Collaboration is key for early childhood grantors

Phyllis Glink joined the Irving Harris Foundation 26 years ago When, "we were the biggest funders in early childhood because there weren't that many of us," she recalls.

A group of about ten Foundations interested in early childhood issues would meet informally to discuss their work.

Much has changed since then. Glink now heads the Irving Harris Foundation, which provides millions of dollars each year in early childhood grants, but she's no longer the scene's biggest donor. The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative counts nearly 60 national, state and local foundations as members.

Historically, funders have devoted more resources to primary and secondary education than early childhood, but support for the youngest learners has increased. From 2006 to 2013, at least $4.6 billion was donated to support early childhood education across the foundation, according to Candid data. From 2014 to 2021, that total increased to $7.1 billion.

As more donors contributed, they joined arms and found new ways to help more people.

Grantors currently support childcare and educator workforces through Early Educator Investment Collaborative and home care providers through Home Grown. Cooperating organizations such as Blue Meridian and Pediatrics Supporting Parents focus on examining healthy children in the pediatrician's office as a critical time to support healthy social and emotional development. Dozens of foundations have pooled resources through organizations such as the Alliance for Early Success and the First Five Year Fund. These groups work to get more government funding at the state and federal levels.

This is part of a larger trend. Bridgespan Group research shows that the pace of creating pooled grant funds of all kinds has accelerated in recent years, and their contribution potential could grow exponentially. A study of 97 funds pooled in 2021 estimated total grants in 2020 at $2 billion to $3 billion. Overall, we estimate that we can distribute up to $15 billion annually with minimal increases in current headcount.

This is one reason why there is so much cooperation among early childhood donors. The scale of the challenge is enormous, says Shannon Rudisill, executive director of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative. The organization runs a joint fund to support grassroots groups that advocate for better quality education and care for all young people.

“The country has chosen not to prioritize or invest in this. No. When it's time to go to work, we don't have enough childcare," Rudisil says. "We are grossly irresponsible to the public system that supports young children and families." she says

Collaboration can range from multi-million dollar grant initiatives and pooled funds to less structured arrangements where funders come together to learn.

For example, her eight foundations involved in the Early Educator Investment Collaborative are working to rethink teacher qualification and preparation systems in ways that support and build on existing diversity. I'm in. The early education workforce is predominantly female and disproportionately women of color. The average hourly wage is only $14.

This collaborative study, with a particular focus on improving workforce stability and educator wages, found that systemic racism in the United States impacts early childhood education policy. funded a study to examine how it affected

It also funded seven grants totaling $11.3 million, focusing on colleges serving marginalized populations and colleges partnering with two-year community colleges. and help strengthen programs to prepare early childhood teachers. Among other things, grant recipients revised their curriculum to offer certificates in multiple languages, and focused on observing educator performance in the classroom rather than using proficiency tests alone. Attempting skill assessment.

“When you do individual grants, you have to pick and choose one aspect of the big problem. If we can successfully develop a seed program, it will begin to make an impact in the field of higher education and the world of early childhood.” Buffett Early Childhood Fund, member of the Early Educator Investment Collaborative. "That's the beauty of coming together."

Several groups of donors are looking to the pediatrician's office as a key place to connect with nearly every child.

Pediatrics Supporting Parents—W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Conrad N. The Hilton Foundation, Overdeck Family Foundation, and Perigee Fund aim to foster the social and emotional development of children by improving the quality of doctor visits beyond initial visits. three years of childhood.

Founded in 2017, the group spent three years identifying a series of best practices. For example, it helps build parental trust by providing ongoing physician training and through feedback that affirms positive interactions with children.

The Foundation has created a Donor Advisory Fund to create joint grants that apply common practices in several regions. They also detail how Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (which provides health insurance for nearly half of children under the age of 3) can fund care that is more supportive of children's development. created a policy paper that

One of the initiatives we jointly support is the HealthySteps program, part of the nonprofit Zero to Three. Professionals attend regular appointments to help answer parental questions, conduct developmental and mental health screenings, and inform families about other resources. The goal is to ensure that young children reach important early developmental and social-emotional milestones.

HealthySteps began 26 years ago when New York philanthropist Bernard Levy donated his $25,000 to Zero To Three. The program has been piloted in several locations around the country. However, parents and pediatricians said they liked the program, and external evaluations showed evidence that the program had a positive impact on early learning and development, but this idea did not raise government funds.

Today, interest in helping parents and others in the first three years of a child's first year is starting to grow, and the program is gaining traction. The program has been able to expand significantly in recent years as a result of a large infusion of funding from the Blue Meridian, a joint contributor comprised of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Duke Endowment and others.

In 2018, Blue Meridian donated her $39 million to HealthySteps. And earlier this year, the consortium, which now counts Mackenzie Scott, the Valhalla Foundation and the Zoom Foundation as members, announced an additional investment of $46.5 million to expand the reach of the program over the next five years.

Today, HealthySteps reaches out to her more than 300,000 infants in her more than 200 pediatric offices in her 25 states. Matthew Melmed, who heads Zero to Three, says the program will serve 1 million babies a year by 2032. There are many places where

grantors can help improve the lives of young children, he says, Glink. Irving Harris Foundation. Wherever the foundation puts resources, whether the entry point is health care, workforce development, direct service, or state education policy, who is working together so that they can work together effectively she says you need to know

To change the systems that support children, she says, we need to "figure out how we knit and weave what we do together."

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This article was provided to her by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Eden Stiffman is senior editor at Chronicle. Email: eden. stiffmanâ†*philanthropy. com. AP and Chronicle are supported by the Lilly Foundation for their philanthropic and nonprofit coverage. AP and Chronicle are solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's philanthropic endeavors, visithttps://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.