YWCA of Greater Atlanta has teamed up with key collaborators, including CHRIS 180, Families First, Morehouse School of Medicine,YMCA of Metro Atlanta, and the Westside Future Fund, following focus groups with Westside women to address their specific needs, and community leaders and funders. After more than seven years of planning, YWCA of Greater Atlanta has […]
Category: Securing Atlanta’s Future
Atlanta is currently experiencing a period of incredible growth and transformation. During this time, it is imperative that we remain committed to caring for our most vulnerable citizens, children. Creating and sustaining an environment where children thrive means actively working to support all aspects of their healthy development. Organizations likeGEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, Junior League of Atlanta, Sheltering Arms, and Communities in Schools Atlanta, are dedicated to promoting and investing in programs that provide high-quality early learning, wrap around supports for children and their families, and community engagement that facilitates the strengthening of Atlanta’s communities, thus securing a successful future for all. Join us weekly as we examine some of the most pressing issues children and families face. We’ll explore potential solutions and discuss steps we are currently taking to address these obstacles.
GEEARS: (Logo attached above) Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students works throughout Georgia to improve public policy, increase public awareness, conduct and interpret research, and lead a movement to support high-quality early education and healthy development for children birth to five. Our vision is that by 2020, every child in Georgia will enter kindergarten prepared to succeed and on a path to read to learn by the end of the third grade. GEEARS’ is based in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.geears.org.
Sheltering Arms: (Logo attached in this email)
Sheltering Arms provides high‐quality early education, child care and comprehensive family support services to more than 3,500 children and their families annually at 14 metropolitan Atlanta locations in Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
Junior League of Atlanta (JLA): (Logo attached below) The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) is an organization of women, committed to making lasting transformation in the Atlanta community. The 100 year legacy of leadership is built on our ability to train women leaders to tackle tough issues impacting women and children, and provides a strong foundation for civic leadership.
Communities in Schools (CIS): (logo attached in this email)
CIS of Atlanta empowers youth in the greater Atlanta area to reach their fullest potential through a wide range of services. CIS places dedicated staff members called Site Coordinators in local schools where they build strong relationships with students, parents, educators and community members.
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
The Stark Numbers of GEEARS’ New Parent Poll: Many Georgia Families Need Support and They Need It Now
By GEEARS In November, GEEARS commissioned a poll of 400 Georgia parents with children ages birth to five. The results were striking. In the last year, according to our pollster, Hart Research Associates, eight in 10 of our respondents reported “having had difficulty affording at least one key necessity for their family, including food (which […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Bright Spots serve as proof points for the power of collective impact
By Tenicia Winston Cross-sector partners from throughout the region gathered at the Metro Atlanta Chamber for the seventh annual ‘State of Education in Metro Atlanta,’ presented by Learn4Life (L4L). While this year’s annual report shows that far too many students across metro Atlanta are struggling, ‘Bright Spots’ in our community prove that with the right […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Stronger Together: The GEEARS Community is Galvanized for 2024
On Friday, December 1st, the Child Care Advocacy Task Force of the Georgia Infant-Toddler Coalition gathered 35 impassioned early childhood advocates from all over the state. (When you watch seven Savannahians spill out of a single van after a wee-hours departure, you know they’re committed!) In a most-of-the-day meeting, these Coalition members connected, strategized for […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
The Best of Humanity: Metro Atlanta’s Youth of the Year
By David Jernigan, President & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta At a time when the world seems to be falling apart, when mass shootings are on the rise, when war is taking hold in both Ukraine and the Middle East, and when hatred seems to be on full display, I needed […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
A Fun Gathering, a Fabulous Headliner, and Support For GEEARS: The Top Reasons You Want to Come to GEEARS’ Annual Luncheon
This year, GEEARS’ Annual Luncheon happens, appropriately enough, on Giving Tuesday, November 28th, at the Whitley Hotel. While the event is a fundraiser for us, we like to think the giving goes both ways! Three Reasons to Buy Your Annual Luncheon Tickets Today This mid-day soiree is famously fun. There’ll be, of course, a delicious […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Navigating ‘divisive concepts’ is tricky – this toolkit can help
By: Damian Ramsey, MSW Picture this scenario: A student asks their teacher, “Which party do you believe upholds the most democratic principles, Democrats or Republicans?” How should the teacher answer? Imagine another student tells their teacher, “I dislike that you said people don’t vote because it’s dangerous. That’s your personal opinion, and it’s fear mongering […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
A Human-Centered Design Workshop for Early Educators
