Edu-Futuro’s Childcare Education & Training Center

Northern Virginia is facing a severe childcare crisis, particularly within its Latino and immigrant communities. Childcare costs in Virginia are among the highest in the nation, with more than 15% of Virginians' annual salaries spent on childcare. For low-income families, this burden is even more significant, with 98% of families with infants and toddlers unable to afford childcare, a cost that often tops $14,000 annually. This financial strain often forces parents to reduce their work hours, take lower-paying jobs, or risk leaving their children in unlicensed, unsupervised neighborhood day care centers. Compounding this issue is the lack of access to high-quality early childhood education, as only 29% of low-income children in the region are enrolled in preschool, compared to the national average of 41%. 

Edu-Futuro’s proposed Childcare Education and Training Center (CETC) seeks to address these issues by providing affordable childcare for children aged 3-5, while simultaneously offering workforce development opportunities for parents to obtain Child Development Associate (CDA) certification. This initiative will not only provide quality early education, but also enable parents to pursue stable, well-paying jobs in the childcare industry, helping to break the cycle of poverty and improve economic mobility for underserved families in the region.

To address the critical lack of affordable childcare and meet the workforce development needs of Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia, Edu-Futuro seeks to launch a Childcare Education and Training Center (CETC). Our facility will provide affordable, high-quality childcare for children ages 3-5, ensuring they are prepared for success in school. Additionally, the center will offer workforce development opportunities for parents to earn a Child Development Associate (CDA) certification: allowing participants to improve their economic stability by working as childcare providers at the CETC, beginning a career at another local center, or starting their own childcare businesses. 

The CETC will be a space that offers hands-on training, mentorship, and support for parents while caring for their children in a nurturing environment. Parents will have access to flexible, evening hours for training to accommodate their work schedules, and childcare will be provided free of charge during sessions.

Essentially, Edu-Futuro will work to fill the need for certified childcare workers in Northern Virginia by training and empowering the large surplus of highly motivated and legally eligible immigrant parents in our region. The scalable solution leverages Edu-Futuro’s community and staff expertise to create a sustainable solution to our local childcare crisis.

The CETC will serve Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia, particularly those facing economic hardship. Approximately 87% of the youth served by Edu-Futuro are immigrants or children of immigrants, and 65% will be the first in their family to attend college. Based on Community Development Block Grant income limits, 75% of our families are classified as Extremely Low Income, 15% as Very Low Income, and 3% as Low Income. The students and parents served by Edu-Futuro identify predominantly as Latino (78%), and have been disproportionately impacted by systemic inequities, rising poverty, and housing instability. For example, few outside our community are aware that Latino families suffered the highest number of COVID hospitalizations for any racial or ethnic group in Northern Virginia.

The CETC will address the dual needs of our families by providing affordable childcare for children ages 3-5, ensuring they are school-ready, while also offering parents the opportunity to earn a Child Development Associate (CDA) certification. This will empower parents to become accredited childcare providers, improving their economic stability through better-paying, stable employment opportunities in the childcare sector.

By combining early childhood education with workforce development, the CETC will reduce disparities in education, economic opportunity, and community connection.

Our team is deeply connected to the communities we serve, with the majority -- including both Executive Director, Jorge Figueredo, and Deputy Director, Manuel Piñeros -- being immigrants themselves. This shared lived experience gives us an intimate understanding of the challenges faced by Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia, and allows our team to design solutions that are culturally competent and directly address the needs of our target population.

Our Executive Director, Jorge Figueredo, has over 30 years of experience leading organizations committed to providing social services, advancing social justice, and advocating on behalf of immigrant communities. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious David Bradt Nonprofit Leadership Award by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, enabling him to attend Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Program in “Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management.” Most recently, Jorge was one of the first two Latino co-chairs elected to Fairfax County’s Task Force on Equity and Opportunity for One Fairfax, tasked with monitoring the county’s Racial and Social Equity Policy, which was adopted in 2017.

The design of the CETC has been guided by extensive engagement with the community. In partnership with the respected nonprofit consulting firm, Compass, Edu-Futuro conducted a year-long feasibility study and gathered feedback from our constituents, ensuring that the CETC aligned with their most pressing concerns. Community feedback has been central to shaping the focus of the CETC, which addresses both the childcare crisis and the workforce development needs of parents.

To further ensure the solution is community-driven, we incorporate feedback from ongoing conversations with families. These interactions have directly influenced the design of our services, including the flexible scheduling of training sessions and the inclusion of free childcare to allow full participation. Our approach ensures that the CETC meets the real and immediate needs of the families we serve.

We selected the "Prototype" stage for the CETC because we are in the early phases of development, focusing on research, feedback, and preparation for launch. We identified the critical need for the CETC through extensive research, including a year-long feasibility study conducted by a nine-member team from the nonprofit consulting group, Compass. Direct feedback from our families consistently highlighted childcare as one of their greatest concerns. Our ongoing engagement will ensure that the CETC is designed to address the needs of those we serve. 

