Our Priorities

The Couch Family Foundation makes grants serving two strategic priorities: supporting the building and scaling of statewide high-quality early care and education (ECE) systems in New Hampshire; and enhancing the well-being of children, families, and communities in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont, and in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts—the Couch family’s cherished communities. 

Statewide Early Childhood Education Priority

Since 2002, the Couch Family Foundation has invested in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont, partnering to provide innovative community grants to help young children meet their full potential in flourishing families and communities. 

In 2023, the Foundation’s Trustees built on their prior experience in the Upper Valley, collected input from New Hampshire leaders and experts, reviewed existing research and committed to focusing on an expanded ECE statewide strategy.

Within the statewide ECE priority, the Couch Family Foundation has a long-term goal to: 

Ensure all children from birth to age 5 in New Hampshire, with a focus on low-income families and communities of color, have access to high-quality, affordable early care and education within an equitable system that: 

  • continuously improves to meet families’ needs;

  • creates the developmental foundation for long-term social, health, and academic success; and

  • contributes to closing racial and opportunity gaps over time.

Within this priority, the Foundation supports collaboration with public and private partners to build statewide capacity in New Hampshire for leadership, advocacy, and effective public policies that support strong systems of early care and education. To achieve the Foundation’s long-term goal for early care and education in New Hampshire, the following four grantmaking strategies are engaged:

  • Enhancing advocacy and grassroots organizing to build collaborative coalitions shaping equitable policies to increase access to and quality of ECE for the youngest Granite Staters.

  • Bolstering strong, coordinated local, regional, and state systems to equip ECE programs and providers across settings with the resources and tools required to promote children’s learning and development and support a well-prepared and compensated ECE workforce.

  •  Advancing research and innovation to further explore how to build and scale equitable, high-quality ECE programs and systems.

  • Strengthening administrative leadership and capacity to shape effective, data-driven, cohesive, equitable ECE policies at national, local, regional, and/or state levels

As we further implement the Statewide Early Care and Education priority, we will pay particular attention to the promotion of grassroots organizing to elevate voices of marginalized populations, building consensus in the field, emphasizing responsive provider support systems, and leveraging national partnerships to bring additional resources to New Hampshire.

Cherished Communities Priority

The Couch Family Foundation Cherished Community Priority includes enhancing the well-being of children, families, and communities in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont, and in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts—the Couch family’s cherished communities.

Within the cherished communities priority, the Foundation’s purpose to strengthen organizational capacity and services is twofold, aiming to:

  • enhance early childhood (Prenatal–5 years) through early learning and development, health and mental health, and family support services to promote the well-being of young children and their families; and

  • nurture vibrant communities to fulfill a significant community need, address an emerging issue and/or promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

Interested in Grant Opportunities?