301-379-2169 (cell)

Washington, D.C., August 27,

2002 – Early childhood partnerships in four states — Illinois, New Jersey,

Ohio and Minnesota — will receive $350,000 each to develop state-specific

strategies for improving early learning opportunities for children ages birth

through five.

initial two-year awards are part of a national initiative being launched by 11

members of the Early Childhood Funders’ Collaborative (ECFC), a consortium of

national and local foundations. The initiative, known as “Build”, seeks to

support policymakers, providers and advocates who are committed to ensuring the

programs and services exist today for young children and their families, yet

they often operate in isolation, sometimes at cross purposes, and frequently

without enough resources to meet critical needs,” said Barbara Gebhard,

four state grants, she said, will be used to connect and strengthen those

programs and services so there can be a continuum of care and learning

opportunities available for all children, from birth through age five. “We

want to help these states build a coordinated system that is responsive to the

needs of families and that can increase the likelihood that our youngest

children will be safe, eager to learn, and ready to succeed in school.”

four states were chosen based on a range of criteria, including their readiness

to build comprehensive systems of early care and education. 

Gebhard said that $175,000 will be dispersed to each state partnership

team before December and the remaining $175,000 will be paid by May 2004 after

the team raises matching resources.

nothing more important in the State of Ohio than the future of our youngest

children,” said Marcia Egbert, Senior Program Officer for The George Gund

Foundation and a member of the Build executive committee. “Hopefully Build

will spark greater public investment in the healthy development of kids from

birth to through 5.  We need to make

it easier for parents to find and choose quality child care and early learning

programs for their children.”

good track record for supporting its youngest citizens and their families. 

With programs like Help Me Grow, the emerging standards for pre-K

education from the Ohio Department of Education, the pending implementation of

the T.E.A.C.H. pilot program in Cuyahoga and Stark counties which provides

scholarships and bonuses for early childhood caregivers to further their

education, and a substantial state commitment to Head Start, there’s much to

build on across Ohio.

teams are being formalized in each state and will include state agency

officials, business and community leaders, parents, advocates, and others who

work with young children. Each team will develop a plan by mid-November that

will be submitted to the Build Initiative.

said nationally recognized early childhood experts will assist the four teams in

the development, implementation and evaluation of their plans. The teams will

learn from each other at joint meetings and will then share their findings and

experiences nationally.

want to be a catalyst for change on the state level, but we also want to

generate ideas and create a pathway for a deeper understanding of the issue,”

she said.    

said that the impetus for the initiative and the four state grant awards grew

out of recent research showing that children do much of their most important

learning in their first years.

neurological, educational and child development research findings all clearly

demonstrate how important the early years are in determining whether or not a

child will eventually succeed in school,” Gebhard said. “Especially for

children from disadvantaged backgrounds, positive early care and education

experiences can make a tremendous difference. The Build Initiative is all about

trying to give kids a strong start in life.”

ECFC was established in 1995 to share information about successful program and

policy interventions in early childhood education and identify opportunities for

strategic partnerships.  Foundations

participating in the Build Initiative include the Caroline and Sigmund Schott

Foundation, George Gund Foundation, Lucent Technologies Foundation, Harris

Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, A.L.

Mailman Family Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Tribune

Foundation, The Schumann Fund for New Jersey, and The David and Lucile Packard

Foundation.

Gund Foundation has contributed $400,000 to the first phase of this national

project.

information about the Build Initiative, go to our website: www.BuildInitiative.org

full website will be coming this Fall.)