The Partnership's National Conference convened March 10-11, 2010, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. This conference was attended by business, finance and economics leaders, advocates, policy-makers and philanthropists interested in advancing investments in early childhood. Be sure to check out the conference page to see materials and presentations used!

Due to the high response in registration for this event, the registration and waiting list are now closed.
The National Economic Forum on Early Childhood Investment: The Annual Conference for the Partnership for America's Economic Success will take place on July 9-10, 2008 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building in Washington, DC. Read more about this event.

The Partnership for America's Economic Success and the Milken Institute co-hosted a forum on February 28, 2008 in Santa Monica, CA. The forum convened business, finance, policy, and advocacy leaders to consider strategies for building the human capital necessary to support a 21st century workforce by investing in the nation's youngest children.

Nationally-recognized business leaders addressed attendees at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to talk about some of the latest issues in keeping our nation economically competitive and the importance of early investments in children's lives.

Over 200 business leaders and education experts gathered for an all-day forum to discuss progress with local, state, and national efforts to establish universal, quality pre-kindergarten for all American children.

The Pew Charitable Trusts and PNC Financial Group sponsored a conference for business leaders, economists, policymakers, and early education experts from across the country to review and discuss the latest research and developments regarding the links between investments in preschool and economic development. The all-day Washington, D.C. conference included presentations from over 20 early education and business leaders.

The Third Annual Telluride Economic Summit on Early Childhood Investment took place Sept. 20-22, 2009 in Telluride, CO. This event was attended by business, economic, finance, philanthropy, and policy leaders, and was co-hosted by the Telluride Foundation.

The Second Annual Telluride Economic Summit on Early Childhood Investment was held on September 21-23, 2008 in Telluride, CO.  This is an invitation-only event for senior business leaders and co-hosted by the Telluride Foundation.

The Summit was a forum for business, finance, and policy leaders to discuss the economic benefit of building human capital through early childhood investments and to review new research in the field.

This session will provide you the opportunity to learn what made Richard Alexander and Tom Chewning passionate about early childhood, and how you can mobilize business leaders in your state to advocate successfully. You will also have the chance to ask questions of both and to discuss with call participants how to engage and support such leaders in your communities.

Join the Partnership for America's Economic Success for an invitation-only event to discuss how early childhood initiatives can help improve our nation's workforce and economic successes. You and your colleagues should attend if they are concerned about workforce skills and development, education policy, national competitiveness and economic sustainability. Contact Rob Krupicka for an invitation.

Betsy Zeidman (the Milken Institute), Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), and Jennifer Wohl (Insight Center for Community Economic Development) will present research and suggestions for policy and program actions around the topic of “Innovative Financing Techniques for Early Childhood Programs.” Given the massive budget shortfalls currently facing states, and the gap between need for and supply of quality early childhood programs even before the economic crisis, it is more important than ever to explore non-traditional and perhaps overlooked means of funding. Such funding includes capital improvements as well as ongoing support for such interventions. This session will focus on key findings from Zeidman’s newly-released research for the Partnership, Congressman Polis’s suggestion to harness private capital, and Wohl’s work on the topic, including at a recent event co-sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation. Zeidman and Polis’s papers will be posted later this week in their entirety on our website, so that participants can read and comment. Both authors welcome feedback on their ideas, input from anyone who has used or attempted to use an innovative method to procure funding, and other suggestions for creative funding mechanisms.

Presenters include:
• Jared Polis, Congressman (D-CO), U.S. House of Representatives
• Betsy Zeidman, Research Fellow, and Director, Center for Emerging Domestic Markets, the Milken Institute
• Jennifer Wohl, Director, Insight Center for Community Economic Development

Suzanne Muchin (ROI Ventures) and Rich Neimand (Neimand Collaborative) will present new, more persuasive messages and communication tools to spur investment in early childhood development. Through extensive research among policymakers, influentials and the public, ROI and Neimand Collaborative have found the best ways to leverage Professor James Heckman's groundbreaking work on the economic return of early childhood programs. Their session will focus on their research, findings and strategies for using The Heckman Equation to advance your advocacy. In addition, you'll gain access to videos, printed and interactive tools to enhance your communications as well as provide feedback on additional communications tools necessary to make the case for investing in early childhood development.

