Early Childhood Learning PDF Print E-mail

Niagara Area Foundation LogoThe Niagara Area Foundation (NAF), a division of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo (CFGB) held a public convening entitled "Investing in Niagara’s Future: Early Childhood Learning’s Substantial Return on Investment," to create a wave of support for quality early learning for every child in Niagara County.

The meeting featured Rob Grunewald, Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, who spoke about his research on the great return on investment achieved by supporting early childhood development.

The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Niagara Area Foundation convened this event because it is critical to educate business, community, and legislative leaders about the economic returns of early learning.
Rob Grunewald

We feel strongly that our community will experience the most powerful results from investments in early learning. The goals of this summit included:

  • To build a local and statewide public-private partnership in support of early learning:
  • Raising awareness of early learning return on investment and economics
  • Increase involvement of business and economic partners in early learning activities
  • To launch the Niagara County Early Learning Coalition Strategic Plan
  • To educate public officials about the importance of investing in early learning and its high return to communities.
  • To begin building a base of support to sustain early learning activities for the next generation.
Rob Grunewald
  

adobe acrobat readerClick here to view Rob’s presentation.

Event sponsors included the Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Niagara/USA Chamber of Commerce, the Community Childcare Clearinghouse of Niagara and the Niagara Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

Below are videos with comments from attendees:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1oflKBbtRU 200 200]
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4KSfNAcG5Y 200 200]
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQIQixGn210 200 200]
  Conversation with Ken Sass
President/CEO
Family & Children's Services
of Niagara, Inc.
Conversation with
David N. Greenfield
Council Member
Niagara Area Foundation
Conversation with
Kathleen Granchelli
Executive Director
YWCA of Niagara