Drive Change » Create Impact

We are focused on driving positive change through the following three methods.

We educate, inform and mobilize stakeholders for collective action and impact to ensure all Georgia families achieve the economic, community and health benefits of setting a strong foundation prenatally and in the first five (5) years of a child’s life.

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Advocate

We advocate for effective policies that support access to high-quality early learning and encourage healthy development.

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Research and Innovate

We are a trusted source who brings the most promising innovation and evidence-based practices and research to the state on behalf of Georgia’s youngest children.

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What We Know

Brain Development

The first three years of life represent the most rapid period of brain development, and experiences during these years critically shape future development.

Effects of High-Quality Early Learning

Children who attend high- quality early learning programs are more likely to graduate high school, have a job and earn higher wages, and are less likely to drop out of school, depend on social services or be arrested.

Economic Impact of Early Education

Every $1 invested in high-quality early learning yields as much as $13 in savings. In Georgia, the early care and education industry generates $4.7 billion in economic activity each year. A conservative estimate of the level of parents’ annual earnings supported by the availability of child care in Georgia is $24 billion.

The Importance of a Healthy Start

The first five years of life are the most important for a child’s future health. Young children with access to consistent preventative health services and screenings, as well as early interventions for developmental and social-emotional delays, are less likely to have chronic conditions later in life.

Our Strategies

CONVENE

Be a catalyst to ensure stakeholders work together to improve early childhood policy, practice, and research.

EDUCATE

Provide opportunities for business and philanthropic leaders, policy makers and parents to deepen their understanding of current issues.

ADVOCATE

Advocate for child care quality, accessibility and affordability.

ANALYZE

Analyze data, conduct research and champion policies designed to close the opportunity gap and eliminate the disparities in educational outcomes among Georgia’s children.

COLLABORATE

Foster collaboration, joint planning and alignment between early education providers and public schools.

FACILITATE

Facilitate the development and adoption of a statewide definition of success benchmarks for “kindergarten readiness.”

SUPPORT

Support Georgia-specific research projects to improve social emotional health for children and influence public policy development.

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COVID-19 Resources

See the latest updates and resources related to COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

CENSUS 2020

Young children under the age of five are increasingly undercounted in the Census at rates higher than any other age group. GEEARS is working with partners to reach hard-to-count populations, particularly young children, in Georgia.

News From GEEARS

Read the latest updates on our work at progress in the early childhood field.

GEEARS' MISSION

To support high-quality early learning and healthy development for Georgia’s youngest children, from birth to five, by championing policies, promoting innovative and evidence-based practices, and building public will.