Bainum Family Foundation

Join us in welcoming the newest addition to the foundation's staff, Aimee Crowningshield, CPA (she/her) — we're thrilled to have you on board! 

With our WeVision EarlyEd initiative, we are intentionally shifting away from simply naming the child care crisis and hoping it gets solved. Instead, we are utilizing the expertise of proximity experts (i.e., families and early childhood education professionals) to define their ideal child care system and push to make that ideal real… right now.  This work is future-facing and transcends the limitations of the current child care system. In this dynamic future, young children and families will have equitable access to a range of quality child care options that receive adequate resources and support, including early childhood education programs in home-based settings otherwise known as family child care. It was great to be recognized by our partner the Florida Family Child Care Home Association (FFCCHA) as an “Innovative Mind Sponsor.” Our partners like FFCCHA have been performing the challenging, but necessary, balancing act of simultaneously navigating the current system while also reimagining it.

Our CEO, David Daniels, VP of Early Childhood, Marica Cox Mitchell, and Director of Early Childhood Strategy Implementation, Demetria Joyce, attended the National Child Care Innovation Summit, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which brought together stakeholders in the private and public sectors to discuss the vital role child care has in our nation’s economic infrastructure.    It is exciting to see the child care sector continue to receive its long-overdue visibility and recognition. We are building on this unprecedented momentum through our WeVision EarlyEd initiative where we are leveraging the insights of proximity experts (i.e., families and early childhood professionals) to reimagine child care and make their ideal real.

Our VP of Early Childhood, Marica Cox Mitchell had the pleasure of presenting today at the 2024 #Learners2EarnersSummit.   A core shift highlighted in our WeVision EarlyEd initiative is rethinking when learning begins. It was great to elevate the importance of investing in the early years as part of a robust education agenda with our partners Florida Chamber of Commerce, FACCT - Florida Alliance of Children's Councils and Trusts, and The Children's Movement of Florida.

Glad our VP of Early Childhood, Marica Cox Mitchell, was able to join a great panel consisting of our partners, experts in the field, and other funders to discuss the importance of investing in local networks and initiatives led by early childhood educators and administrators in home-based settings (i.e., family child care). Supporting the family child care sector and its leadership, in the way they want to be supported, benefits young children and families. The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), Florida Family Child Care Association (FFCCHA), Benu Chhabra from Bay Area Professional Family Child Care Network, Erikson Institute, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation

The Nutrition Navigator is an interactive online mapping tool designed to help D.C.- and Philadelphia-area communities uncover new layers of programs and resources within their local food system. Powered by organizational partners, the Nutrition Navigator (created by the Bainum Family Foundation) allows local nonprofits, public agencies and other services providers to input and update their own programs as a way to promote the important work they are doing. Huge thank you to our current partners who have helped us to create a community of organizations working toward similar goals: Vetri Community Partnership, Free Library of Philadelphia, MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance), The Enterprise Center, Norris Square Neighborhood Project, Cloud 9 Community Farms, & Greener Partners. How can your organization get involved? Visit hackthefoodsystem.org.

On this #Juneteenth, we honor the road toward justice for all. At the Bainum Family Foundation, we stand committed to becoming an antiracist organization while continuing to invest in lasting systems change.   As a nation, it is important to take time to reflect on where we've been, where we are today, and how we can achieve an equitable society where all children and families thrive.

Kudos to our partners at the National Children's Center (NCC) for making early intervention services along with quality and affordable early learning a must-have — not a nice to have. Great to see NCC staff, children, and families acknowledging this milestone together.