Children First Inc

1. Children First is the preeminent, trusted child care provider, authority and advocate for children ages 0-5 and their families in Sarasota County
2. Children First remains in the top 1% of Head Start organizations in the United States.
3. Children First proactively seeks innovative, entrepreneurial opportunities for growth including integrated socio-economic programs, corporate collaborations and new strategic partnerships.

1a) The Board of Directors, staff and volunteers will be trained as advocates for the organization, growing in knowledge and providing consistent messaging about Children First throughout the community.
1b) Provide leadership in advocacy for children’s issues through partnerships and collaborations.
1c) Children First will begin a community speaker series to raise awareness concerning child and family issues.
1d) Identify and seek funding from foundations and/or individual donors to build the organizational brand.
1e) Explore strategic partnerships and provide leadership to increase anti-poverty efforts throughout Sarasota County.
f) Seek a research/educational partner to fund/direct a longitudinal study to prove what impact CF programming has on children served 0-5.

2a) Provide top-quality career development and training programs for all staff.
2b) Create and disseminate frequent, creative internal and external communications and messaging to keep all constituents up to date.
2c) Continue to place a high priority on the “Families First Initiative."

3a) Research economically feasible financial models for integrated socio-economic programming.
3b) Explore financial models and potential corporate partnerships to provide quality child care for large Sarasota based employers.

--Children First has been named a National Head Start Association Program of Excellence three times
--100% of Head Start classrooms have either a two or four year degree teacher
--There is a 4:1 federal match for every private donation
--Board members bring people on tours of Children First, are engaged in thanking donors, and serve on fundraising planning and event committees
--100% of Children First Board Members donate to Children First

--Successful Federal Review of Head Start / Early Head Start at end of 2018 performed by 13 Reviewers with expertise in their given fields
--Five sites achieved “4 Star” status as conferred by the Early Learning Coalition
--Met and exceeded federal mandate of having at least 50% of early childhood educators with a bachelor’s degree
--Donor retention rate has been above 80%