The International Step by Step Association (ISSA) is an association that believes in learning from each other across cultures and borders, building on each other's strengths, and tapping into the power of a network. Building on the strong legacy of the Open Society Foundations' Step by Step program, ISSA has nurtured a culture of belonging to a community of early childhood professionals who challenge the systems in which they are operating, and promoted the complex concept of professionalism among its members and within its programmatic work. In this article, the author describes ISSA and the role it plays in early childhood education.