Dive Brief:

• Early Learning Indiana received $20 million from the Lilly Endowment, to be used over 5 years to improve the educational centers the organization already runs, as well as affiliated programming.  
• The grant is viewed as an investment to better the state's early childhood programming and, in turn, encourage government and private institutions to donate more.  
• Part of the money will go toward training 300 early education teachers and helping parents find the best preschools for their children.  

Dive Insight:

This year, Indiana's state government funded a $10 million pilot program for pre-K learning among low-income children in four counties. The move shows the state is dedicated to improving early education and that, ideally, the influx of money from the Lilly Endowment will magnify this trend.  

“Investments of this scale can help transform the landscape of Indiana’s approach to this important work,” Kevin Bain, chairman of the state of Indiana’s Early Learning Advisory Committee and executive director and chief executive officer of the Wellborn Baptist Foundation in Evansville told the Indy Star. “The endowment’s commitment to advancing the quality of providers is a critical element in kindergarten readiness — an essential foundation for the child’s continued educational and workplace success.”

Similar to the expression "you got to spend money to make money,"  you need to invest in a program, for others to invest. In addition to the Early Learning Indiana grant, the Lilly Endowment gave United Way of Central Indiana $2 million to open new facilities and improve child-learning opportunities at day-care sites.