Our Mission
To educate, enrich, and empower children and families.
Winter E-Brief
January, 2020
Note from our CEO
Hello partners of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning! It’s been a busy few months since the last E-brief, which you will no doubt see from the many connections and events that continue to advance our mission to educate, enrich and empower children and families. 
Happy New Year to You all!
Our public servants and organizations with similar missions recognize the critical work of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning and know that we can be relied upon as leaders and partners in high quality early childhood education and youth development.  
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker hosted the inaugural meeting of his Commission for Equitable Funding for Early Childhood Education & Care at the Center December 16th. Bela is one of the 29 appointed members of the Governor’s commission. Speaking to the press, the Governor stated “Illinois will become the best state in the nation for early child education and care.” We are excited and committed to making this a reality.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot held her CTU strike press conference at the Center to address the Chicago Teacher's Union strike. Our own Sonja Crum Knight introduced the Mayor, and the Center ensured that CPS students had a safe and stimulating place to go during the strike. To read Bela’s reflections on the role of the community based organizations as safe havens click here .
Bela Moté delivered a keynote address to a packed room of 800+ at the Pennsylvania Childcare Association’s annual Early Childhood Summit. Of course, a Chicagoan would use a deep dish pizza as a metaphor for her appreciation of the slices while considering the whole pie of our work! 
The Center was host to events welcoming families, children, donors and volunteers.
Our visitors from Early Edge California, here to learn about the early childhood workforce, family childcare and dual language learning, included California Assembly members Kevin McCarty, Eloise Gomez Reyez, and Rob Bonta, as well as our partners IL Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, IL Action for Children and Ounce of Prevention Fund.
The team from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation from California was excited to hear about our comprehensive programs during their visit to Illinois where they learned how our state has built an early childhood system that strengthens and invests in children and families.
We love that the Steans Family Foundation visit coincided with an Old Town School of Music session!   
The student volunteers from Francis W. Parker are “regulars” at the Center, and our children and families could not be happier.
Family Child Care Panel
The need to discuss Family Child Care led our CEO and others to host the first FCC Panel, which featured Bela as moderator, and included panelists:
  • Juliet Bromer, Erikson Institute
  • Deborah Chalmers, IL Action for Children
  • Maribella Rodriguez, Family Childcare Provider within the Center's Network
  • Kathy Stohr, Pritzker Children's Initiative
  • Teri Talan, National Louis University
  • Sonja Crum Knight, Carole Robertson Center
We are so grateful to our supporters who joined us for the panel:
  • Brinson Foundation
  • CME Foundation
  • McCormick Center
  • Pritzker Children’s Initiative 
  • Steans Family Foundation
To widen our circle of support, the Center hosted Recess! at Lagunitas Brewery. With a wallet friendly donation, guests tasted terrific beers, played games such as dominos, giant Jenga and a highly competitive card game of “Spoons” that has players calling for a rematch next year. Recruitment for our Associate Board in formation is ongoing. If interested, please email Abraxas Thomas .
On October 24th, we hosted a “Lights on Afterschool” event as part of the nationwide celebration of afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families, and communities. The evening’s programming included open mic night, a bent fork experiment, a hot noodle challenge, ceiling paintings and recycled art.
In the season of giving beginning with #Giving Tuesday, the enormous outpouring of gifts for our children, sponsorship of families, and outright donations makes the Carole Robertson Center for Learning grateful every day.  
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our friends, sponsors, and staff, we were able to provide gifts for 658 children and sponsor 149 family members, through our Holiday Gift Projects. Among the children’s wish lists were requests for 79 baby dolls, 109 Lego sets 18 slime kits, 31 Frozen toys, 21 PJ Mask, and 24 Paw Patrol wearables.

A special thank you to:
  • Accenture DayNine
  • CME Group
  • Cook County State Attorney’s Office
  • Deloitte
  • DePauw Chicago Area Alumni Council
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
  • Four Seasons Hotel
  • Heitman
  • Lockton Companies
  • Midway Partnerships
  • Novantas

and to all of the amazing individual donors for helping us make sure that each one of the children we serve went home with a gift this holiday season!
Board Member John Blasi of Accenture invited Bela to attend their holiday party to thank the many generous employees who have donated their time and treasure.
Volunteer Spotlight
For the 9th year in a row, Lockton Companies hosted a fun-filled holiday party for our school-age children at our 2929 W. 19th St site. Lockton volunteers arrived in a Santa-like fashion with over 115 presents for children and 14 family sponsorship gifts. After transforming our gym into a holiday wonderland with festive decorations, Lockton ran several fun and creative craft stations, served pizza and popcorn, and danced around to holiday tunes with our children. Our children, partners, and staff all had a wonderful time. A huge thank you to Lockton Companies for your continued generosity and partnership!
Say hello to the new faces at the Carole Robertson Center!
New Site Director
Gail Akins

Please join us in welcoming our new site Director Gail Akins whose enthusiasm and know-how is already making a difference for our families and children at 2929 W. 19th Street site.   Welcome Gail!
Meet New Board Member
Nick Scodro
We recently welcomed new board member Nick Scodro to the Finance Committee, where his vast experience in financial services and passion for early childhood education has prompted his contributions already. Nick and his wife also personally know about early childhood from their little ones at home.   Welcome Nick!
Thanks to your support, the Carole Robertson Center is able to help provide a safe and stimulating learning environment that allows young children and youth to thrive in the positive oasis of our centers, the homes of our home visiting families, our network of family child care providers, and in the classrooms of our partner programs and schools.

Click this link to view the 2018 Annual Report. 

Farewell 2020 West Roosevelt Road
On November 11 th we said farewell to the administrative offices of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning for 43 years at 2020 West Roosevelt, and have now moved around the corner to 1111 South Western Avenue. Once again, we wish to thank the three CEOs who led this organization from its infancy – Maria Whelan, Gail Nelson and Cerathel Burgess - Burnett. We will be forever proud of the joy and care experienced in our former location and look forward to continuing our work to educate, enrich, and empower children and families. 

Click this link to travel down memory lane at our former location.
Happy New Year to all from the
Carole Robertson Center for Learning!