The Raising Child Care Fund is an active philanthropic partner in the national movement to transform and expand equity in child care.
The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative (ECFC) launched the Raising Child Care Fund (RCCF) in 2019 to leverage investments from national, state, and local philanthropic sources. RCCF pools and shifts private foundation funding to community organizers who lift voices, build power, and expand equity in demanding and creating solutions to the growing child care crisis.
Since 2019, RCCF has worked in a rapidly changing context alongside our grantee partners. While no one could have predicted the public health crisis and racial reckoning that started in 2020, RCCF enabled foundation resources to flow quickly to support community-based leadership, including a majority of groups led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) women. RCCF funds and partners with 16 community organizations in 14 states and the District of Columbia. By the close of 2021, the hard work of community organizers and advocates across the country helped win $50 billion in federal relief funds to support and stabilize the child care sector and the families served.
There remains an unrealized and unprecedented opening to transform child care at the federal level through both legislation and increased investment. A new RCCF report highlights key achievements and lessons learned from their journey in 2021. Read the Report, and see the RCCF Theory of Change.
See for yourself how RCCF Grantees are building momentum for equitable childcare in their states:
Grassroots Early Childhood Organizers Making Headway in Tumultuous Times, a webinar hosted by ECFC and RCCF, features RCCF grantees from California, Louisiana, West Virginia and Washington, DC, sharing how grassroots organizers are centering lived experiences in advocacy to use federal relief funds to make child care systems work better for families and raise pay for early educators. Watch the recording.
RCCF Grantees in the news:
- Mary Ignatius, Parent Voices CA was featured on NBC News’ #31DaysofFeminism, a spotlight on women of color who, through their actions and words, lead the way toward a more equal world.
- LaDon Love; Spaces in Action has been leading the charge in DC, on the streets and in the press advocating for affordable high-quality child care.
- Ashley Shelton, Power Coalition for Equity & Justice has been on the front lines advocating for the needs of families in Louisianna ever since Hurricane Katrina, and continues to lift up the voices of Black Women to fight against inequities in their state.
- Amy Jo Hutchinson, Moms Rising WV (Rattle the Windows) was featured on the Jon Stewart show talking about the importance of childcare.
Lenice Emanuel, Alabama Institute for Social Justice, Speaks Her Truth to Early Learning Nation