By GEEARS Last month, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students and partner Quality Care for Children co-hosted over 50 early childhood professionals—almost all of them teachers—for a Human-Centered Design Workshop. GEEARS invited early childhood educators from across Georgia to the workshop, asking participants to give up an entire, precious Saturday. For some, it […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Amid Talent Crisis in Education and Childcare, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta Director Dedicates 45 Years of Service to Atlanta Youth
By David Jernigan, President & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta I’ll never forget my mom’s response when I told her I was going to become a teacher: “You’re going to settle for that?” In her mind, becoming an educator was somehow acceding to a profession less than my potential, especially as […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Mission Accomplished: PAACT and the City of Atlanta Exceed Goal of $20 Million for Early Education
At a six p.m. soiree on September 5th, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens spoke to about 50 local leaders sipping post-work cocktails and feeling festive. “As you know,” Mayor Dickens said to the group, “I issued an historic challenge to Atlantans last year. I urged our private foundations, business leaders, and philanthropists—in other words, you—to make […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
The Supreme Court made college diversity more rare, but action from local leaders can help
By Tenicia Winston In June of this year, the Supreme Court struck down the use of race as a factor in college admissions. This means that the already difficult goal of diversifying college admissions and enrollment just got harder, but there are paths forward. While the full consequences of this decision are not yet clear […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
A Healthy Child is a “School-Ready” Child
August is back to school month for us Georgians. It’s also National Immunization Awareness Month. Most pediatricians would tell you that this is an optimal pairing; that parents should plan for their kids’ vaccinations as intentionally as they stock up on shiny new sneakers and fresh crayon boxes. “In order for children to be ready […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Leveraging Company Resources to Provide Real-World Training to Metro Atlanta Youth
By Charlie Henn | Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP | Board Chair, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta Atlanta is a wonderful place for many of us to live, work, and raise a family. At the same time: The heartbreaking statistics concerning our youth led me to become deeply involved in the work […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
GEEARS Launches a New Resource: The Early Childhood Checkup
By GEEARS Since our inception more than a decade ago, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students has been known in the state as a trusted resource for early childhood data. We’re proud of our in-depth community-focused tools like the Readiness Radar, but we’ve also wanted to provide a more high-level snapshot of how […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
Unifying metro Atlanta school districts to navigate the divisive concepts law
By Ashleigh Dennis, Founder & Managing Partner of Versa Impact Group A metro Atlanta school district recently fired a teacher for violating Georgia’s “divisive concepts law.” The teacher read a book to her class that she purchased at the school book fair, a parent objected to the content of the book, and the district placed […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
The Movement Toward Infant-Toddler Courts in Georgia
By GEEARS When a parent of a young child, aged birth through three, enters the legal system with challenges such as substance use or allegations of neglect or abuse, courts have often removed the child from the home, either for foster care or adoption. While this is a tragedy for the parent, there’s growing recognition […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
There’s No Room for Debate. We Need Inclusive Spaces for Our Kids.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta Provides Safety, Ignites Great Futures By Katy Barksdale, Trustee, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta | President, The Rockdale Foundation “When the truth was out there about my sexuality, I never searched for acceptance. That was until I was told by the ones I love ‘we don’t […]
Posted inSecuring Atlanta's Future
A Season of Exploration: The Mayor’s Summer Reading Club Launches Its 11th Year
The Mayor’s Summer Reading Club (MSRC), an annual program created and coordinated by GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, has launched its 11th season! On Thursday, June 1st, a host of bookish fans gathered on the lawn in front of the Woodruff Arts Center to celebrate. The crowd included at least 100 children […]
Posted inThought Leader
Jeans days and chocolate won’t fix teacher burnout, but skilled leaders and supportive culture can
By Leslie Hazle Bussey, Ph.D., CEO/Executive Director, GLISI No disrespect to either jeans or chocolate, but neither will fix the root causes of teacher burnout that are leading to unprecedented levels of teacher attrition. It’s no secret that teacher turnover and burnout have been significant barriers to school success since before the pandemic. Turnover rates […]
Posted inThought Leadership
A Drop in Military Readiness Shines a Light on the Importance of Early Childhood Care and Education
By Rear Admiral Casey W. Coane, U.S Navy (Ret.) In 1942, the United States was confronted with a shocking statistic—out of the first two-million young men who were examined for military duty by the Selective Service board, roughly 900,000, were turned away. This alerted many to the unfortunate possibility that nearly 45 percent of young […]
