ReadyNation

ReadyNation is a network of business leaders who are willing to use their voices to support policies and programs that build a strong workforce and economy.

These business leaders serve as effective state-level and community-level messengers for a variety of research-based public investments in early childhood programs that help all children succeed by strengthening the workforce and the economy.

State allies can call on ReadyNation to:

Support identifying which business leaders would be most impactful in their work.

Guidance on how to build relationships with business leaders who may be influential in discussions with decision makers.

Strategies on overcoming obstacles encountered when working with the business community.

Information on how to mobilize business leaders to advocate for policies and programs that build a strong workforce and economy.

Assistance preparing event agendas and help finding business leader speakers for events.

On the Ground:

In South Dakota, in order to highlight the importance of support for child care, ReadyNation presented an online panel to discuss a new report titled “The Growing, Annual Cost of the Infant-Toddler Child Care Crisis in South Dakota.” The panel included parents and business leaders from South Dakota who have been directly impacted by the current child care crisis. Two CEOs, also ReadyNation members, were joined by a South Dakota working parent for a discussion on helping families and employers in the state.
In Maine, ReadyNation members organized a bipartisan press conference on funding for child care wage supplements. The event included both the Democrat Speaker of the House, who was the bill sponsor, and the Republican State Senator who is the Senate Chair of the Maine Children’s Caucus. A ReadyNation member and business leader hosted the press conference at his bank and talked about child care challenges for his workers. The press event garnered more than 40 media impressions and received coverage on all three networks in Portland, and was picked up by Bangor TV news as well. The bill passed both houses unanimously and marks the first major general fund state investment in child care in Maine.
A Mississippi ReadyNation member was personally selected by the governor to join his ReStart Commission, the effort to move the economy again after the COVID pandemic.