November ICS eNews

Hello ICS Friends,

We are excited to share all the latest updates on the work ICS is doing on behalf of young children, their families, and communities. Read on to learn about our recent activities, research, resources, and upcoming events. Your support and partnership makes all of this possible!

Thank you!

In this issue...

Recent SOCAP Conference; 2025 Nurturing Developing Minds Conference; ICS is Hiring; Impact of PFS; Housing Summit; Giving Tuesday; Missing Markets; Blog on Emerging Bilingual Children; Upcoming BCDI Conference; Summit on Early Childhood

ICS Represented at SOCAP Conference

In October, members of the ICS team attended SOCAP, the annual global social impact investing conference in San Francisco. This year’s theme was Going Deeper: Catalyzing Systems Change. Kaitlin Watts, Director of Innovative Financing, served as a panelist for the session Paying for Outcomes: A Key Strategy to Address Health Equity. During the panel, she commented, “Listen to the community, and what it is they are striving to do. Then show up with your best self to help them get to their desired outcome.” We were honored to see her statement featured on the front page for the event coverage.

(Pictured from left to right: ICS Director of Innovative Financing, Kaitlin Watts, with moderator Shelby Kohn - Managing Director at Maycomb Capital, and co-panelist, Brendan Ahern - Director of Impact Investments at The SCAN Foundation)



(Pictured from left to right: Annette Ricchiazzi - ICS consultant, Mary Garvey - Chief Equity Officer, Kaitlin Watts - ICS Director of Innovative Financing, and Jamie Moon - ICS Chief Executive Officer)

Save the Date!

Join us for a special professional development opportunity coming to Furman University's Younts Conference Center in February! This two-day conference is co-hosted by Furman University's Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH) and ICS.

Thursday, February 27, 2025: 

Desmond P. Kelley, MD Nurturing Developing Minds Conference, 

hosted by ICS and SC LEND.

Friday, February 28, 2025: 

Community Health Forum,

hosted by IACH.

Registration will open in early December. We hope you'll be able to join us!

For more information, please email Megan Carolan at mcarolan@instituteforchildsuccess.org.

New ICS Job Opportunity!

ICS is seeking candidates for a new position with the Evaluation and Practice division. The inaugural Product and Service Manager (PSM) will lead the division’s efforts in integrating the IMPACT Measures Tool into professional learning offerings. Collaborating with colleagues and user-experience design research firm, the successful candidate will set priorities for our current and future service model as well as codify services based on market needs. Additionally, the PSM will develop and collect relevant key performance indicators to track scaling as well as impact of the tool and related professional learning services.

View a full job description and application link by clicking the button below. Please share with your networks and help get the word out to quality candidates who are passionate helping youth through meaningful work!

Urban Institute Evaluation Shines a Light on PFS Impact

Produced with funding from ICS, the Urban Institute recently conducted an analysis of the Pay for Success (PFS) project, Hello Family. Evaluating three programs offering evidence-based services from prenatal development to kindergarten, the report gauged the impact of the PFS initiative upon children and families within that community. Researchers found that outcomes were improved after year one. We are proud of our partnerships that shine a light on the great work of ICS and the PFS projects!

Click here to read the evaluation report, Early Childhood Interventions Improved Select Child and Family Outcomes, of the Pay for Success project and findings to date. ICS will continue working hard to replicate this approach to help more children and families across the country.

Housing Innovation: Children’s Edition

On November 15, 2024, more than 120 people attended ICS’s “Housing Innovation: Children’s Edition” summit, hosted by SC First Steps, held in Columbia, SC. Speakers came from a range of industries and sectors working across housing and children’s issues, including local and state government agencies, real estate and development professionals, educators and early care providers, and non-profit partners. The sessions combined the lived experiences of professionals and families alongside data and, importantly, actions for policies to better support housing security for families with young children.

(Pictured from left to right: Christine Wells (Yip Premier Real Estate); Rep. Case Brittain (R-Horry); Rep. Chandra Dillard (D-Greenville); and Wanda Crotwell (The Southern Group))



You Are Needed on Tuesday!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and that means that Giving Tuesday is too! If you haven't heard of it, Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday designated as a special day for folks to support the causes they believe in.

You receive these newsletters because you have demonstrated that YOU care about the future of children, their families, and their communities. We are so grateful for your ongoing partnership helping create a system in which all children have a chance to succeed. On Giving Tuesday, you can make an even greater impact for kids by participating in any or all of the following activities:

• Post on your social media platforms about ICS and what we do.
• Re-share ICS posts on Facebook and/or LinkedIn
• Tell your friends and family why you believe in the ICS mission.
• Donate online.

ICS is proud to be one of the trusted nonprofits donors choose to give to year after year. But it isn't just about one day; it is about all the other 364 days of the year when your donated dollar goes to work helping young children succeed. YOU are part of that when you give to ICS!

So, mark your calendar and put a reminder in your phone to support ICS for Giving Tuesday!

Missing Markets

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently hosted the event, "Intermediating Impact: Making Missing Markets." ICS was invited to join as part of the initiative's "Investing in Flourishing Design Team."



ICS Fellow, Dr. Erin Hamel, Offers Insight on Emerging Bi/Multilingual Children

Dr. Erin Hamel, one of the ICS Policy Research Fellows, recently co-directed a camp for emergent bilingual kids. The term “emergent bilinguals” is widely used to describe children whose primary or home language is not English. 

“I do not know what magic you all use, but my child says he wants to come to the camp every day and all summer!” - mother of 4-year-old emerging bilingual child who participated in camp

Dr. Hamel and other staff were proud of their work. Yes, the camp was positive, encouraging, engaging, and impactful, but the response of it being magical for the children and their families was bittersweet. It was a wonderful 8-day experience that made a group of strangers feel like family, but rather than magical, this camp experience should be fundamental, not an outlier.

Check out our blog for more about Dr. Hamel's experience and the team's approach in making the camp so special and successful for everyone involved. Click here to read the full article.

BCDI Conference on Dec. 12-14

The Black Child Development Institute-Carolinas will be hosting their Champions of Change conference December 12th-14th in Charlotte, NC. This conference will emphasize celebrating and cultivating every child's inherent potential, especially through the lens of Afrocentric perspectives and values.

Click here to register. We hope to see you there! 



Summit on Early Childhood

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ICS works on behalf of children from prenatal to age 8.

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