About Thrive


Overview

Created in 2006, Thrive by Five Washington is the state’s nonprofit public-private partnership for early learning. We mobilize the long-term statewide commitment to early learning, so that families and caregivers have the information and support they need to help their children succeed in school and thrive in life.

  


Our Role

  • Focus attention on Washington State Early Learning priorities and effective, research-based programs
  • Remove obstacles by leveraging public and private funds, providing leadership and partnering with experts
  • Create momentum by connecting the local and state early learning community and driving investment in what works.

 

Our Focus

Thrive by Five Washington is focused on three areas of work that will make a difference for children and families and significantly advance the state’s early learning efforts.

With these areas of work we want to:

1.
Deepen parent and caregiver knowledge of child development
 

Parents are their child's first and most important teachers, but many say they don't know how to make the most of this role. Led by Thrive by Five Washington and supported by statewide and local partners, "Love. Talk. Play." is an innovative grassroots campaign that uses trusted messengers to deliver a common message to diverse communities of parents with children birth to age 3.

The campaign was shaped by information from national early learning experts, conversations with parents, and input from regional early learning coalitions and state partners. It reaches out to parents - with a focus on vulnerable families - and provides simple ways they can add more love, talk and play into their everyday activities with their children.
2.
Build a coordinated home visiting system to serve at-risk families
 

Home visiting is a proven way to help children from at-risk families get a better start in life. The state's new Home Visiting Services Account funds, supports and evaluates evidence-based, research-based and promising home visiting programs, so that more families benefit form this kind of support. The account funds voluntary programs that serve at-risk communities to help prevent incidences of child maltreatment, poverty, low school readiness, domestic violence and other risk factors. The Department of Early Learning contracts with Thrive by Five Washington to administer the account. We also are charged with raising private money to match public funding.
3.
Build partnerships and drive mobilization
 

Thrive by Five Washington is focused on building a strong early learning system. To make that happen, the state Department of Early Learning, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Thrive co-led the creation of the state's new Early Learning Plan, a roadmap for giving children birth to age 8 a great start in school and life. Thrive is committed to helping organizations and communities connect their efforts with the plan, strengthen partnerships, build capacity and reach more people. We work with local, state and national partners, learning from each other and making decisions based on the best information possible.

Some examples of how we do this: