Publication Excerpt:

In the United States today, over 16 million children live in poverty, 80%of low-income children are not reading at grade-level by the fourth grade, 35% of children live in single-parent households, and nearly 55%of young children are not in school. However, brain science has taught us that the foundations for success in both school and in life are established in the first five years of life. Yet the health, education, and social systems designed to serve young children are not delivering innovation or impact at scale. The systems are fragmented, dysfunctional, and are slow to adapt to the complex needs of people and communities.

We need fresh vision, new approaches, renewed energy, and bold cross-system, cross-sector entrepreneurial lead- ership to realize the success of all young children. In order to achieve this vision, the Institute for Child Success has launched Leadership for America’s Young Children.

This community of leaders from across the social, public, cultural, and business sectors will work in collaboration to address the complex needs of young children to help them thrive and make a lifelong contribution to society while diligently attending to their own leadership development through tools made available by the Institute for Child Success and its partners.

This new initiative aims to develop a pipeline of cross-sector leaders who have the perspective, relationships, and tools they need to ensure that America’s young children overcome their most complex challenges and realize their most exciting opportunities.