Alignment Rockford Awarded $49,000 Birth to Five Illinois Subcontractor Award to Advance Early Learning in Winnebago County
October 30, 2025
Original coverage in the Rockford Journal.
Alignment Rockford is proud to announce that the Ready to Learn early childhood collaboration has been awarded a $49,000 subcontract from Birth to Five Illinois to expand and strengthen early childhood coordination efforts through the Rockford Area and Winnebago County.
This subcontract supports Alignment Rockford’s work to build a connected, equitable early learning ecosystem, ensuring that every child and family has access to the resources, relationships, and environments they need to thrive. Through Ready to Learn, Alignment Rockford partners across sectors that serve families with young children: education, healthcare, housing, places of worship and other community organizations, to close gaps in early learning access, increase family engagement, and align community strategies for children from birth to age five.
With this new funding, Alignment Rockford will continue to strengthen the early childhood system by:
Hosting community awareness events and engagements around early childhood community-level data in the Early Development Instrument
Expanding Ready to Learn resources and early learning spaces across Winnebago County through Ready to Learn with the Basics Newborn kits, the Discovery Center First Time Parent/Caregiver Program, Ready to Learn Spaces, and Ready to Learn Basics Toddler Gardens, and other initiatives
Coordinating cross-sector partnerships to reach more families with developmental supports, including hosting the Community Advisory board for the universal newborn nurse home visiting program, Winning Start Winnebago with the Winnebago County Health Department
Advancing communication, collaboration, and alignment among all early childhood providers and seeking solution to the childcare crisis in our region
New Partnership with EduDream
In addition, Alignment Rockford is thrilled to be selected to receive support from EduDream, a Latina-founded, women-owned, and equity-focused research consulting firm that partners with nonprofits. Through support from the Community Systems Statewide Supports
(CS3) team at Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), EduDream will support Alignment Rockford to develop a comprehensive Ready to Learn Impact Index – an online data dashboard that will track outcomes, equity indicators, and the longterm impact of early learning.
“Ready to Learn has become a model for how community partnerships can move the needle for children and families,” said Emily Klonicki, Executive Director of Alignment Rockford. Hannah Miro of Illinois Action for Children agrees: “It’s been great to see the work that Alignment Rockford has done through the Community Parenting Support Saturation Project with IAFC and we are thrilled to continue to support the collaboration with the EduDream project provided by the CS3 team. Their commitment to using data to build community partnership and capacity is an inspiration and an incredible example of an early childhood collaboration developing better community systems for children and families.”
The EduDream project will provide a powerful new tool for community partners, funders, and policymakers to see where resources are making the greatest difference and where additional supports are needed to ensure that all children are ready for school – and for life.
For more information about Alignment Rockford and the Ready to Learn initiative, visit: www.alignmentrockford.com
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About Alignment Rockford
Alignment Rockford is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving student success through collaboration and system alignment in the Rockford region. By focusing on youth advocacy, empowerment, and educational equity, Alignment Rockford works to create pathways to a brighter future for all children.
About Ready to Learn
Ready to Learn is a Rockford regional early learning initiative led by Alignment Rockford that brings together families, educators, healthcare providers, and community partners to ensure every child in Winnebago County enters kindergarten ready to thrive. Rooted in data and driven by collaboration, Ready to Learn bridges gaps in access to early childhood resources and connects systems across education, health, and social services. “At the heart of Ready to Learn is the belief that families are their child’s first and most important teachers,” said Larissa Currier Brown, Ready to Learn Project Manager at Alignment Rockford. “This investment helps us strengthen an equitable early childhood system by meeting families where they are, whether in a barbershop, a doctor’s office, or a laundromat, and surrounding them with the tools, relationships, and opportunities every child needs to start school ready to thrive.”
About Birth to Five Illinois
Birth to Five Illinois’ mission is to create a statewide regional infrastructure that will amplify input from communities in the development of policies and funding priorities. They support the mobilization of communities to build and sustain equitable access to inclusive, high-quality early childhood services for all children and families in the state of Illinois.
About EduDream
EduDream is a Latina- founded, women-owned, and equity-focused research consulting firm that partners with nonprofits, foundations, and education institutions to provide culturally responsive and community-centered research and strategy. Led by a team of experts, EduDream redefines what’s possible for education research by pairing rigorous and evidence-based practices with an approach of elevating, honoring, and celebrating the voices of racially and economically diverse students, families, and communities. EduDream transforms what’s possible within education by building authentic connections with communities and empowering their ability to create systemic change