The Heinz Endowments has joined the launch of Invest in US, a national campaign announced by President Barack Obama which challenges business leaders, philanthropists, advocates and public officials to build a better nation through high-quality early childhood programs for children from birth to age five. The Endowments has pledged new funding of $9 million to the nonpartisan effort as one of almost 40 foundations, nonprofits and corporations that have made significant commitments in support of the initiative to ensure that more children and communities have high-quality early childhood education programs.
The Invest in US challenge announced by President Obama is organized by the First Five Years Fund and its philanthropic partners. Invest in US is designed to catalyze cross-sector support for early childhood education. The President has made early childhood education a key policy priority. Since his initial call to expand access to high-quality early childhood education to every child in America in his 2013 State of the Union Address, the President has proposed a series of new investments in early childhood education, and more than 30 states and cities have established new programs or expanded access to preschool.