Recognizing 16 Years of Service

by CI Guest | Nov 24, 2020 | News, Announcements

On behalf of the Board of Directors at Children’s Institute, I wish to share the news that after 16 years, Swati Adarkar, Co-Founder, President and CEO will step down from her role at the end of this year. Swati has been a visionary and innovative leader who built a top-notch nonprofit organization committed to improving the lives of children and families in Oregon. We are deeply grateful for her leadership over the years and we have much to celebrate and build on in terms of her accomplishments.

Under her tenure, we have seen public investments in Oregon’s early childhood programs and services grow significantly. Those include substantial investments in Oregon Pre-kindergarten, the creation of Preschool Promise and the Kindergarten Partnership and Innovation Fund, and passage of the Student Success Act in 2019 which allocates $200 million annually to birth to five programs.

Perhaps most importantly, Swati led the effort to launch Early Works, a 10-year initiative that began in 2010 at Earl Boyles Elementary School in Multnomah County and then at Yoncalla Elementary School in Douglas County. Early Works was recognized as a national model by the U.S. Department of Education in 2016. Early Works has helped many of us see what’s possible when early childhood programs, services, and family engagement are an integral part of a child’s educational experience. What we’ve learned through Early Works has helped us shape state early childhood policy and expand our impact with innovative programs like Early School Success — a recent Children’s Institute initiative that engages educators and families to improve early learning. Children’s Institute’s newest initiative focuses on health equity and ensuring young children insured by Medicaid receive critical early health and developmental services before kindergarten.

As we look to 2021, Swati has graciously offered to support the organization’s transition and serve as a resource for the organization. In the short term, we have named Karen Twain as the Interim Executive Director. Karen has most recently served as CI’s Director of Programs and brings a great deal of experience as an education leader having held significant leadership roles in the Tigard-Tualatin School District for 33 years.

The Children’s Institute Board of Directors is in the process of initiating a national search for the next leader of the organization. During this time of transition, we count on your continued support and we hope you can join us in wishing Swati success in her work ahead and thanking her for her significant contributions to Oregon’s young children and families.

John Tapogna
Board Chair
Children’s Institute

Honoring Dr. Ruby Takanishi

by Swati Adarkar | Aug 13, 2020 | News, Announcements

“Recreating primary education is the civil rights issue of our times.”

- Dr. Ruby Takanishi

On Saturday evening we lost a giant in the field of education and child development. Dr. Ruby Takanishi was an amazing woman and thought leader who devoted her life to making a difference in the lives of children over many decades of unwavering commitment and passion to create equitable educational opportunity.

She was the longtime president of the Foundation for Child Development and made numerous contributions in that role including developing the PreK-3rd movement, and a fierce commitment to the needs of immigrant children and dual language learners. She was always ahead of public opinion.

Many of us at Children’s Institute are indebted to her guidance and support over the years. More than a decade ago, she helped shape the direction of Early Works and more recently served as senior advisor to the development and launch of Early School Success. She was our mentor, and pushed us to explore new information and ideas, read the latest research, ask probing and insightful questions, listen to more voices, and dig deep on the issues impacting young children and their families.

Dr. Takanishi’s generosity and impact has left us with the enormous responsibility of living up to her expectations of creating a society that truly supports all children and families, guided by research best practices and informed policy.

We have had the honor of many constructive and thoughtful conversations with Dr. Takanishi over the years, and we are fortunate to have two of them recorded for The Early Link Podcast.

In one segment, she discusses her book, First Things First: Creating the New American Primary School. In addition to sharing insights about reimagining public education, Dr. Takanishi discusses inequalities in education based on a variety of interconnected factors: varied state investments and strategies, declining federal investments in children and families, and the changing roles of parents, families, and communities in the public school system. She also provides advice for Oregon in building a stronger early learning system, and much more. Listen or read the transcript here.

In a discussion focused on English language learners, Dr. Takanishi joined two Oregon educators to discuss the needs of English learners and dual language learners in our schools, communities, and early learning systems. We learned about recommendations to promote the educational success of young English learners based on her experience as the chair for the Committee on Fostering School Success for English Learners and her role in developing its final report. We also explored the work in two Oregon districts leading the way on language development for their students. Listen or read the transcript here.

As we reflect on her significant contributions, we should remember her guiding advice at this time of unparalleled disruption across our schools and educational institutions:

“The schools we have today are a product of the last century. It is time to put our own generation to the test by designing a system that will help all of our youngest learners realize their educational potential. Talent is universally distributed. Opportunity to develop that talent, sadly, is not.”

Ruby has had a lasting imprint on the values and work of the Children’s Institute, and we are forever grateful.

You can make an impact!

We know you care about young children and their families in Oregon. Turn your caring into action. Your tax deductible contribution allows us to continue our outreach to communities across Oregon impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Your generous donation makes a difference!

On Purpose: Stories from the Lives of Oregon Nonprofit Leaders

by Ashley Walker | Jun 23, 2020 | What We're Reading

On Purpose, a new book by David Dickson, profiles thirty-four Oregon nonprofit leaders, and features Swati Adarkar, CI’s president and CEO, in the chapter titled, “The Pragmatic Idealist.”

