While considering an investment in technology education, we got to know the leadership at Code Nation over the course of many months and many conversations. But one conversation stuck out. “In 15 years people are going to fall into two buckets,” one of the organization’s senior leaders told us during a visit to our office. “You’re either going to be telling a computer what to do or a computer is going to be telling you what to do.” Unfortunately, the current trajectory for most under-resourced students has them pointed toward the latter bucket. So how do we solve that problem and equip kids from low-income backgrounds to succeed in an increasingly technological world? We believe Code Nation is part of the answer. Code Nation offers up to three years of computer coding courses and work-based learning programs for high school students. Year 1 consists of a project-based course in web development that introduces students to the field of Computer Science and equips them with a foundational technical skill set. Years 2 and 3 consist of a fellowship program that emphasizes both technical and professional skills, during which they create their own portfolios. Code Nation serves roughly 1,500 students. More than […]

“Decision education” is a foreign phrase and concept for most of us. We teach students how to read and write and complete math problems. But, by and large, we don’t teach them how to make decisions, which is unfortunate, because decisions impact every aspect of our lives. Decision education is being applied in various ways in various organizations – Wall Street firms train their associates in it, Ivy League schools offer courses in it, social media companies employ it to make more effective products. The Alliance for Decision Education sees a future in which decision education is a regular part of curriculum for all students – akin to STEM and social-emotional learning. “Life is chance and choice,” said Alliance director of operations Ramin Mohajer. “You can control the choice; you can learn how to make better decisions. What if everyone was 5-10-percent better at making decisions, if they were 5-10 percent better at assessing risk, think of how much better things would be.” Decision education could have more than just an academic impact. It can help solve the root problem behind teen drug use, teen pregnancy, crime, texting and driving. It can impact how we interpret news. The applications are […]

Kids & Community Partners views its work as non-profit investing – meaning we calculate a return on investment based on the value we’re bringing to under-resourced children and youth. That calculation takes into account more than 35 different outcomes that we believe pull kids out of generational poverty. And one thing our research and data consistently shows is that a bachelor’s degree is the closest outcome to a ticket out of generational poverty. Bottom Line is a trailblazer and national leader in the field of college success. Its unique and proven mentoring model helps first-generation and under-represented students get to and through college. More than 76 percent of Bottom Line students earn a bachelor’s degree in four years. Kids & Community Partners, which operates in some markets where similar populations earn bachelors at a rate as low as 10 percent, vetted Bottom Line for four years before making an investment that will help scale the program to more students. Some of our multi-year multi-million-dollar investment will help bring Bottom Line to Ohio, while also expanding the program’s virtual mentoring footprint. “It’s not just about serving 10,000 students and adding a market here and there,” said Bottom Line board chair Kevin […]

DAYTON, OH – The non-profit arm of a local real estate investment firm is partnering with one of the country’s top psychiatric hospitals on a Dayton-based groundbreaking research project aimed at understanding the biologic link between childhood hardships and mental disorders. The study, dubbed the Connor-McLean Healthy Kids Development Program, is a combined effort of The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners and the Boston area’s McLean Hospital. Kerry J. Ressler, MD, PhD, McLean Hospital’s chief scientific officer and a professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is heading the study. It will enroll up to 1,000 families in Dayton as part of a visionary, long-term program to understand the role of stress on biological mechanisms, in particular epigenetics, that contribute to risk in developing children. “Epigenetics is the study of reversible biological mechanisms that regulate the function of our genome. Studies have shown that factors like toxic stress, poverty, and likely also social isolation during COVID can change these epigenetic markers and lead to the development of mental and physical disorders over time,” Ressler said. “The results of this study will help us understand why some children are more vulnerable to developing mental and physical health problems, while others […]

On the south side of Columbus, in a low-income neighborhood, is an early education and child care program that this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. But the work being done within its walls has little to do with the traditional 4-year-old nursery school model. Quite the contrary. The work being done in recent years at South Side Early Learning is on the cutting edge of an early-child education revolution. And it starts when children are just six weeks old. “We get babies ready for life,” said SSEL CEO Colin Page McGinnis. “About 93 percent of brain development happens before age 3. That’s the sweet spot where we need to focus.” “We only have 2,000 days to do this work. The model is broken, and really hasn’t been innovated since the last 1960s. It needs to be whole-family, intentional and it needs to start as early as possible, it needs to start at six weeks.” Based on the SSEL’s innovative approach, outstanding results and Colin’s leadership, The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners is investing $2.2 million over five years to help grow the program’s impact in its current location and beyond. SSEL’s model is based on early-intervention, data-backed decision making, […]