Team:

• Clare Nolan

• Anna Saltzman

• Pilar Mendoza

• Rafael Henriquez

• Michael Matsunaga

Strengthening Early Learning Systems

The Early Childhood Governing and Finance Project (ECGFP) is a national funder collaborative launched in 2020 by the Heising-Simons and W.K. Kellogg Foundations to help states and territories move from fragmented, program-specific approaches toward unified early childhood systems. ECGFP envisions a country where all young children—especially those living in poverty and furthest from opportunity—have access to affordable, high-quality early learning experiences. Central to this vision is supporting states and territories as they reform how early childhood systems are governed and financed, informed by families and the workforce.

Through its Direct Investment Strategy, ECGFP provided flexible funding to eight grantees—state governments, nonprofit partnerships, and community organizations—in Alaska, California, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New Mexico.

In 2024, ECGFP partnered with Engage R+D to conduct a learning-oriented evaluation asking: What have grantees learned about strengthening early learning systems through governance and financing? Drawing on document reviews, interviews, and a grantee survey—and guided by funders and an advisory group of grantee partners—the evaluation explored what grantees accomplished and surfaced lessons relevant to funders, government leaders, and advocates nationwide.

The resulting report, People, Money, Progress: Activating Stronger Public Early Learning Systems, highlights strategies that advanced progress and challenges that persisted across the eight sites. Organized around three key areas—unified and inclusive governance, comprehensive and equitable financing, and continuous engagement and improvement—the report distills actionable insights for others seeking to strengthen early learning systems.

Alongside the report, Engage R+D developed an interactive roadmap tool to help state and territorial leaders reflect on their current systems, set priorities, and track progress over time. Rooted in ECGFP’s theory of change and informed by evaluation findings, the tool complements the report by translating field insights into a practical, action-oriented resource for systems change.