The Raising Child Care Fund (RCCF), a project of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, pools private foundation funding to support grassroots organizations that elevate the voices of families, early educators, and allies—working alongside them to build powerful coalitions to transform child care and expand equity.
RCCF is dedicated to transforming child care in the U.S. so all families have access to the care they want and need, and early educators receive fair compensation for their invaluable contributions to society.
RCCF is an active philanthropic partner in the national movement to transform child care into a system that supports all families and those who care for and educate young children. Over the past five years, RCCF has embarked on an incredible journey shifting resources to expand the reach and influence of community-based organizations working toward transformational change.
In this new webinar, you'll hear directly from RCCF grantee partners in Colorado, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania about how they’re organizing with parents and providers to shift power, shape policy, and advance equity in early childhood systems. Their stories remind us why long-term, trust-based investments in community-led change are essential.
The RCCF Approach
Our Theory of Change starts with centering the voices of those who most rely on and work in child care, especially people who have been historically disenfranchised and left out of decisions that impact them. Additionally, RCCF supports intersectional leadership and underwrites our grantee partners’ capacity to combat the historic race and gender inequities built into child care in America. Our ultimate goal is for robust funding to resource and center the experiences of families, early educators, and caregivers in the development of an equitable child care system.
We give grants to community organizers to:
RCCF is a philanthropic learning model focused on advancing racial equity and community power-building to address systemic challenges in America’s child care system.
Over 75% of RCCF grantee partners are led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)—leaders deeply rooted in their communities.
RCCF provides unrestricted funding to help grassroots organizations tackle the racial and gender inequities embedded in child care policies and systems.
Grants support community-based organizing and power-building strategies that address the intersection of race, gender, and economic injustice impacting families and children across the U.S.
What RCCF Grantee Partners are Saying:
"It is important to measure the benchmarks of organizing because although we may not be able to report policy wins, grassroots efforts are happening. Building a grassroots movement takes time. We need to acknowledge that the work hasn’t stopped and that people are committed to working toward change even if it’s not making headlines."
Amy Jo Hutchinson, Rattle the Windows
“New Mexico has the highest income eligibility for child care assistance in the country, the best hazard pay for pandemic child care workers, and now we’re fighting for living wages for early educators and a new system designed by parents and educators. All with RCCF’s support.”
Matthew Henderson, Olé Education Fund
“Thanks to funding from RCCF, we have been able to expand the base we organize to bring power to hundreds more parents, providers and early childhood educators across the state of Minnesota.”
Lydia Boerboom, ISAIAH
"It doesn’t make sense to focus on child care without addressing racial and gender equity or recognizing the interconnected historical, economic, and political issues robbing children of their potential."
Lenice Emmanuel, Alabama Institute for Social Justice
“The well-being of children, particularly Black and Brown children and families is my life’s mission.”
Mackenzie Grayson, Alliance for Quality Education
“If we don’t support the high quality of child care in all forms of care, then we’re not actually doing what we claim to do.”
“We work for and with the people. And there has been magic listening to people.”
Ashley Shelton, Power Coalition for Equity
By the end of 2024, RCCF raised $20 million from private foundations. To date, RCCF has funded community organizers in 19 states and Washington, DC, supporting parents and child care providers working to transform the nation’s failing child care system.
