Why create an early learning provider network?
In 2020, West Lakes Early Learning Center opened in the West Lakes neighborhood in partnership with Purpose Built Network Member Lift Orlando, Advent Health, Primrose Schools, and the Bainum Family Foundation. While West Lakes ELC provides a top-notch early education option to families in the neighborhood, it has a capacity of 150 students, well under the number of seats required for the more than 6,000 early learning-aged children in the zip code.
Recognizing the need to expand its early learning strategy, Lift Orlando took an asset-based approach by identifying existing early learning providers in the 32805 zip code and investing in them by building an “early learning provider network.” This network serves to support legacy businesses in the neighborhood by connecting them so they can learn together, leverage one another’s strengths, and access collective support from Lift Orlando, West Lakes Early Learning Center, and other partners to increase each provider’s capacity and impact.
In total, the Lift Orlando team identified 18 providers in the area, ranging from small home-based care to high-capacity centers, who agreed to join this burgeoning network and sign on to the shared goal of increasing kindergarten readiness. The West Lakes ELC plus these 18 providers serve close to 900 early learning students, significantly increasing the reach of Lift Orlando’s early learning strategy.
How the network launched and what’s next
Anna spent the first six months building relationships with providers who agreed to be in the network. She started connecting individually with providers and delivering needed supplies and gift cards to teachers, as pictured above. After establishing this initial rapport and alleviating concerns, Lift Orlando convened all of the providers in person for the first time in late 2023. This convening created strong foundational bonds between the providers. Meeting in person will continue to be a critical part of the network’s function.
“The first part of establishing this network was establishing community…the most important thing was my consistency. I had to be honest that, ‘We did not engage with you at first, but my job now is to make sure we are engaging with you, that you know you are part of this community, and that we want you all to work together.’…The ultimate goal is educating our students. Once I was able to build rapport with them, the other things started to naturally occur.” – Anna Kinchens
After bringing the group together, Lift Orlando conducted a group-wide needs assessment, which identified root causes of the barriers to providing children access to the highest quality education possible. Now, Lift Orlando is working with the providers to create and implement collective solutions to these challenges.
For example, after identifying operational capacity issues, Lift Orlando is covering the cost for providers to use the Florida-based Early Learning Shared Services Alliance (ELSSA) to create efficiencies in operations and HR systems so they have more bandwidth to focus on classroom education. Lift Orlando is also working to establish shared services between smaller capacity providers in the network and the highly-resourced West Lakes Early Learning Center. This includes both backend operational support and comprehensive services for students with special needs. A collective support model has helped providers who have been working in the neighborhood for a long time view the West Lakes Early Learning Center and Lift Orlando as authentic and equal partners, rather than competitors, in this work.
The Bainum Family Foundation provides the funding to build and grow this network. In addition to group-wide support, Lift Orlando has also distributed mini-grants to individual providers for infrastructure (building, playgrounds, etc.) and curriculum improvements.
These insights were shared at a recent meeting with the Education and Youth Services Community of Practice, one of the numerous Purpose Built Network groups that Purpose Built Communities convenes on a regular basis. This group is comprised of Community Quarterback staff who focus on the cradle-to-college education pipeline. Thank you to Early Childhood Education Specialist Anna Kinchens and Education Director Lynn Thompson of Lift Orlando for sharing what you have learned about building this early learning provider network with the Purpose Built Network and beyond!
