New Mexico

Partnering with communities across New Mexico, and using data and lived experience to transform ecosystems.

While most interventions focus on incremental changes to the early childhood service system, the Early Childhood Social Impact Lab project takes a fundamentally different approach—transforming the entire ecosystem.

At its core, the early childhood ecosystem transformation accelerator project is about helping cities first understand their early childhood ecosystem and then second, provide them the tools and coaching to help them improve early childhood and family outcomes. Cities are laboratories of innovation and harnessing the unique value and assets is the only way to help families thrive. By the end of this project, cities are provided the tools and resources necessary for residents and community leaders to deepen their understanding of their Early Childhood Ecosystem and then harnesses their unique community capacity to effect change.

This work provides a springboard for community-led and city-engaged projects, built on a shared vision about what can be undertaken over the next 3-5 years to help a city see their children achieve their fullest potential. This work also provides the foundation for a community-level Innovation Lab, where ideas for improving early childhood outcomes are tested and shared with other global cities to spread success faster.

This project is informed by the Nurturing Care Framework’s key action areas of (1) leading and investing, (2) focusing on families and communities, (3) strengthening services, (4) monitoring progress, and (5) scaling and innovating. The processes is also based in the Nurturing Care’s evidence-based international standards for early childhood systems including the areas of (1) nurturing care, (2) early learning, (3) good health, (4), nutrition, and (5) safety and security.

Cities and communities who engage in this work walk away with:

• The development of a community-based strategic framework to improve early childhood outcomes across their early childhood ecosystem.
• The foundation of a backbone or organizing entity is established to help sustain this work in the future.
• Increased capacity to carry out and improve early childhood outcomes.
• The identification of private and public funds to sustain this work.