• Established a foundation for an early education system in Arizona.
• Raised more than $3 million and granted more than $1.5 million back to the community to establish a world-class early care and education system for Arizona.
• Funded regional partnerships in all 15 Arizona counties.
• Built partnerships with United Ways across the state to create alignment in our efforts to provide quality early education programs and services throughout Arizona. This has proven to be a critical alliance.
• Developed a contract with United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona to coordinate and train a cadre of technical assistants to support the regional partnerships. This support was intentional in that the privately funded partnerships will have to transition into First Things First partnerships, which are publicly funded. This public-private partnership model has garnered national attention. The National Technical Assistance Center/Smart Start Initiative in North Carolina has asked me to serve on the first reviewers' panel for the Early Education Foundation of Virginia.
• Established the Chase Emergent Leaders program to enhance professional development opportunities statewide, alongside Governor Napolitano’s School Readiness Board.
• Received a $10,000 grant to host Arizona's first National Governors Association Summit for School Readiness in partnership with the School Readiness Board.
• Established a strong collaboration with the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and United Way of Tucson to demonstrate a true statewide effort to increase private funds for early education.
• Established a relationship with intermediaries to enhance local centers' capital projects.

What's Next?
Realizing that fund-raising activities for the endowment were postponed until Proposition 203 was passed, AEEF solicited and received a $500,000 grant from the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence to support the regional partnerships and to create a transition plan for AEEF, the Arizona School Readiness Board and First Things First. The transition plan included a comparative analysis/cross walk to determine what Proposition 203 would fund.

From that work, we discovered a critical funding role for AEEF that public funding cannot support. We are excited about the work and the potential of this private-public partnership. If you have any concerns or questions, do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you again for your leadership and support.

Sincerely,

Janita Gordon
Executive Director, Arizona Early Education Funds