All children in the Wasatch Back deserve the best opportunities in their earliest years to thrive, learn, and grow.

Our Mission

The Early Childhood Alliance engages, educates, and supports members, children, parents, and the community-at-large to prioritize accessible, excellent and equitable outcomes for children in the Wasatch Back from the prenatal stage through age three.

“The greatest academic need in Park City School District is the achievement gap.”

— Park City School District, Adopted Budget FY 2020 and Final Budget FY 2019 (at 17)

77%

of Utah’s population lives in a childcare desert, with inadequate childcare availability

13%

return on investment for comprehensive, high-quality, birth-to-five early education

85%

of English-Language Learner students in the Park City School District are not kindergarten-ready

“Child care is a two-generation workforce issue, essential to support the workforce of today and vital to develop our workforce of tomorrow.”

— U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Our Beginning

The Early Childhood Alliance was initially convened in late 2018 by Park City Community Foundation. Thanks to generous seed funding from the Richard E. and Nancy P. Marriott Foundation and early visionary supporters such as Brian and Kirsten Shirken, what started as a task force has grown into an alliance of community members, local nonprofits, childcare providers, mental and physical health providers, educators, parents, and donors. After being housed at PC Tots for three years, starting in January, 2023, the Early Childhood Alliance has moved into the Community Foundation.

“Children, their parents, and the economies in which they operate are all better off when societies provide easily accessible, high-quality child care and early education options.
* * *
The future economic growth of our country rests on the opportunities we create for our children.”

— U.S. Dept. of The Treasury, The Economics of Child Care Supply In the United States (September 2021)

Get Involved

Early childhood affects the workforce of today and tomorrow. We know how important this time period is in setting the foundation for the rest of a child’s life; we just need the will to act. Join us to meaningfully improve the lives of the youngest members of our community.

Get Involved →

Overview of the child care landscape in the Wasatch Back and a call to action to invest local public dollars to support this industry. Click here to download a two-page PDF summary of this overview.