ECCE Systems Building

Building Virginia’s Early Childhood System, Together

At Foundation First, we are more than a nonprofit, we are the regional lead organization responsible for coordinating and strengthening the early childhood education system across the Ready Region North Central area of Virginia.

Our mission is to ensure that every child, from birth to age five, has access to high-quality early learning opportunities, regardless of where they live or their family’s income.

We bring together families, educators, business leaders, local governments, and community partners to build a unified system that supports children, strengthens the workforce, and drives regional success.

What System Building Means

System building means creating connections across programs, funding streams, and communities — making it easier for families to find and access care, for providers to deliver quality services, and for policymakers to make informed decisions.

Through the Ready Regions initiative, Foundation First leads the work of:

Coordinated Enrollment

Streamlining how families access publicly funded early childhood programs like Head Start, VPI, and Mixed Delivery.

Quality Measurement

Supporting classrooms and teachers through the Virginia Quality Birth to Five (VQB5) system, using observation and data to drive improvement.

Family Engagement

Ensuring families have a voice in decisions that affect their children’s care and education.

Governance and Collaboration

Building strong partnerships through shared governance structures that unite schools, childcare providers, businesses, and families around a common vision.

Why It Matters

Early childhood experiences shape the foundation for lifelong learning, health, and success. By coordinating the system behind those experiences, we make sure every investment — public or private — works harder and reaches further.

Our approach to system building ensures that:

  • Programs operate efficiently and equitably.
  • Data drives decisions and improvements.
  • Families are supported, not overwhelmed.
  • Communities are stronger because children and families thrive.

Our Goal

A region where every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed — and where every community understands that early education is essential to our shared future.