Thrive by Five Pinellas
Ready for kindergarten. Ready to take on the world.
Welcome to the Thrive By Five newsletter!

Thrive By Five seeks to transform early childhood in Pinellas with purposeful collaboration and resource alignment to mobilize all parts of our community in creating equitable opportunities for young children to thrive. 

I proudly serve Thrive By Five Pinellas as an inclusive and equity-centered community practitioner with over 15 years of experience engaging in community-level work with children and families, nonprofit organizations, and community stakeholders. I am most excited to return to the county where I was born, raised and experienced a thriving childhood. As the mother of a 3, 5, and 7 year old, I understand firsthand the need for an equitable, accessible, responsive and accountable childhood development system that will serve as a guiding force to prepare the children of Pinellas County for kindergarten and beyond . 

Thrive by Five Pinellas is launching several new initiatives in 2020 in support of children Birth to 5 and their families. Our community approach to early childhood success was recently featured on ABC Action News and in the St. Pete Catalyst . We are excited to share more with you at our upcoming summit on February 26, 2020 where you can learn about getting engaged, register today!

I am honored to serve as the Director of Thrive by Five Pinellas as we bring the community together to ensure that all children are thriving in kindergarten and life. Let’s work together to support family’s access to information and resources as they raise the next generation.

We look forward to connecting with you!

-Dr. Keesha Benson
Thrive by Five Summit

Mobilizing the Collective: The Role You Play in Early Childhood Success
Join us at the Center for Health Equity on Wednesday, February 26th from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m ., as we mobilize Pinellas County’s collective resources to develop a more unified and comprehensive early childhood system.

REGISTE R...
Family Movies at the Royal
Sponsored by Thrive by Five, every last Saturday in 2020 the Royal will show family movies for a donation of $2! Doors open at 2pm and the movie starts at 2:22pm.

This month our movie is Coco! Next month, our movie will be The Lion King (the original).
Community Spotlight: Starling School
Founded in 1974 with a core value of “making better citizens for the entire community,” respected early learning center   STARLING SCHOOL   on 28th Street South has helped raise and educate generations of St. Petersburg success stories. 

Article Highlight

Building Bridges: The Benefits to Cross-Generation Interaction

With multi-generational families living together less and less, many children and seniors are missing the benefits of cross-generation interaction. Whether they are related, such as a grandchild and grandparent, or know each other through parental and community ties, young children benefit from spending time with their elders, and elders benefit from spending time with children.

Spending time with different generations can help reduce depression. Grandparents, or any senior friends, can help a child feel a sense of stability...

Upcoming Meetings & Events


Family Movies at the Royal : 1/25 at 2:22pm (Coco)


Business Engagement : 2/3 from 1:30-3:00pm at the 211 Building 


Child & Caregiver Success : 2/19 from 9-10:30am at the Sanderlin Family Center 


Systems Alignment : 2/20 from 2-3:30pm at the Juvenile Welfare Board 


TB5P Summit : 2/26 from 11am-3pm at the Center for Health Equity


Family Movies at the Royal : 2/29 at 2:22pm (The Lion King)
Get Involved
Check our calendar for family-friendly events and our Facebook for news!
Thrive by Five is a collective impact organization . We rely on community engagement and volunteerism to help inform and guide our work.

How can you help?
Join a project team.
Adopt an early learning center.
Ensure a Family Friendly Workplace.