PArtnerships

Partner with us

It truly takes a village. Join us.

Child care isn’t just a family problem, it’s a workforce problem a healthcare problem, and an economic problem that entire communities feel.

DAY ONE brings together local community leaders, businesses, and schools to build infrastructure that solves for the local child care and workforce challenges.

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How we partner.

We Start Where You Are

  • You know your community. We know how to build educator pipelines and expand quality early learning. Together, we create solutions that fit your mission and your people.

We Build Capacity You Can Keep

  • Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway (DAY ONE TAP) graduates learn how critical the first five years are to build a child’s brain, and how to support every child through joyful, play-based learning. 

What partnering with DAY ONE means for your organization

Bigger impact
Address workforce, family stability, and early learning access at once.

Real outcomes
Trained educators, children nurtured, families stabilized.

Sustainable infrastructure
Launch TAP, support future cohorts as demand grows.

Light lift
We handle training and credentialing. You connect us locally.

Your Community’s Pathway Forward

Day One Project partnerships program participants
Day One Project partner organizations representatives at event
Kid smiling at Day One Project workshop

Launch DAY ONE TAP

  • Partner with us to recruit local participants
  • Apprentices are prepared to enter the field in 11 weeks
  • Graduates join local early learning centers or open their own through TAP to OWN

Expand access

  • More early learning and care spaces become available
  • Graduates fill gaps where quality early learning is needed most
  • Your organization becomes known as a driver of early childhood solutions

Innovate together

  • Convene local stakeholders—housing authorities, employers, government, funders
  • Co-design models that fit your community’s unique needs
  • Let’s innovate together

Launch DAY ONE TAP

  • Partner with us to recruit local participants
  • Apprentices are prepared to enter the field in 11 weeks
  • Graduates join local early learning centers or open their own through TAP to OWN

Expand access

  • More early learning and care spaces become available
  • Graduates fill gaps where quality early learning is needed most
  • Your organization becomes known as a driver of early childhood solutions

Innovate together

  • Convene local stakeholders—housing authorities, employers, government, funders
  • Co-design models that fit your community’s unique needs
  • Let’s innovate together

Cross-sector partnerships that work

The DAY ONE model is designed to plug into real systems and grow from each community’s strengths.

Hospitals & healthcare systems

The challenge

Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find child care. Turnover is costly.

The solution

Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour child care, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.

Housing authorities & community development

The challenge

Vacant properties sit unused while families desperately need child care.

The solution

Transform underutilized housing into licensed early learning centers operated by DAY ONE TAP graduates, revitalizing neighborhoods while expanding care.

Workforce development boards

The challenge

Adults need pathways to family-sustaining careers. Early childhood has chronic shortages.

The solution

TAP creates debt-free pathways to professional credentials in 11 weeks, both building the workforce while opening new classrooms.

School districts & education systems

The challenge

Kids go to kindergarten unprepared to learn.

The solution

Expand quality pre-K through DAY ONE TAP-trained educators. 95% of DAY ONE students show up kindergarten-ready, curious, and confident.

Banks & Community Investment

The challenge

Finding community investments that deliver measurable social and economic returns.

The solution

Fund TAP cohorts and early learning infrastructure — creating jobs, stabilizing families, and anchoring neighborhoods with locally-owned businesses.

Public Sector/Government

The challenge

Coordinating workforce development, child care licensing, and economic opportunity requires alignment across city, county, state agencies, Department of Labor, Office of Children and Family Services, and Division of Child and Family Services.

The solution

Partner with government to align early learning workforce pathways with economic development. DAY ONE’s New York State Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship creates professional credentials while expanding child care access.

Higher Education

The challenge

Adults need debt-free pathways to professional credentials. Colleges need authentic community partnerships beyond enrollment.

The solution

Partner with community colleges and universities to offer DAY ONE TAP graduates stackable credentials, recognizing hands-on experience while anchoring institutions in their communities.

Day One Project community event

DAY ONE Success: The NEST

Cross-sector partnership to support families.

The problem no one could solve alone: Hospital workers on night and weekend shifts in Poughkeepsie had nowhere to turn for child care.

What we did: DAY ONE brought together Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Hudson River Housing, and NBT Bank to launch The NEST (Nurturing Early Success Together) — a public-private partnership that is becoming the region’s first non-traditional hour early learning and care space. A vacant home was transformed into a licensed early learning program operated by a DAY ONE TAP graduate who lives on-site.

How each partner benefited and made cross-sector partnerships possible:

  • Hospital: Employee retention, workforce stability
  • Housing Authority: Productive use of vacant property, community revitalization
  • Bank: Community investment aligned with mission
  • City: Economic development, child care access, neighborhood stabilization
  • DAY ONE TAP Graduate: A home, business, meaningful career
  • Families: Round-the-clock care that fits their lives

Ready to build together?

If you’re serious about solving child care in your community, let’s talk.