The United States lacks a formal child care system. This leads to a lack of childcare access that costs the U.S. economy an estimated $650 billion a year. Without a more formal system, the primary burden of care lies with Family Child Care Educators. These caregivers often open their homes and operate as small businesses. They’re the source of care for the youngest of children, many of whom are children of color and children from low-income communities.
The organization All Our Kin, co-founded and led by Jessica Sager, Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow, is changing how this important population is invested in. All Our Kin helps these educators and caregivers build their businesses, offer them the latest knowledge about child development, and support them as entrepreneurs.
“Childcare is a matter of racial justice, gender justice, and economic development.”
– Jessica Sager, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, All Our Kin, Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow
All Our Kin currently serves nearly 1,100 family child care providers, who in turn educate and care for over 6,000 children from chronically under-resourced communities in Connecticut and New York City. At the 2022 Resnick Aspen Action Forum, Jessica shared the story behind All Our Kin and why it is so critical to support Family Child Care Educators now. Watch and learn more.
Jessica Sager is the co-founder and CEO of All Our Kin. She is a Fellow of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship and an Aspen Institute Braddock Scholar. Most recently, she was named to the CARE 100 list of the Americans doing the most to re-imagine and re-humanize the United States health care system.
