Today we share our recommendations on how to radically expand a quality talent pool for the Early Childhood Education (“ECE”) sector.
I joined the HeadStarter Network’s Business Council last year, recognizing that investing in companies to improve education is part of a tri-sector strategy with private, public, and nonprofit players. I participated in the Workforce Preparation Catalyst to imagine new approaches to developing a quality ECE workforce. We tested the feasibility of imagined approaches with practitioners, researchers, government leaders, investors, and other stakeholders. This will help Head Start and the entire sector in its unique and valuable role in educating children and building a better world.
Head Start is an evidence-based, federally funded program providing comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income families and children. Ever since it began, Head Start has been one of the most effective programs — public or private – in breaking long-term cycles of generational poverty, reducing crime, and improving people’s chances for a better life.
Founded as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” campaign in the 60s, the initiative launched in 1965 as an 8-week summer program for low-income children ahead of elementary school commencement. Under the leadership of pediatricians and child development specialists, it expanded to become a comprehensive child development program intended to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children, which expands beyond childcare and includes health services such as screenings, check-ups, and dental assistance. Today, through its community based programs, Head Start serves over 1 million low-income children and their families annually in urban and rural areas in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and US territories.
Fun fact: Head Start provided seed funding for the TV series that became Sesame Street.
As Head Start looks forward, its ECE programs across the country face the challenge of recruiting and training high-quality teachers. Many approaches have worked well, but these efforts largely remained localized in individual communities. In a global pandemic, the need to support and grow the ECE workforce is greater than ever. We have a chance to learn from what worked, what didn't, and to build something new and scalable.
Our mission at Lumos Capital is to invest in companies that address pressing social needs – including in early childhood education. This is why we use a systems-level approach in our investment thesis, and why we approach our investments with the belief that while private capital is a critical part of the ecosystem change we hope to achieve, it is in partnership with all stakeholders, working together, that we believe our leverage will be most effective.
