The David and Lucile Packard Foundation's Children, Families, and Communities (CFC) team aims to ensure that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are on track for success in school and in life, regardless of their family's background. Over the next ten years, the CFC team's focus on early learning will include both the formal systems of care as well as the informal care settings in California. To inform the informal care focus of the strategy, the CFC program is engaging in research activities to better understand informal caregivers and their networks in California. As one part of these research activities, FURTHER worked with the CFC team to bring together diverse groups of informal care providers (providers) to understand how best to support them in providing high quality care to young children. These dedicated parents, providers and community leaders in Oakland and Los Angeles all care passionately about their communities and their youth. (author abstract)