Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Funding: Early Childhood Workforce Innovation Grants


Early Childhood Workforce Innovation Grants
Request for Proposals

The Transforming the Early Childhood Workforce in Colorado Initiative (Initiative) announces a Request for Proposals for the Early Childhood Workforce Innovation Grants for local partnerships dedicated to advancing the workforce. The Initiative is an innovative public-private partnership between Buell Foundation, Gary Community Investments, Early Milestones Colorado, the Colorado Department of Education, and the Colorado Department of Human Services. For this grant opportunity, the Initiative is collaborating with Rose Community Foundation, who will serve as the fiscal sponsor for grantmaking.

Those with innovative ideas for systemic change in workforce recruitment, retention, and compensation are invited to apply. For this grant opportunity, “early childhood workforce” is defined as those (teachers, directors, family child care providers) who work with children birth through five in licensed schools, centers, and homes. We are looking for committed partners with a strong vision, a serious commitment to drive change, and a flexible mindset to adapt to the challenges of implementing truly innovative work. This highly competitive grant has an emphasis on data-informed, sustainable, systems improvement efforts that address community challenges and may inform broader statewide change.

As a part of this Initiative, The Transforming the Early Childhood Workforce in Colorado Team will:
  • Invest in local partnerships to implement innovative strategies to advance the early childhood workforce
  • Provide technical assistance to support using data to accelerate learning and implementation success
  • Evaluate the progress and outcomes of the initiative
  • Support local-to-state feedback loops to reduce system-level barriers to improving early childhood workforce recruitment, retention, and compensation

Key Dates:  
  • February 9, 2018 (1:00 pm MST) - Informational Webinar (Registration required)
  • March 23, 2018 (5:00 pm MST) - Proposal Due Date
  • May 1, 2018 - Awarded Projects Start Date 
Additional documents needed for submission of proposals are posted online. Registration is required to attend the informational webinar to learn more about this opportunity. Learn more here: http://earlymilestones.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/RFP_Innov-Grants_web2-1.pdf

Feel free to contact Christi Chadwick, Transforming the Early Childhood Workforce in Colorado Project Director, Early Milestones Colorado, with questions.