Early Learning Indiana Among Zaentz Finalists

The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced Indianapolis-based Early Learning Indiana as a finalist for its 2019 Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge. Officials from the organization will travel to Harvard in October to pitch their idea to take on staffing challenges facing early child care centers nationwide.

Early Learning Indiana will go up against 14 other finalists for funding in front of a panel of judges and a live audience.  

The challenge aims to recognize promising new ideas and strategic approaches that could benefit the quality of early education.

“For early learning providers working with razor-thin margins and no room for error in meeting ratio requirements, staffing poses a perennial challenge,” said Early Learning Indiana Chief Executive Officer Maureen Weber. “We’ve proposed a first to-market digital staffing application, inspired by successful models in other industries like Uber, AirBNB and OpenShift, to offer a centralized resource or “float” pool that providers can access on demand. This application is positioned to build short-term and part-time workforce capacity, while also offering unusual suspects the chance to enter the early childhood education field. We are thrilled to be named a finalist and excited about the opportunities this innovation could create for child care providers across the country.” 

To learn more information on the 2019 Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge and its finalists, click here.