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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On March 19, (CGLR) hosted a discussion titled 鈥淚nvesting in the Future,鈥� exploring the role of philanthropy in public financing for children, with insights from communities that have leveraged philanthropy for children鈥檚 funding wins.

Sarah Torian, chief learning officer for CGLR, opened the discussion, and Elizabeth Gaines, founder and CEO, , moderated a panel of four children鈥檚 funding leaders:

• Todd A. Battiste, senior vice president of education & youth at
• Heather Flaherty, executive director of
• September Jarrett, program officer of education at
• Trevor Storrs, president & CEO of

Here are our 5 Top Takeaways:

1. You don鈥檛 have to go it alone. Children鈥檚 funding advocates have many places to turn for support and resources. The Children鈥檚 Funding Project trains people in fiscal mapping and identifying sources of additional potential revenue, along with offering convenings, coaching, tools and a . Additionally, they host the , which pools funds to support ballot measures to fund early childhood development.

As Jarrett noted, 鈥淭his is a long game, relationship-building, and I think, out of the harm of COVID鈥�there鈥檚 a greater understanding of the public at large and diverse stakeholders in the role of government as a force for good when it comes to children and youth coming out of COVID.鈥�

Advocates also have access to a wide range of further resources and inspiration, including:

• (The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
• (The First Five Years Fund)
• (The National Institute for Early Education Research)
• (New America)
• (Vanderbilt University鈥檚 Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center)
• (Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education)
• (ZERO TO THREE)

2. Start now (and other proven strategies). 鈥淒on’t wait for the timing to start,鈥� Storrs recommended. 鈥淪tart now, so when the timing happens, you’re ready to go.鈥� The right political moment might be just around the corner. For example, when the pandemic hit and people in the Anchorage community saw the need for child care, advocates were able to make the case more easily for directing sales tax revenue from recreational marijuana to address this immediate need.

Battiste stressed the importance of advocacy, stating that the COO of their local United Way is a lobbyist, 鈥渟o we understand that lobbying is important, and we set a policy agenda every year for our United Way.鈥�

Battiste also noted the role of coalitions and messengers, sharing that they collaborate with their child care providers network for advocacy and that parents are the face of their campaigns. Flaherty noted the role of incremental progress to build up to a funding win. 鈥淲e built the case over six years,鈥� she said, 鈥渙f consistently coming to County Council meetings, presenting on community data.鈥� She also shared the importance of 鈥渢aking one step at a time鈥� with her board, to look at community data, fund some polling and review results before launching into a campaign.

3. We can learn from examples of success to secure local public financing. The webinar featured three initiatives across the country 鈥� in Louisiana, Washington and Alaska 鈥� that secured funding for children through local campaigns and ballot measures, demonstrating the potential of pursuing local public financing for children鈥檚 initiatives.

• Battiste described how local advocates in partnership with the United Way and others led a 鈥淵es for NOLA Kids鈥� campaign that to generate around $21 million per year for early learning efforts in New Orleans. This success built on years of advocacy that began in 2007 and raised more funding and support each year.
• Flaherty described her organization鈥檚 role in securing that will produce about $10 million per year to increase access to child care and mental and behavioral health, as well as decrease youth homelessness.
• Storrs outlined his organization鈥檚 collaboration with partners in Anchorage, Alaska, to steer local sales tax dollars from the sale of the recently legalized recreational marijuana toward programming for early childhood development and education.

4. More public funding for children is needed to meet needs and address gaps. From child care to education to after-school programs, more funding is needed to address access and equity gaps between lower-income and higher-income. For example, for every young person in an after-school program, , with program costs .

Though the federal government allocated unprecedented education and other funding to states and districts during and after the pandemic through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, we are approaching a 鈥渇iscal cliff,鈥� with ESSER dollars expiring this fall.

shows the potential for more communities to pursue local funding to contribute to overall funds for children and address current and anticipated needs.

5. Philanthropy can support and accelerate public investments in children. Gaines highlighted , including convening people to define shared goals and spending priorities, and funding and conducting research including fiscal mapping.

Jarrett explained that her organization created the Heising-Simons Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) entity, to build capacity for leaders in public financing strategies and help them create political power to secure these funding wins.

And Flaherty shared her perspective, as a fellow funder, that funders 鈥渉ave a bird鈥檚-eye view of the whole landscape of community need and all the different partners that they could bring together鈥� and they can fund the coordination of those partners as a backbone entity and build public will.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 蜜桃影视. Learn more here.