The documentary about Black maternal health was supposed to be just another evening out at her local museum in Waterbury, Connecticut. Ary French had no idea her city was a “black maternal health desert” or that Black women faced such stark health disparities across the country. As she listened to story after story from women in the film and reflected on her own experiences as a single mother of five, she began to cry. “I have to find a way to volunteer and help contribute to this movement,” she thought, and reached out to the director of Waterbury Bridge to Success, the organization behind the film. That one night when she heard the struggles of real women paint a broader pattern of systemic inequity launched a new chapter of her life: advocating on behalf of parents for everything from early childcare to career pathways.
Meet Ary
Ary French is the lead parent ambassador with Waterbury Bridge to Success, a cradle-to-career organization serving families from infancy through adulthood. She also works with Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood, where parents like herself canvas communities that research shows are underutilizing educational resources. A single mother of five, with two college graduates working on master’s degrees, another who just started college, and two elementary-aged children (nine and ten), she emphasizes that community resources and support made her children’s success possible. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just me,鈥� she says. 鈥淲ithout help from family, neighbors, babysitters, and people helping to find resources and scholarships, there鈥檚 no way my children and I could have done it.鈥�
The Journey
Ary’s advocacy began with that powerful moment of recognition at the maternal health documentary, but her path quickly evolved from focusing on women鈥檚 birthing experiences to including the full parenting journey. Since then, she says, she鈥檚 been devoted to “one form of advocacy after another.”
As a parent ambassador, she uses storytelling and listening as her tools of the trade: she shares her lived experience to help other parents find their voice and connects them with resources so that they can advocate for themselves. In the current political climate, however, connecting with parents is more difficult than ever. For instance, many immigrant families feel “so unsafe and uncertain” that they are hesitant to share information with any organization. “It doesn’t matter how likable or relatable I am; their fears are real,” she explains. Her solution involves radical transparency: pulling up websites, helping them to find answers to their concerns, and even showing the names of their partner organizations, to prove “this is not in any way attached to anyone who wants to take you or your family out of your home.” They genuinely want to support you.
Looking back on her early parenting years, Ary wishes she’d understood how vital it is to show up to meetings like the school board, to learn how the system works. This awareness fuels her drive and determination to advocate for parents and their families, to give them what she didn鈥檛 have. While Ary was always volunteering for pizza parties, school dances, and sporting events, and showed up when her children had challenges, she didn鈥檛 have the tools or skills to navigate the system effectively. She was a familiar face at school but lacked the big picture knowledge to understand how to advocate about serious issues. “I didn’t always understand the language they spoke or what my rights and options were,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o at times I felt very inept.”
Making a Difference
Ary’s approach to empowering parents focuses on understanding (and wherever possible) eliminating barriers. When parents complain about school issues, whether it鈥檚 poor lunch quality or lack of support for their children鈥檚 IEPs, she tries to redirect their frustration into action. “It’s all about who you know and the connections you have made by being involved. The most effective way to have your voice count is not to be a faceless person in the crowd of parents who are picking up their children really fast at the close of the day.”
Her lightbulb moments with parents often happen when she explains that PTO meetings are places where they can find the community of other involved parents to solve their problems. And, that PTO meetings are accessible — with Waterbury Bridge to Success providing both childcare and dinner. “You don’t have to worry about your dinner or homework help,” she tells overwhelmed parents. She watches “the wheels turning in their head” as they realize these meetings offer a solution-centered community. “In the meetings, you see their faces when they’re able to get their issue off their chest, when they’re able to find the solution, when they’re able to see that the faculty does want to work with them.”
The power of community organizing
Ary’s biggest win demonstrates how local advocacy can drive state policy. With other community advocates, she organized “Childcare for CT鈥檚, “Morning Without Childcare,” a rally that drew nearly 200 people, including childcare educators, teachers, daycare providers, civic leaders, pediatricians’ offices, the mayor, the governor, and community-based organizations such as the YMCA and Team INC.
The rally’s message was clear: “Without proper child care, we can’t work. It’s not just that you’re impacting that family, it’s impacting the entire economy.” They advocated for better wages and more state focus on the importance and value of early childhood education. The event was covered in two newspapers and, along with additional rallies throughout Connecticut, contributed to Governor Lamont passing related legislation to pass a bill establishing a first-of-its-kind child care endowment, laying the foundation for making child care free or more affordable for thousands of families.
Currently, Ary is working on a host of issues, including chronic absenteeism, family engagement in K-8 schools, and promoting “literacy as the culture of the home” through parent book clubs. She鈥檚 also partnering with Granville Academy’s Business Institute on a local Black History initiative that teaches the history of the local high school — Kennedy High — and its integration in the context of the civil rights movement. A recent event brought together “folks from age five to age 87” at a multi-generational symposium, to show “this is our history鈥攐ur lived experience, not something that only happened in Montgomery, Alabama, but right here in our own city.”
Words of Wisdom
“Civics education is key. You need to know your rights. That changes the strength, the power of your voice.” Ary’s message emphasizes that while showing up for school events matters, understanding the bigger picture systems and having the tools to navigate them is what transforms good intentions into effective advocacy.
Get Involved
Ary鈥檚 work with Waterbury Bridge to Success connects underserved families with community resources, promotes early childhood education policy, and builds parent/community engagement in schools throughout Waterbury, Connecticut. Waterbury Bridge to Success focuses on empowering youth and families to succeed in school, career, and life through data-driven collective action.
