After expanding to Los Angeles earlier this year, the Bay Area-based Jewish early childhood education nonprofit EarlyJ is deepening its efforts in the LA community with $1 million in grants to local preschools and daycare centers, the organization announced this month. 

EarlyJ builds off a pilot launched in 2019 by the Rodan Family Foundation and its partners in the East Bay Area with the goal of improving Jewish early childhood education (ECE) both for its own sake and as a critical tool for engaging young Jewish families more broadly. Following the pilot’s success, EarlyJ was formaly established by the Rodan Family Foundation and the Koum Family Foundation as a standalone organization in 2023. The following year, the Weingarten Foundation joined as an anchor funder, and in March, the group began operating in Los Angeles as well. 

Through its own programs and through grants, the organization says it is taking a holistic investment approach of strengthening the Jewish early childhood education ecosystem by building preschool capacity, offering professional development for educators and boosting family engagement. 

“What makes a preschool Jewish is not only the content of the curriculum, but the culture and community it creates: a place where children experience the rhythms, values, language and joy of Jewish life through play, song, stories, holidays and relationships,” Sharona Israeli-Roth, founding president and executive director of EarlyJ, told eJewishPhilanthropy. 

Families are also drawn into Jewish life through their children’s experiences, often attending their first Shabbat, holiday or community event at the preschool, Israeli-Roth said.

Earlier this month, EarlyJ announced new grants totaling $1 million to 13 Los-Angeles area Jewish preschools and early childhood centers. These grants will support new infant and toddler centers and the expansion of existing programs with new classrooms.

“With EarlyJ’s support, we will open an additional toddler classroom and redesign our outdoor spaces to reflect the joyful, inquiry-based Jewish learning that anchors our program,” Floryn Rosenberg, director of L.A.’s Erika J. Glazer Early Childhood Center, one of the grant recipients, told eJP. “This investment expands access for families, strengthens our educators and creates meaningful spaces where our youngest children can explore, wonder and thrive.”

One of EarlyJ’s areas of focus is increasing preschool capacity, both by supporting the opening of new preschools in Jewish ECE “deserts” and helping existing preschools work within their infrastructure to maximize full-time enrollment. This effort has included support for existing preschools to open new toddler and infant care programs.

“As more parents work full time, the demand for high-quality, full-day early care continues to grow, yet Jewish preschools have limited capacity to serve children under two,” said Israeli-Roth. “Expanding these programs enables families to choose Jewish early childhood settings from the very start of their parenting journey, rather than enrolling elsewhere. Beginning that journey early helps families build community connections and Jewish identity from the earliest years.” 

She also noted that the rapid expansion of public transitional kindergartens is drawing four-year-olds out of Jewish preschools, making infant and toddler programs critical to sustaining preschool enrollment and preserving the pipeline to Jewish day schools and lifelong engagement.

Investing in educators and school leadership is another priority. Teachers are “the lifeblood of Jewish ECE,” said Israeli-Roth, and “too many gifted and passionate educators struggle to make ends meet, suffer from burnout, and/or feel insufficiently engaged as professionals.” 

As part of an effort to strengthen Israel-Diaspora ties, EarlyJ has also invested in bringing shinshinim — young Israelis doing a post-high school year of volunteer work — to work in preschools. Shinshinim can play a powerful role in building “a personal, joyful connection to Israel and the Jewish People,” Israeli-Roth said.

So far, EarlyJ has awarded 108 grants for a total of $7.4 million. These funds have supported 877 additional enrollment spots in Jewish ECE institutions, nine new Jewish parenting centers, six new Bay Area preschools and 23 infant and toddler programs, according to the organization.

Israeli-Roth said that the group was considering an expansion of its grant program. “We are assessing the needs of different communities that are approaching us and identifying where there are funding opportunities and local partners,” she said; the goal is to ensure that each expansion has the resources, funding and infrastructure needed to sustain long-term impact. 

“As advocates for Jewish ECE, we are raising awareness of its significance among philanthropists and the broader community, ensuring that the highest quality education and overall experience is accessible for the next generation,” she said. “Investing in Jewish ECE, which supports young families at such a formative moment in their lives, is an investment in the Jewish future.”