The group concluded its 4-part discussion on the development and use of a set of government policy principles.

The group continued to discuss the development and use of a set of government policy principles.

The group continued to discuss the development and use of a set of government policy principles.

Please join us for the next PAES/Invest in Kids meetings to discuss the development and use of a set of government policy principles.

Young Children Priority One and the Partnership for America’s Economic Success
Rob Dugger, Sara Watson, and Wil Blechman of Kiwanis International presented on the economic evidence to support investments in children, and how Kiwanians could advocate for smart policy change. More presentations are scheduled for District Conventions in Delaware and Florida. See presentation here.

The group discussed the development and use of a set of government policy principles.

Brookings Institution economist William G. Gale and former White House and congressional advisor Ron Haskins discussed the fiscal situation in general, and the impact of the new federal budget on today’s children and future generations.

The group discussed the Obama administration’s proposed economic recovery legislation from the standpoint of child development investing, and budget process steps that could be taken to increase administration and Congressional awareness and commitment to increased child development spending, as well as how the Children's Leadership Coalition (CLC) has been assembled and the coalition's work plan for 2009. Presenters included:

• Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Director of the Congressional Budget Office and McCain campaign Chief Economic Advisor.
• William Bentley, CEO, Voices for America's Children and chairman of the new Children's Leadership Coalition (CLC).

The meeting was the second of many Invest in Kids Working Group meetings focused on making the case for prenatal to five spending as a national economic recovery and growth strategy.

Presenters included:

• Rob Dugger, PAES Advisory Board Chair and Managing Director, Tudor Investment Corporation (Download Presentation)
• Hal Kaplan, Chairman and CEO, Kaplan Early Learning Company
• Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus
• Henry Levin and Clive Belfield, Columbia University
• Isabel Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution (Download Presentation and Article)

Federal and state budget experts will discuss the impact of the new federal bailout on public officials' ability to invest in kids. Presenters included:

• Rob Dugger, PAES Advisory Board Chair and Managing Director, Tudor Investment Corporation (Invest in Kids Discussion PPT Presentation);
• Joan Benso, President and CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children;
• Robert Johnson, Board of Directors Member, Economic Policy Institute; former Managing Director, Soros Fund Management; Chief Economist, U.S. Senate Banking Committee; and Senior Economist, U.S. Senate Budget Committee (PDF Presentation);
• Dick Berner, Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Economics and Chief U.S. Economist, Morgan Stanley;
• Isabel V. Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution ("Paying for Investments in Children" Paper and PPT Presentation); and
• Ellen Nissenbaum, Legislative Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The group also released the newly ratified Telluride Principles for Investing in Young Children and discussed how to use these principles to call for budgeting based on long-term returns.

This invitation-only event for researchers was held at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

We are pleased to announce that the next PAES/Invest in Kids Working Group meeting will be held on Monday, June 23 from 3:00-5:00 PM. Rob Dugger will discuss the Proposed Telluride Principles for early childhood development investing and ask for input and comment on them.

Designed to guide the process and improvement of American youth human capital development, the purpose of the principles is to provide business, non-profit, and government leaders a common context or set of priorities within which to have effective discussions.

PAES/IIK Working Group meetings are open to everyone in person or by phone.  This month's event will be held at the offices of the Pew Charitable Trusts in downtown Washington, DC.  A conference line will be available for phone participants.  Register to receive complete details.

The group discussed what the next administration’s priorities should be in the area of early childhood development. Presenters include: Joan Lombardi, Director, The Children's Project; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and External Affairs, Administration for Children and Families, US DHHS; and First Director, The Child Care Bureau; Shannon Christian, Partner, Christian & Tvedt Consulting and Former Associate Commissioner, Child Care Bureau, Administration of President George W. Bush; Bill Bentley, President & CEO, Voices for America's Children; and Miriam Calderon, Associate Director, Education and Children's Policy, National Council of La Raza.

