Three Decades of Early Childhood Grantmaking

The  Foundation was established in 1962 to support Mr. Buell’s charitable interests, which included the education of architects, research into catastrophic illnesses, and programs throughout Colorado to prepare young people to live healthy lives and contribute responsibly to the community. Contributions were often in the form of capital projects, including the Temple Hoyne Buell Heart Center at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the Temple Hoyne Buell Hall at the University of Illinois, the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, and the Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre in Denver.

Narrowed Focus on Early Childhood

In 1996, the Foundation began strategic support of programs and initiatives for children. The Foundation emphasized the areas of early intervention, prevention, and improving the social and educational systems critical to the well-being of Colorado’s youngest community members. The funding guidelines included not only programming specifically targeted at very young children and families, but also programming designed to decrease the teen pregnancy rate. At that same time, the Foundation created the mission statement that is in place to this day.

Since 1996, the Foundation’s funding priorities have changed several times—always in an effort to further narrow scope and encourage higher levels of impact. The Trustees made a commitment in 1999 to target funding to organizations outside of the Denver area, specifically to organizations in rural and isolated areas with few resources. And in 2012, the Trustees of the Foundation recommitted themselves to funding early childhood education and further strengthened their commitment to quality. In response, the Buell Continuous Quality Improvement Strategy was launched in 2013. Through this strategy, all grantees are measured against best practices for their respective types of service.

Qualistar

In 1997, the Foundation made its first grant to Qualistar Colorado to plan the state’s quality rating and improvement system. This new system allowed child care centers and preschools to achieve ratings indicating a level of quality. Those levels would be used by the parents in making decisions about where their child should receive care.

Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program

In response to a need for effective leaders in the early childhood sector, the Buell Foundation created the Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program (BECLP) in 2007. This program was created with a vision of improving the early childhood care and education system in Colorado by identifying, nurturing, and building leadership capacity in existing and future early childhood leaders. The program was subsequently put on hold in 2021 while it’s being reimagined in recognition of the changing early childhood landscape.

Colorado EPIC

In 2010, six organizations came together to convene Colorado EPIC (Executives Partnering to Invest in Children). The Buell Foundation’s longtime Board President at that time, Dan Ritchie, was instrumental in convening this group. This new organization was envisioned as a coalition of business leaders who believe early childhood investment is a top public and private priority. Since 2010, EPIC has grown to include more than 50 business leaders.

Early Milestones

In partnership with five other foundations, Buell helped to create Early Milestones Colorado in 2014. The vision for this organization began in the early 1990s through a statewide effort to design a governance plan for the state that would increase coordination and efficiencies and generate better results for children. The resulting “three-legged stool” state plan included the consolidation of programs and funding streams into an early childhood office, the expansion of local early childhood councils, and the creation of a nonpartisan nonprofit that could help accelerate change.

Colorado Early Childhood Councils

In 2018, the Board of Trustees approved a new initiative to expand support for Colorado Early Childhood Councils with a focus on council infrastructure, access to care, quality improvement, and the early childhood workforce (initial commitment of up to $2.3 million per year for three years). The initiative was renewed in 2022 for an additional three years.

With the election of Governor Jared Polis in 2019, the Foundation approved funding to support a dedicated Early Childhood Advisor in his office. The Colorado Department of early Childhood was created in 2021.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Buell Foundation awarded nearly $2 million in emergency relief for the early childhood sector in Colorado.

New President & CEO, Workforce Initiative

In 2023, Foundation CEO and staff completed a six-month Tour of the State to learn about the needs in communities across Colorado. Child care emerged as a primary theme throughout the tour: child care workforce issues, lack of child care and its impact on local economies, and the intersection of housing and child care, among other important topics. In this same year, the Buell Foundation launched a Workforce Initiative, granting up to $2 million per year for a three-five year period that’s focused on three goals: 1) Leveraging what already exists; 2) Replicating and expanding exemplary models; and 3) Supporting the infusion of new revenue sources.

2024 saw the end of COVID-era stimulus funding, which has created a significant cliff effect for agencies throughout the early childhood system. Stimulus funding provided more than $700 million to the early childhood system alone over the past three years.