APPROACH
We seek to increase access to high-quality early childhood teaching and learning by supporting programs across the country that are:
• Directly improving the knowledge, skills, or practice of early childhood education professionals; and/or
• Working to expand and retain a thriving workforce of early childhood education professionals.

FUNDING STRATEGIES
SUPPORT FOR INNOVATION:

We support the development, piloting, and refinement of new approaches for improving knowledge, skills, or practices and growing or sustaining a thriving workforce of early childhood professionals. Proposals in this area must include an evaluation plan that will advance the applicant’s and the Foundation’s understanding of “what works,” for whom, and under what conditions.

SUPPORT FOR THE DELIVERY OF PROVEN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

To be considered “proven,” models must have substantial evidence of positive outcomes for early childhood professionals, classroom environments, and ideally, child learning.
• We support the expansion of clearly defined professional development models to help early childhood professionals deliver high-quality teaching and learning.
• We also support piloting modifications that would enable proven models to expand or be implemented in new early childhood settings.

SUPPORT FOR PROVIDERS:

We support early childhood education providers seeking to improve their own professional learning and development systems and/or enhance staff recruitment and retention via a specific project. Applicants in this category must be able to demonstrate alignment with the needs of the communities they serve and explain how requested grant support would enable them to expand or attain high-quality teaching and learning practices.

ELIGIBILITY

Organization related –
This grant program is open to local, state, and national U.S.-based nonprofit organizations; fiscally sponsored organizations; public school districts; and higher education institutions that either:
• Directly provide early childhood education to children between the ages of birth to five years old in childcare homes, centers, Head Start or Early Head Start classrooms, or schools.
• Provide professional development, coaching, or training to aspiring or existing early childhood education professionals in any of the above settings.
• Are engaged in systems-level efforts to grow and improve the quality and sustainability of the early childhood workforce or increase access to high-quality early childhood education.

Proposal related -
All proposals must:
• Exclusively focus on improving early childhood education settings or its professionals
• Predominantly focus on serving the needs of young children from low-income families.
• Demonstrate the organization has the capacity and leadership to ensure quality, execute the proposed work, and use data to inform continuous improvement.

PRIORITIES
Additional consideration will be given to proposals that demonstrate any of the following:
• A strong track record of working with early childhood education professionals to produce positive learning outcomes for young children.
• For established models or initiatives, clear evidence of repeated implementation and positive impact on early childhood education teaching practices and/or child learning outcomes. For earlier stage models or initiatives, a logic model and plan for evaluating implementation and outcomes that aligns with each project’s goals.
• Deep understanding and track record of collaborating with families, communities, and early childhood education professionals they are seeking to impact, including knowledge regarding the ways race, ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, and other factors impact access to high-quality early childhood education and career opportunities for early childhood professionals.
• Organization leadership (board and staff) are representative of the communities most affected by disparities in early childhood outcomes.
• Opportunity to expand, pilot, or develop promising early-stage ideas that have a clear rationale for how time-limited funding will enable the proposal to reach its long-term goals.
• Potential to expand and deepen impact on early childhood professionals and young children after the end of the proposed grant.

FUNDING CYCLES
The Stranahan Foundation invites early childhood education grant applications generally twice a year through two distinct funding cycles.
• Our spring cycle is open to innovation and proven professional development applicants only. Letters of inquiries related to these funding strategies are generally accepted in the late fall with final decisions being made in late spring. If approved, funding would not be made available until July 1.
• Our fall cycle is open to provider applicants only. Letters of inquiries related to this funding strategy are generally accepted in late spring with final funding decisions being made in late fall. If approved, funding would not be made available until January 1.

If you are interested in our spring 2024 Innovation and Proven Professional Development funding cycle opens, please check back here for more details in October 2023.