Dickson writes of Adarkar’s childhood trips to India, which shaped her understanding of justice, equity, and opportunity. “I became increasingly concerned with addressing poverty and social mobility, the balance between individual responsibility and what we owe to the community,” Adarkar is quoted as saying. Dickson shares that Adarkar’s worldview is at the “intersection of idealism, values, and what can be accomplished.”

The chapter discusses key strategies and victories in Children’s Institute’s history. Among these are the launch of Early Works, in which demonstration sites in Portland and Yoncalla address the achievement gap by focusing on strategies to affect school readiness, as well as key legislative victories such as securing $39 million to expand Oregon’s Head Start program and a first-time state grant of $1 million for Early Head Start.

Other leaders featured in On Purpose include Duncan Campbell, CI founding board member and founder of the mentoring program Friends of the Children; Alberto Moreno, who began the Oregon Latino Health Coalition with the goal of serving undocumented women who were ineligible for prenatal health care; and Kelly Poe, who laid the groundwork for the creation of the Treasure Valley Children’s Relief Nursery, which has had great success serving the families of remote Malheur County.

Order a copy of the book here.

A Letter From Swati Adarkar

by Swati Adarkar | Mar 28, 2020 | News, Oregon Policy, Announcements, COVID-19

“The future depends on what we do today.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

Dear CI Friends,

What we are experiencing with COVID-19 is unlike anything any of us have known in our lifetime. The ways in which our individual and societal health and well-being are interconnected is finally becoming more broadly understood. It’s unfortunate that it takes a crisis for us to gain this clarity. Right now, we are witnessing the adverse consequences of decades of disinvestment in our public health and government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. Low-income communities have been experiencing the brunt of this disinvestment disproportionately for years and now the broader public is slowly waking up.

We must be clear eyed about the consequences of our past short-sighted decisions and shift how we act collectively, now and down the road, knowing that building and preparing takes decades and consistency. Children’s Institute has always focused on prevention, and we believe it’s important to respond to the crisis swiftly while not creating more downstream problems by neglecting current urgent health and community needs.

We are doing all we can to support our partners and stay connected during this crisis. We are providing access to current information regarding protocols and guidance for early care and education providers and ensuring child care gets elevated as an urgent investment priority. We are staying connected to school leaders to help them support early learning and family engagement. We are also working with our partners in the Early Childhood Coalition to stay connected to national conversations and communicate in one clear voice to state and federal officials about what families and providers need. As information and supports start flowing from Salem and Washington D.C., we will continue to monitor, distribute, and translate relevant information while finding ways to center families and reach communities with diverse linguistic needs.

We know that the challenges for parents, families, and communities are mounting and changing day by day. The economic reality for many currently is stark, and the rapidly increasing loss of life is heartbreaking. Parents are juggling work and family with kids home from child care and school. But we are seeing many bright spots and cause for hope. People are pulling together in new, collaborative, and creative ways. More online learning options are available for teachers and families. Telehealth options are increasingly becoming available so that young children and families can remain connected with their pediatricians and primary care providers.

Even though our team is all working remotely we are more unified than ever in our shared commitment to support Oregon’s young children and families. And we are eager to work with all of you to pay close attention to immediate needs and not take our eye off our future—our children.

We also have the deepest appreciation and gratitude for the front line workers who are daily risking their lives to keep us safe and healthy.

Sending you and yours wishes of good health as we all look on the horizon for better times ahead.

With appreciation,

Swati

You can make an impact!

We know you care about young children and their families in Oregon. Turn your caring into action. Your tax deductible contribution allows us to continue our outreach to communities across Oregon impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Your generous donation makes a difference!

Swati Adarkar to Receive Leadership in Education Award

by Melissa Duclos | Jan 15, 2020 | CI in the News

Next month, Concordia University will honor CI President & CEO Swati Adarkar with their Governor Victor Atiyeh Leadership in Education Award. The award, named for former Oregon Governor Victor Atiyeh in recognition of his life-long passion for and leadership in education, is presented each year to a leader who has profoundly changed the odds for our children to succeed in school and life.

Over the past 16 years, Swati Adarkar has overseen the growth of Children’s Institute, bringing it from a staff of two people to 23. During this time, she engaged a bi-partisan group of civic and business leaders and worked with five Oregon governors to make early childhood a state policy priority. In 2007, CI helped nearly double the state budget for Head Start; in 2010, the organization launched Early Works at Earl Boyles Elementary School, a nationally recognized initiative demonstrating Swati’s vision for neighborhood schools that partner with families and community organizations to offer preschool and other family supports. These partnerships mean that CI’s policy work is grounded in community voice, which the organization leveraged in 2019 to successfully advocate for an historic $200 million annual investment in early childhood programs and services. Swati has also led the way on a new initiative, Early School Success, to align preschool and elementary instruction and has expanded CI’s work to connect early health and learning to ensure young children receive the health services they need to be ready for school.

The keynote address at this year’s event will be given by Grammy, Emmy, and Academy Award-winning actor, musician, and author, Common. While he is renowned for his artistic achievements, Common is also an engaged activist, dedicated philanthropist, and education advocate passionate about improving the lives of under-served children. This past fall he opened Art in Motion, a charter school for the arts just blocks from where he grew up on the south side of Chicago. He also started Common Ground Foundation, focused on empowering high school to become future leaders.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Hyatt Regency Portland

5:00-9:00pm

Get tickets