The meeting highlighted the work of physicians in the movement to support investments in early childhood. Presenters included: Renee Jenkins, M.D., F.A.A.P., President of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Dina Lieser, M.D., F.A.A.P., Executive Director of Docs for Tots; Laura Jean Shipley, M.D., Co-Director of the Pediatric Links with the Community Program at the University of Rochester and Managing Partner at Panorama Pediatric Group; and Jeffrey Kaczorowski, M.D., Co-Director of the Pediatric Links with the Community Program at the University of Rochester and Executive Director of The Children’s Agenda.

Republican pollster Chris Blunt (Overbrook Research) and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake (Lake Research Partners) discussed public support and the political climate for investments in kids.

Robert Kuttner (The American Prospect editor) and Ron Haskins (Brookings Institution senior fellow and former President George W. Bush White House advisor) debated the future of children’s policy in the U.S. Their discussion was based on the December issue of The American Prospect which includes a special section titled “Life Chances: The Case for Early Investment in Our Kids.”

This meeting was the third this year on the vital topic of performance evaluation. Michael Weinstein, senior vice president of the Robin Hood Foundation, explained how Robin Hood approaches this challenge. The Robin Hood Foundation invested nearly $140 million in 2007 alone in a vast array of programs, including early childhood, education, job training, micro-lending, housing, emergency food and health. The goal is to make grant decisions to maximize the impact on poverty, much like a financial manager chooses investments to maximize profit. 

The presenters were Professors Bernard Guyer of Johns Hopkins University and Angela Fertig of the University of Georgia.

The presenter this month was David Cleary, one of the country's leading mid-size medical company merger and acquisition investment bankers and one of the founders of SCAN - Stop Child Abuse Now.

The Joint Economic Committee convened for a Hearing entitled "Investing in Young Children Pays Dividends: The Economic Case for Early Care and Education."

The presenter was Sam Meisels, President of the Erikson Institute. The Erikson Institute is one of the nation's leading graduate schools in child development, dedicated to the education of child development professionals. Sam is the institute's president and one of the country's leading experts on assessing child development progress.

Rucker Johnson presented a paper written with Robert Schoeni on the relationships among early life conditions and cognition, human capital accumulation, labor market outcomes, and health in adulthood.

The meeting's presenter was Thomas W. Schultz, the Project Director of the National Taskforce on Early Childhood Accountability. The Taskforce is a joint project co-founded by the Foundation for Childhood Development, the Joyce Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. 

Paul Weinstein, an expert on pension and tax reform, budget and transportation policy, corporate responsibility, and political reform presented to the group. 

The working group reviewed the work of the Partnership for America's Economic Success (PAES), updated everyone on the status of each of the PAES research initiatives and gott member comments and guidance on what should be done in the coming year.  Rob Dugger, working group and PAES chairman, provided a powerpoint overview and led the discussion, along with Sara Watson of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The working group continued their enquiry into ECE finance policy. George Overholser, founder and managing director of NFF Capital Partners, presented a framework for funding non-profit ECE providers that utilizes many of the concepts of modern investment finance.

UNESCO released its 2007 "Education for All Global Monitoring Report" in New York City (read the full report or the report summary).  As with past editions, the report highlights national and international contributing programs and commitments to education, monitors movements towards the six Education for All goals, and focuses on one goal in detail. The goal selected for this report is Goal 1: Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

The Pew Charitable Trusts and PNC Financial Services sponsored a highly successful discussion on Capitol Hill of the latest research on the economic benefits of pre-kindergarten. Entitled "The Economic Benefits to the Nation of Quality Pre-Kindergarten," the event brought together some of the nation's top economic and policy experts to share their research on pre-k with an audience of over 100 policy makers and key leaders in the field.