Richmond, VA (Jan. 10, 2025) – The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) has announced the organizations identified to lead coordination of essential early childhood care and education services in Virginia’s nine Ready Regions. Launched in 2022, Ready Regions is a transformative statewide network bringing unprecedented levels of coordination and accountability to early education programs in every community across the Commonwealth.

Ready Regions lead agencies provide strategic leadership for early childhood care and education services in their respective regions, assuring full implementation of a set of core responsibilities that strengthen program quality, increase access to services, and ensure family voice shapes early childhood services, as well as convening public and private partners to collaborate on strengthening Virginia’s early childhood systems.

Following a rigorous competitive process that included assessment of applications by external reviewers, the following organizations were identified to serve as the lead agencies in their respective Ready Regions:

Ready Region Blue Ridge – United Way of Greater Charlottesville

Ready Region Capital Area – Fairfax County Early Childhood Programs and Services, Dept. of Neighborhood and Community Services

Ready Region Central – Thrive Birth to Five

Ready Region Chesapeake Bay – FirstSpark

Ready Region North Central – Foundation First

Ready Region Southeastern – Minus 9 to 5, Virginia Health Sciences at ODU

Ready Region Southside – Center for Early Success

Ready Region Southwest – EO

Ready Region West – United Way of Virginia’s Blue Ridge (formerly United Way of Roanoke Valley)

“We’re proud to partner with the Virginia Department of Education, continuing to strengthen Virginia’s nation-leading, public-private early childhood care and education system,” said Kathy Glazer, President of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. “Each Ready Region lead agency demonstrated readiness and a deep commitment to leading their region’s early childhood progress. We look forward to working collaboratively with the regional lead agencies so Virginia families and children can thrive.”