Improving School Readiness
For Every Child
We believe all kids deserve to enjoy a foundation for a healthy life, with access to quality early learning and family support services that enable young children and their families to thrive.
Strategic Focus & Impact:
“
I find it compelling to see if there’s some way that I can share the opportunities that I’ve sort of taken for granted in my life and try to facilitate opportunities for other people who, really through no fault of their own, have not had the same advantages.”
Sam GaryFounder
Our Approach to Partnership
Across our School Readiness initiatives we prioritize organizations that share our equity values and advance the promise and potential of kids and families from low-income backgrounds and BIPOC communities. We specifically partner with values-aligned organizations focused on children and families in Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, and Jefferson counties.
Together, we aim to develop solutions that expand early learning and increase family supports.
Expanding Quality Early Learning
We believe readiness for kindergarten is a key milestone in the lives of all children. If we expand access and improve the learning experiences of children in formal and informal settings, they will be more ready for school. To achieve this, we aim to ensure access to Quality Preschool and Child Care.
Strategic Focus Areas
Quality Preschool:
Our systems must provide high quality education experiences for our youngest learners.
We look for partners and innovations that are making preschool more accessible for BIPOC families and or those from low-income backgrounds. We aim to ensure that programming achieves strong learning outcomes among preschoolers and that the system serves families well in a simple and unified early childhood education system.
Quality Childcare:
Our systems must support all of the settings that families need and ensure families have accessible, affordable and high quality child care.
We look for partners and innovations that expand access to subsidies, increase the supply of child care and support children’s learning in child care settings.
Increasing Family Supports
All families deserve access to the knowledge, tools and resources, needed to support their children’s development and learning. That’s why we focus on ensuring the delivery of more healthy births while supporting the development of early skills and increasing parents’ capacity to develop thriving children.
Strategic Focus Areas
Delivering Healthy Births:
Our systems must close the gap in outcomes for birthing people of color.
We look for partners and innovations that center Black birthing people and people of color in the design of perinatal services and experiences.
Enhancing Early Skills:
Our systems must incorporate the latest science about how children learn into strategies that support children’s skill-building during critical periods.
We look for partners and innovations that work to ensure children have the necessary experiences through early relationships, language exposure, and practicing executive function skills to shape long-term developmental health outcomes.
Expanding Parent Capacity:
Our systems must value and support parents in their role in their children’s development.
We look for partners and innovations that help parents access supports that reduce the stress of poverty and increase capacity to support their child’s in their earliest years.
Learn more about improved outcomes in School Readiness below.
Outside Our Focus :
The work below falls outside of our focus areas, where other philanthropic organizations may be better positioned to partner.
- Funding for capital projects to build or renovate a child care facility
- Operations costs or supplies for a child care center or preschool Scholarships for families to attend child care
Breakthrough Solutions in School Readiness
How Colorado Cares for Kids
A nationally renowned podcast highlights Colorado’s early childhood advancements.
ABCs of UPK
Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program is one of the best ways for families to set their children up for a lifetime of success.
How We Create Impact
We believe that business, policy and philanthropy can—and—should work together to solve the toughest problems facing our community. Across all our outcome areas we use our resources to make impact investments, fund policy and advocacy, provide philanthropic grants, and incubate new social change solutions through our New Ventures Lab.
Learn how we bring these tools together
We’re always working on the the next breakthrough solution to help kids and families thrive.
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Discover New Possibilities
Together, we will create the change our community wants to see. Whether you want to discover more about our ventures, or connect with a member of our team, we want to hear from you.