Currently, we are moving forward with the help of six AmeriCorps VISTA members who are helping Edu-Futuro build a foundational understanding of the steps needed to launch our CETC, including researching local childcare regulations, potential funding sources, and the curriculum most appropriate for our beneficiaries. Additionally, the CETC will extend Edu-Futuro’s existing Parent Empowerment and Workforce Development Services, which already provide short-term childcare for 200 children annually through 40 caregivers. We offer evening training workshops to accommodate working parents, providing free childcare during sessions and recruiting part-time staff from among our beneficiaries. The CETC will build upon this model by offering parents the opportunity to gain CDA certification, allowing them to become accredited childcare providers.

The CETC uniquely combines affordable, high-quality childcare with workforce development, targeting Latino and immigrant communities in Northern Virginia. Unlike programs that focus solely on childcare or workforce development, the CETC integrates both, addressing the region’s childcare crisis while fostering families’ long-term economic stability. 

As stated earlier, essentially, Edu-Futuro is working to fill the great need for certified childcare workers in Northern Virginia by training and empowering the large surplus of highly motivated, legally eligible, but underemployed immigrant parents in our region.

Edu-Futuro’s Two-Generation model is central to this approach, simultaneously serving children and parents. For children, the CETC ensures access to early childhood education, preparing them for success in public schools. For parents, it offers CDA certification, enabling them to secure well-paying jobs as childcare providers or entrepreneurs. This dual approach alleviates immediate childcare burdens while creating pathways for parents to achieve economic independence.

A distinguishing feature of the CETC is its deep community involvement. The design and implementation of the Center are informed by ongoing engagement with the families we hope to serve, aligning services with their specific needs and schedules. The CETC will also recruit and train caregivers from the community, providing competitive wages and growth opportunities for those often marginalized in the labor market.

The CETC has the potential to drive widespread change by demonstrating how integrated childcare and workforce development can offer scalable solutions. With a solid foundation and proven success, the model is primed for geographic expansion, enabling other regions to replicate its impact. Partnerships with businesses will further strengthen this growth, offering onsite childcare solutions that benefit employees while allowing corporations to support their workforce. These partnerships will provide a sustainable funding stream -- paid directly to Edu-Futuro -- ensuring the financial viability of the model and amplifying the long-term impact of the project.

Our impact goals for the CETC are focused on improving economic stability for Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia and ensuring that children are prepared for academic success. Specifically, our goals are: 

1. Increase access to affordable childcare: We aim to provide high-quality, affordable childcare for children ages 3-5, ensuring that at least 40 children benefit from the CETC’s services in its first year.
2. Enhance economic mobility for parents: We strive to equip at least five (5) parents annually with the CDA certification, enabling them to secure stable, well-paying jobs in the childcare industry or start their own businesses.
3. Promote long-term family stability: We aim to reduce the financial stress on working parents by offering affordable childcare, allowing them to pursue career advancement and reduce reliance on unlicensed, informal childcare options.

To measure our progress towards these goals, we will use the following indicators:

• Number of children served: We will track the number of children enrolled in the CETC, ensuring we meet our target of 40 children in the first year.
• Parent workforce development: We will measure the number of parents who complete the CDA certification program and track their employment outcomes, including job placements and income improvements.
• Childcare affordability: We will monitor the financial savings for families by comparing the cost of childcare at CETC to local market rates.
• Family engagement and satisfaction: We will collect feedback through surveys and interviews with parents to assess satisfaction with childcare services, training programs, and overall family impact.

Edu-Futuro employs 28 full-time employees, 30 part-time employees, and 17 AmeriCorps members. Specific staffing for the CETC is still being determined as we work toward the launch of the first CETC site in FY2025-26, but we anticipate six (6) full-time and five (5) part-time staff as well as six (6) AmeriCorps VISTA members. The staff will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the CETC, including coordinating childcare services, workforce development programs, and community outreach efforts. AmeriCorps members contribute to the program by assisting with capacity-building, conducting community engagement activities, and supporting the development and implementation of training modules.

The CETC has been a long-standing dream for Edu-Futuro, rooted in long-term community need and our efforts to create a self-sustaining, scalable model that can lead to long-term financial independence. We have been working on this solution for four years, driven by our commitment to addressing the childcare crisis and workforce development challenges faced by Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia. Over the years, we have gathered valuable community feedback, conducted extensive research, and built the necessary partnerships to bring this vision to life. We feel strongly that the CETC represents the next step in Edu-Futuro’s organizational growth.

At Edu-Futuro, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are central to our mission and organizational culture. Our leadership team reflects the communities we serve, with 89% of our staff being bilingual, 89% being immigrants or children of immigrants, and 93% Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC). This diverse composition ensures that we bring lived experience and cultural competence to the work we do, allowing us to connect meaningfully with the families we serve.

