New Mexico now offers free childcare for all. Here’s how parents and teachers made it happen

From marches and petitions to a constitutional amendment, a years-long campaign led to New Mexico becoming the first state in the US to offer universal childcare

• People in the US: Have you gotten involved in activism or community organizing this year?

One crisp morning in 2018, Sandra Ibarra pulled on a pair of gloves to ward off the winter chill and picked up the first cardboard sign she had designed for a protest.

As a recent immigrant to the United States, Ibarra was wary of attending a demonstration. But since arriving in the United States from Mexico she had had to change careers - it was difficult to recertify her licensing as an accountant in a new country and easier to begin working in childcare - and was shocked by the poor pay. Although she taught, cooked, cleaned and did the books for a small childcare center, she was earning minimum wage. A classmate at the local community college had suggested Ibarra attend the rally, and stick around afterward for a meal with Ole, a grassroots non-profit committed to organizing working-class families.