Partnering with communities to understand and transform the early childhood ecosystem so that all children can thrive.

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


How do we reimagine how we partner with communities?

What is our role as we work outside of our institution? How can we best support the change makers, leaders and visionaries that work everyday to better their city? How do we ensure that data is rooted in lived experience? Questions like these guide our work. We know that sustainable change requires a deep understanding and a multi-pronged approach. Through deep engagement with all aspects of the ecosystem, we better understand, get to learn together, and co-create and co-design strategies to ensure that all children can thrive.

Photograph of two data chat participants

Understanding the Ecosystem

Transforming an ecosystem is no easy task - we help communities understand their early childhood ecosystem through a variety of approaches.

How We Engage
Illustration of a network diagram that shows the complexity of the ecosystem

Learning Together

We provide the training, tools and resources necessary for residents and community leaders to deepen their understanding of their Early Childhood Ecosystem.

How We Learn
Photograph of a woman putting stickers up on a glass window.

Transforming the Ecosystem

Together, we create strategies that are transformative, sustainable and wide-reaching that are grounded in the experiences of the community.

How We Transform

Lab Leadership

Efren Aguilar is the Director of the Pomona and New Mexico Social Impact Labs

Efren Aguilar

Director, Early Childhood Ecosystems Transformation Accelerator

Graduate Student Researchers


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