Expanding Access to Early Childhood Development Care in the United States
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s board of directors approved 19 grants, including three program-related investments, totaling more than $42 million in the third quarter of 2024. The grants span the Hilton Foundation’s initiatives and programs working in the U.S. and internationally.
In 2021, the Foundation expanded its investments in Early Childhood Development in the United States with a strategic focus in Los Angeles County and New Mexico. The Early Childhood Development – U.S. initiative (ECD-US) takes a holistic, two-generation approach to support the well-being of children prenatal to age three and their caregivers. Its overarching goal is to increase access to ECD services, including child care, healthcare, home visiting and economic mobility programming by investing in direct services, building the capacity of local organizations, and by strengthening the field through advocacy, communications and research.
The following is an overview of the board-approved grants and program-related investments (PRIs) awarded in the second quarter of 2024:
Catholic Sisters – Strathmore University Foundation received $3.2 million to provide entrepreneurship education, training and coaching to Catholic sisters in order to build the financial sustainability of their charitable ministries. The Catholic Health Association of India was awarded $2.6 million to strengthen Catholic sisters’ capacity to lead, manage, and provide services at healthcare institutions across India. Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters received $2 million to continue support leadership conferences, inter-congregational networks, and sisters providing human development services to alleviate human suffering. Congregation of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word was awarded $1.8 million to strengthen the organizational capacity and sustainability of the Catholic Sisters Inter-Congregational Network for Migrants and Economic Empowerment. Catholic Church Extension Society of the United States of America received $1.7 million to support the United States-Latin America Sisters Exchange Program, which provides educational opportunities to Catholic sisters to improve their ability to provide a range of social services through their charitable ministries. Medicines for Humanity, Inc. was awarded $1.65 million to strengthen the SISTERS Project to increase the provision of sustainable, quality health care and nutrition services in Haiti.
Early Childhood Development – East and Southern Africa – Children in Crossfire received $2 million to accelerate the roll-out of a nationally coordinated approach that brings together health, education, and social sectors to help young children in Tanzania reach their developmental milestones.
Early Childhood Development – United States – The Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico was awarded $2.96 million to fund organizations to implement locally-led development initiatives that benefit families with children prenatal to three in Southern New Mexico. Low Income Investment Fund received $2.1 million to increase the supply of licensed infant and toddler care spaces through technical assistance and capacity building around facilities renovation and development. Partners for Children South LA was awarded $1.55 million to support the Early Childhood System of Care, a coordinated network for case management that improves access to healthcare, early education, and family supports, as well as to provide life skills workshops for young parents.
Foster Youth – Regents of the University of California at Berkeley received $2,025,000 to support the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare’s efforts to support a regional analysis of data on Los Angeles County transition age foster youth through an outcomes-monitoring platform and the Transition-Age Youth Research & Evaluation Hub at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project. Children Now was awarded $1.55 million to educate and build the capacity of service providers in the areas of placement stability, educational outcomes, and coordination of healthcare services for foster youth.
Homelessness – LTSC Community Development Corporation received $2.6 million to support housing preservation work across the Los Angeles region and increase the organization’s capacity in its multi-pronged approach to homelessness in Little Tokyo. True Colors United Inc. was awarded $1.64 million to sustain and grow the leadership of young people with lived experience to engage in funding, policy and practice changes with the goal of preventing and reducing youth homelessness in Los Angeles County.
Opportunity Youth – CAP Youth Empowerment Institute – Kenya received $1,615,000 to train and place opportunity youth in climate -smart agricultural jobs and hospitality careers, and to advocate for reform with the Technical Vocational Education and Training system. Los Angeles LGBT Center was awarded $1.6 million to support a workforce training program and youth advisory council for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults and those experiencing high barriers to employment.
Safe Water – Saha Global Inc. received $5 million to increase access to safe, reliable water services for last-mile communities in Asutifi North and across Ghana and to advocate for the inclusion of last-mile communities in district, regional, and national water, sanitation and hygiene plans. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was awarded $3 million to support the Water lnstitute’s efforts to establish a baseline for lead contamination in drinking water systems in Ghana and Uganda, and to support these governments to develop remediation solutions, adopt national standards, and disseminate results at global water events. Cewas received $2.4 million to provide technical assistance and financial support that helps safe water enterprises in Ghana and Uganda scale to meet the growing demand for access to safe water.
Program-Related Investments:
Homelessness – LINC Housing Corporation was approved for a loan of $3 million to finance the development of affordable and permanent supportive housing for low-income individuals and people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in Los Angeles. The Model Z Modular, LLC was approved for a loan of $3 million to finance the development of a modular manufacturing facility creating affordable housing options for low-income individuals, including those who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness, and, in creating such housing, will provide job opportunities to low-income individuals from the local Los Angeles community in which the modular factory is located.
Opportunity Youth – VIWALA S.A.P.I. de C.V. was approved for a loan of $1 million to capitalize a charitable lending program under which loans shall be provided under favorable terms to medium-sized enterprises operating in Mexico City for the purpose of fostering increased work opportunities for Opportunity Youth.
Other Grants – Women in Aviation International was awarded $750,000 to expand scholarships, offer leadership development, and promote science, technology, education, and mathematics education to provide more opportunities for women to pursue careers in the aviation industry. Network for Empowered Aid Response received $1 million to support the scale up of the Change Fund as well as pilot results-based financing mechanisms to help catalyze effectiveness and localization in humanitarian response.
To learn more about the Foundation’s program areas and philanthropic approach, please visit hiltonfoundation.org/work/our-initiatives. For more detailed information on grantmaking, please visit hiltonfoundation.org/grants.