Report
Investing in Our Future: Critical Ways Philanthropy Can Help Every Young Child and Family Thrive
| Title: | Investing in Our Future: Critical Ways Philanthropy Can Help Every Young Child and Family Thrive |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Katherine Kaufmann, Maggie Davies, Rebecca Brondfield, Bridgespan Group |
| Source: | Bridgespan Group. 2026. |
| Availability: | Bridgespan Group. 535 Boylston Street 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02116. Tel: 617-572-2833; e-mail: contact@bridgespan.org; Web site: http://www.bridgespan.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 23 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Pritzker Children's Initiative Imaginable Futures W.K. Kellogg Foundation |
| Document Type: | Reports - Descriptive Guides - General |
| Education Level: | Early Childhood Education |
| Descriptors: | Private Financial Support, Investment, Young Children, Child Development, Family (Sociological Unit), Early Childhood Education, Family Programs, Community Programs, Public Support, Public Policy, Evidence Based Practice |
| Abstract: | In 2015, The Bridgespan Group and the Pritzker Children's Initiative published a guide that made the case for philanthropic investments that ensure all children in the United States arrive at kindergarten fully ready to learn and thrive. Drawing on a well-established base of multidisciplinary research, national child outcome data, and program outcomes, as well as input from nonprofit leaders and funders, the publication described the conditions, experiences, and resources that drive healthy developmental outcomes from the prenatal period through a child's fifth birthday. The guide synthesized the compelling research that establishes the lasting significance of healthy development in early childhood and the returns to society. Finally, it laid out a range of investments that philanthropists could make. A decade later, expanded private and public investment has driven progress and further research has sharpened the case. The authors set out to refresh the guidance with this new publication, hoping it will help foundations, individual donors, and the advisors and staff who support them as they discern and make investments to support the youngest children and their families. Whether one's giving has focused on K-12 or postsecondary education, women's or children's health, gender equity, housing, economic mobility, or select geographies, everyone will find a compelling rationale for investing in the earliest years in ways that will strengthen the impact in one's priority areas. To develop this guide, the authors dug into the most recent empirical research, spoke with leaders in the field, and drew from their own work with funders and organizations. Building on that base, the authors summarize the case for investment and the ways in which progress over the past decade points to new opportunities for that investment. This guide then describes four investment opportunities that could make a big difference in helping more children and families thrive. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED681653 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Description not available. |