The Early Childhood Innovation Partnership (ECIP) is a deeply committed and cohesive four-way collaboration among the Center on the Developing Child, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the TruePoint Center for Higher Ambition Leadership. As an integral piece of the Center’s multifaceted effort to catalyze innovation in the field of early childhood, the ECIP is primed to drive significant, population-level impact by leveraging an integrated science of early child development to produce significant, lasting change in state early childhood policy. By capitalizing on resources in the Frontiers of Innovation initiative, ECIP engages with innovating states to apply the most advanced knowledge in science, policy, and practice to significantly enhance the collective ability to improve the long-term life prospects of vulnerable, young children and families.

ECIP is convening a community of diverse and innovative states with demonstrated commitment to shifting the climate in support of early childhood policy innovation that benefits the healthy development of young children. States are invited to join this effort based on their interest and capacity to implement systemic change. The ECIP promotes cross-fertilization and shared learning across a policy community primed to apply scientific knowledge to advance creative, new thinking in childhood policy. In addition to this peer learning community, states engage with Frontiers of Innovation members, including researchers and community practitioners to foster cross sector collaboration and a culture of group learning to maximize impact.