Funder Briefing: Start Strong NJ: Affordable Child Care

New Jersey’s lack of affordable, high-quality child care costs our state an estimated $5 billion each year in lost wages, tax revenue, and business productivity. No serious conversation about economic opportunity, workforce stability, or community vitality is complete without addressing the need for affordable, high-quality child care.

Start Strong NJ is a statewide campaign to put affordable, high quality child care within reach of all New Jersey families. Inclusive and nonpartisan, Start Strong NJ recognizes that child care is an economic imperative for New Jersey rather than a problem that individual families can solve on their own.

On February 19, Start Strong NJ launched Blueprint for Affordable Child Care. Shaped by insights from policy leaders, advocates, early childhood educators, researchers, business partners and other stakeholders, the Blueprint outlines recommendations to:

• Make high-quality child care affordable and accessible for all families
• Compensate and support early childhood educators as the professionals they are
• Recognize child care as essential economic infrastructure and fund it accordingly

Start Strong NJ builds off the contributions of generous funders – the Burke Foundation, Turrell Fund, Maher Charitable Foundation, Community Foundation of New Jersey, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Schumann Fund for New Jersey, and The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation.

This funder-focused session will:

• Provide a strategic overview of the Blueprint and how affordable child care can grow New Jersey’s economy
• Explore aligned investment strategies (policy, implementation, employer engagement, etc.)
• Identify how coordinated philanthropic investment and partnership can accelerate change

Speakers include:
Atiya Weiss, Executive Director, Burke Foundation; Evan Delgado, President, Programs, Turrell Fund, and Samra Haider, President and CEO, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Winifred Smith Jenkins, Ed.D, Start Strong NJ Co-Chair; Director of Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy, Advocates for Children of New Jersey
Meghan Tavormina, Start Strong NJ Co-Chair; Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children
Jon Shure, Co-Author, Start Strong NJ Blueprint for Affordable Child Care; Board Co-Chair, New Jersey Policy Perspective

Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $95 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.