We actively minimize barriers to opportunity by fostering a recruitment process that prioritizes candidates from marginalized communities, including those with limited access to formal education or professional networks. Our goal to recruit staff within our service population in order to create a staff team that represents the diversity of the families we serve, ensuring that all team members, regardless of their background, have equal access to professional development and advancement opportunities.

To further our commitment to DEI, we have implemented regular DEI training for all staff members, focusing on cultural competency, implicit bias, and inclusive leadership practices. We have also established mentorship programs that pair experienced staff members with newer employees, ensuring that everyone has the support needed to thrive. Additionally, we encourage open dialogue within the organization through regular feedback sessions, where staff members can share their experiences and suggest improvements to ensure that our work environment remains welcoming and inclusive.

Through these efforts, Edu-Futuro aims to foster an organizational culture where all team members are respected, supported, and empowered to contribute fully to our shared mission of supporting Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia.

The CETC will operate on a hybrid business model that combines community impact with sustainable revenue generation. The primary beneficiaries of the CETC will be low-income Latino and immigrant families in Northern Virginia, specifically children ages 3-5 and their parents. 

For children, the CETC will provide affordable, high-quality early childhood education, ensuring that they are prepared for school and have the foundational skills needed to succeed academically. The center will offer a structured curriculum that is developmentally appropriate, culturally competent, and designed to address the unique needs of the local community. Parents will also benefit from workforce development services, including the opportunity to earn a CDA certification. This certification will enable them to secure stable, well-paying jobs in the childcare industry or start their own childcare businesses.

Services will be provided in a flexible, family-oriented manner. For parents, training sessions will be scheduled in the evenings to accommodate work schedules, and free childcare will be provided during sessions. This model not only meets the immediate needs of families, but also supports long-term economic mobility by helping parents gain credentials that lead to better job opportunities.

In terms of revenue, the CETC will generate income through childcare tuition, which is subsidized to ensure affordability for low-income families. We also plan to partner with local businesses to provide on-site childcare. Additional funding will come from a mix of grants, donations, and partnerships with local businesses and government entities. The combination of earned income from childcare services and external support from grants ensures the sustainability of the CETC, allowing it to scale, replicate in different Northern Virginia jurisdictions, and reach more families over time.

By addressing both the childcare crisis and workforce development needs, the CETC creates lasting value for the families it serves while ensuring financial sustainability for them and for Edu-Futuro.

Edu-Futuro is working towards long-term financial sustainability through a diversified revenue model that includes government grants, nonprofit organization grants, individual contributions, corporate donations, and earned income from the CETC. 

In March 2024, Edu-Futuro received a transformative $2 million in unrestricted funding from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s inaugural Yield Giving open call. We were one of just 279 community-led nonprofits selected from 6,353 applicants. This significant gift has allowed us to build the reserves necessary to compete for contracts that pay for services only after they are rendered, enabling us to expand our reach. Notably, this funding helped us quickly launch a new chronic absenteeism prevention program in partnership with Arlington and Fairfax Public Schools, demonstrating the potential of unrestricted support to drive immediate impact.

However, the unintended consequence of receiving the Yield Giving award has been the loss of consistent funders who erroneously believe that Edu-Futuro now has sufficient operating funds. As a result, we face the challenge of rebuilding relationships with these funders and securing new sources of support. While the Yield Giving award has been pivotal in establishing necessary reserves, it has not fully alleviated our need for ongoing and diverse funding streams to sustain and scale our work. To address this, we continue to seek additional government grants, foundation support, individual contributions, and earned income from the CETC to ensure long-term sustainability.

We are applying to the Truist Foundation Inspire Awards because winning this Challenge would provide critical support to launch the Childcare Education and Training Center (CETC) and help us overcome several key barriers. While we have made significant progress in building the reserves needed for growth, we still face challenges in securing consistent funding and expanding our reach. The Truist Foundation and MIT Solve’s network of partners would be invaluable in helping us secure new connections, both monetary and in-kind, to address these challenges. 

Specifically, the Challenge could help us overcome the barrier of rebuilding relationships with past funders who may perceive the Yield Giving award as a sufficient operating fund. With access to Truist Foundation's partners and resources, we could re-establish these relationships and attract new supporters who understand the transformative impact of our work. Additionally, Truist Foundation’s connections could help us identify strategic partnerships and collaborative opportunities to expand the CETC’s capacity and services, ensuring its sustainability.

The guidance and exposure provided by MIT Solve’s platform would be instrumental in refining our model, scaling operations, and increasing our impact. Through this partnership, we hope to engage with experts who can support our growth strategy, including corporate partners and potential funders interested in supporting workforce development, early childhood education, and equitable access for Latino and immigrant families. This collaboration would provide the resources and expertise needed to achieve our vision of long-term financial sustainability and systemic change.