Shift Work Forward Invests in Louisville’s Early Childhood Education Centers
(Photo credit: Thrive By 5 Louisville)
Shift Work Forward—formerly the National Fund for Workforce Solutions—is investing $360,000 in business and management coaching for operators of early childhood education centers across Louisville.
This funding is part of a national initiative spanning Akron-Cleveland, Baltimore, Chicago, Des Moines, and Pittsburgh, aimed at strengthening childcare systems by improving job quality for early childhood educators.
“This grant is another important step toward ensuring that every child in Louisville has access to high-quality, affordable care.”
Mayor Craig Greenberg, who has made early childhood education a key priority of his administration, announced the grant in late March.
“We’ve got so much momentum around early childhood education,” said Greenberg. “This grant is another important step toward ensuring that every child in Louisville has access to high-quality, affordable care.”
The grant will go to Thrive By 5 Louisville, an independent nonprofit that grew out of Mayor Greenberg’s push, and KentuckianaWorks, the Louisville region’s workforce development board.
Through this investment, Thrive By 5 Louisville will support a network of twenty-six early learning centers with tools and coaching to build sustainable business models and better understand, and respond to, the needs of their educators. These efforts are expected to expand access to care by increasing available classroom slots and improving working conditions for educators.
“Skilled educators are the foundation of the child care classroom,” said Reylene Robinson, Executive Director, Thrive By 5 Louisville. “This grant will support our work to provide the training and support that’s needed to grow our early childhood education workforce.”
“We’ve struggled in recent years to meet the growing demand for early childhood educators,” said Michael Gritton, Executive Director of KentuckianaWorks. “We know that improving job quality makes a real difference in attracting and retaining talent. We’re grateful to Shift Work Forward for their continued investment in early childhood educators and workers across industries.”
You can watch Mayor Greenberg’s full announcement in the video clip below.
Learn More
Explore how Thrive By 5 Louisville is supporting local educators, centers, and families through the Quality+ Pilot
Learn more about Shift Work Forward’s national efforts: Shifting the Childcare Industry: Better Jobs for Better Access