Our Work: Driving Change in Early Childhood Development

We put babies at the center of everything we do. Our work creates lasting, transformative change for children, their families and our future.

Healthy connections help build babies’ brains.

Neuroscientists have documented that the earliest days, weeks and months of life are a period of unparalleled growth—with trillions of brain cell connections being made.

Research and clinical experience demonstrates that the earliest relationships and experiences a child has with parents and other caregivers dramatically influences brain development, social-emotional and cognitive skills and future health and success in school and life.

joice-kelly-38MGlMtsZyc-unsplash (1)

Our Model

Since 1977, ZERO TO THREE has advanced the proven power of nurturing relationships by transforming the science of early childhood into helpful resources, practical tools and responsive policies for millions of parents, professionals and policymakers.

ZERO TO THREE plays a key role in ensuring that babies and toddlers get a strong start in life by supporting:

  • Parents with practical resources that help them connect more positively, deeply and continuously with their babies.
  • Professionals with knowledge and tools that help them support healthy early development.
  • Policymakers in advancing comprehensive and coherent policies that support and strengthen families, caregivers and infant toddler professionals.

ZERO TO THREE is very inspirational in reminding me that I’m not alone, my team is not alone, our city is not alone, but we are in a group of international people that help inspire us and keep us honest and help us in our pursuit of helping families.

Audra Miller, MS, LPC, IECMH-E®

Impact and Success Stories

We are proud of the impact our work and family support programs has had on the lives of early childhood professionals, parents, caregivers and young children. These stories motivate us to continue to strive for a brighter future. 

Kimberly is a survivor. A Birth Parent with lived experience navigating the child welfare system, Kim survived domestic violence and has successfully navigated recovery, incarceration and homelessness. She is now a Safe Babies Parent Leader and Makua Ally within the Family WRAP Department at an agency in Hawai’i called EPIC ʻOhana sharing her story of hope with other parents involved in the child welfare system. 

Our ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference provides a platform for experts like Dr. Chibanda, who led the Friendship Bench initiative, to discuss potential changes with professionals in early childhood development.

Within the Building Strong Foundations for Families (BSFF) project, people directly impacted by discriminatory policies were invited to decision-making tables to examine policies that change the experience of their families. The voices of those affected should inform policies and resources for early childhood.

Many people perceive the option of being a stay-at-home mom or parent as a luxury, and Jessica and her family’s story is one of many that show another reality. For some families, it’s more affordable for one parent to stay home due to unaffordable child care. She and her family joined us at Strolling Thunder 2023 to advocate for better policies.

There are many impactful stories of families who work to help their babies reach their full potential and who could accomplish even more with federal and state-level policies supporting them. Our annual Strolling Thunder advocacy event brings families from across the country to Capitol Hill to meet with their representatives about policies that make a difference.

Learning Center

Let us help you elevate the knowledge, skills and abilities of your workforce and meet ever-changing industry requirements with our competency-based professional development and technical assistance.

LEARN with us
Advertisement
Advertisement

Centers, Projects and Initiatives

Contact ZERO TO THREE to Make a Difference

Browse our our research-based, cutting-edge resources, check out our upcoming events and discover how you can support our efforts. Contact us to learn more about our work. 

Read More