Philanthropy s Role in Promoting Early Childhood Education. June 16, 2014

Transcription

1 Philanthropy s Role in Promoting Early Childhood Education June 16, 2014

2 Welcome and Introductions

3 What is the Forum? The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (the Forum) is a network of 34 regional associations of grantmakers Strengthen the ability of all regional associations to fulfill their missions to promote growth and effectiveness of philanthropy to improve life in their communities Leverage our collective resources to support philanthropy across the country Collectively represent more than 4,000 foundations, corporations, organizations, and individual donors Provide professional and association management services for our members

4 SPEAKERS - Sara Slaughter, Robert R. McCormick Foundation - Maggie Osborn, Connecticut Council for Philanthropy - Leah Martin, Council of Michigan Foundations

5 AGENDA - Trends in Philanthropy - Questions - Stories from the Field: CT and MI - Questions

6 Early Childhood: Seizing a Moment in Time Sara Slaughter McCormick Foundation Chicago, IL

7 Early Childhood Trends/Current Opportunities 1. Opportunity to Leverage Federal $$ Race to the Top/Early Learning Challenge Fund over $1 billion Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships - $500 million Preschool Development Grants - $240 million Resources: GFE, GCYF, Build Initiative, Admin. for Children and Families newsletter 2. Emphasis on Quality Strategies, esp. connected to K-12 QRIS Kindergarten Readiness ELLs 3. Growing Emphasis on Infants and Toddlers Home Visiting Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships Resources: Child Trends Infant/Toddler Report; ZERO TO THREE, Rally for Babies 4. Move towards Systems Building Funding for public policy/advocacy Resources: Alliance for Justice

8 Opportunities for Impact 1. Support Applications for Federal Funds EHS/Childcare Preschool Development Grants 2. Support Public Policy/Advocacy Efforts to Increase State and Local Investments Public/private partnerships such as ECACs State advocates 3. Support Systems Building to Reach All Kids, Targeting At-Risk First BUILD AZ, GA, IL, MI, MINN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, WA 4. Support Systems/Cohort Level PD

9 Stories From the Field

10 ORIGINAL (2011): The Connecticut Early Childhood Funders Collaborative is a broad and diverse coalition of members of the Connecticut philanthropic community committed to the successful realization of the goals identified in PA , An Act Concerning Early Childhood Education and the Establishment of a Coordinated System of Early Care and Education and Child Development.

11 CURRENT: The Connecticut Early Childhood Funders Collaborative is a joint effort to bring the collective voice and resources of philanthropy to build and sustain a comprehensive early childhood system that works for children, families and communities in Connecticut. The 12+ Collaborative members commit grant support ranging from $5,000 to $500,000 per year. The Collaborative is a project of CCP which also serves as fiscal agent as dictated in an MOU between the Collaborative and CCP

12 Introduction - Council of Michigan Foundations Leah Martin Public Policy Fellow, Council of Michigan Foundations Office of Foundation Liaison, Governor of Michigan Only office of its kind, attached to executive office of state government Non-partisan Started with Governor Jennifer Granholm, continued on through current Governor Rick Snyder 10 years old Today s Goals Early childhood education in Michigan Affinity Group structure and management, including key learnings

13 Early Childhood Education in Michigan Two big education efforts brewing statewide: Early Childhood and K-12 College-going Research on early childhood development Momentum for policy makers and foundations Early Matters learning forum Early Childhood Investment Corporation Office of Great Start Merging of 80+ departments/programs involved in early childhood Race To The Top grant award for $54 million for early childhood investments

14 CMF Work with Affinity Groups Development of two guiding documents Public Policy and Affinity Group Charter Roles and Responsibilities Communications Plan There are 7 Affinity Groups at the Council of Michigan Foundations Land Use, Education, Arts & Culture, Rural Issues, Health Care, Aging Populations, Women & Girls Until last year, there were two education Affinity Groups Early Childhood and K-12 have since merged into P-20 Education Staff-Driven Role of Public Policy Fellow Work closely with co-chairs to develop yearly strategy, programming, meeting agendas, overall momentum

15 Key Learnings: Early Childhood & Education Affinity Groups Position learning forums as co-learning opportunities Rather than foundations schooling elected officials, they were in it together, learning from non-partisan, national experts Maintain momentum, even after victories After the formation of the Office of Great Start, people were tired and happy Don t stop the work Connect and mobilize all members Have a role for all foundations, large and small Smaller foundations are mighty, especially in home districts

16 Questions and Closing