived

experience and knowledge translation are foundational to our work.

Connecting: ELLA's approach is organized around the principle that, to learn,

share, evolve, and strengthen, we must first be connected. ELLA provides

opportunities to bring people, organizations, and communities together,

strategically linking Internal stakeholders; external stakeholders; across multiple

sectors. It also allows us to connect knowledge and ideas that intersect, and to 

amplify connected work.

Changing: ELLA believes that when important assets — including information,

knowledge, skills, and expertise — are interwoven with collaboration 

it bolsters the impact of initiatives. Sharing is pivotal. A core philosophy of ELLA 

is that “change happens at the speed of trust.” As confidence grows, 

the belief in new possibilities begins to emerge, and meaningful incremental changes 

are made toward positive transformations. ELLA supports all sorts of people, 

organizations, and communities by focusing on issues that address 

mutual aspirations, foster wide participation, and encourage learning and sharing.