Winter 2016/2017 Newsletter

Children’s Investment Fund Highlights National, Regional Leadership

The team at Children’s Investment Fund is staying busy this season. Not only was the Fund highlighted as a national leader in the Low Income Investment Fund’s report, “Building Pre-K: Philanthropy & CDFI Collaborations in Financing Early Education Facilities”, but in November, the Fund’s Director Theresa Jordan and CEDAC’s Executive Director Roger Herzog co-authored an opinion piece for Banker & Tradesman entitled “State Bonds for Early Education Prove Successful”. The piece speaks to the importance of quality physical learning space for children and highlights the impact of the Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) Capital Fund program, which was established in 2013. CEDAC and the Fund created “Building for Children Strengthens Communities”, a short video that shows the importance of child care in community development.

“It’s been a busy few months,” said Jordan. “We’ve been working with the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) on the third grant round for the EEOST Capital Fund, and getting ready for our annual Building Stronger Centers Training that will be held in May.”

In addition to their annual training, the Fund team presented a workshop session entitled “The Facilities Improvement Process: An Overview” at the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care’s (MADCA) 2016 Administration and Management Conference in November in Westford, MA. The workshop touched upon the topics covered during the four-day Building Stronger Centers Training, which prepares childcare providers to take on large scale facilities projects, such as major renovations to an existing center, or construction of a new facility. At the conference, MADCA presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to John Gardiner, a longtime member of the Children’s Investment Fund’s Board of Directors. Congratulations to John for his decades of service to the early education and care community.