Municipal Partnerships
Collaborating with municipal leaders and organizations to build a balanced ECE ecosystem.
IFF collaborates directly with local leaders, municipalities, and economic development organizations to strengthen early childhood education. County and city leaders are uniquely positioned at the intersection of public health, workforce development, and social services to create long-lasting, systems-level changes. By uniting stakeholders with IFF’s integrated financing, facilities development, and strategic data, we create replicable solutions that help providers expand and local economies flourish. Scroll down to see examples of our work with municipal partners.
Investing in America Child Care Partnership
Supporting Child Care as an Economic Development Imperative
In June 2024, several national foundations and nonprofit partners launched the initiative as a coordinated effort to establish a scalable model that reimagines how place-based approaches to building child care quality and supply can accelerate and catalyze economic development in communities across the United States.
Activating Municipal Grants
ECE Provider Expands to Serve 6x More Children
“This space is a true testimony of a community collaboration,” LaShawn Bridges says, citing grants from IFF’s Learning Spaces program and the City of Detroit’s Motor City Match program, as well as her new partnership with Matrix Early Head Start and her engagement with the Osborn Business Association. “This place would not be possible without all these different pieces. This is what can happen when programs and policies support a small business owner like myself.”
Building Community Hubs
Boston Square Embraces the Future
The opening of the Boston Square Early Learning Center (BSQ-ELC) marks a significant milestone for the southeast Grand Rapids community. Through IFF needs assessments and community-led Boston Square Together project, the community identified early childhood education as a critical opportunity for the neighborhood’s future.
Mixed Use Buildings
Former School Became Affordable Homes and Child Care
For nearly 60 years, Walter French Middle School served as a community asset on the south side of Lansing, MI, with generations of local students passing through its doors to learn, play, and grow. And while the school closed in 1981 and sat vacant and deteriorating for the vast majority of the next four decades, the historic building is once again a bustling hub in the community thanks to the efforts of Capital Area Housing Partnership (CAHP).
IFF’s Solutions for Early Childhood Education
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ECE News & Insights
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Category: Press
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Category: Press
