Make a Gift to the Libby Zimmerman Professional Development Fund

Inspired by the work we are doing at Connected Beginnings? Please consider making a donation to the Libby Zimmerman Professional Development Fund. Your donation supplements Connected Beginnings’ public and private grants and contracts and provides a dedicated funding stream to support scholarships, mentorships and professional development activities that are not covered by grants and contracts.

Dr. Libby Zimmerman, Connected Beginnings’ founder, held the lifelong belief that Infants and young children who benefit from secure and stable relationships with parents, teachers and childcare providers, have the best chance to grow into healthy, secure, children and adolescents who are prepared for long-term learning and success. Research supports this belief. We now know, beyond a doubt, that children thrive when exposed to warm, nurturing care giving and safe, supportive and stimulating environments and early experiences. Yet all too often, infants and young children are exposed to stressful environments and insecure relationships that can have a toxic effect on development. Toxic stresses in early childhood in turn impacts health, emotional well being and the capacity to learn and thrive into adulthood.

Connected Beginnings’ work, across sectors and disciplines, brings research and evidence-based knowledge and practices that support children’s social and emotional well being and competence, to a wide variety of practices and community settings. Our work extends the capacity of those who care for young children to ensure that they get the earliest and best possible start in life.

Please donate today with confidence that your gift will grow in value many times over through the teachers, practitioners and community members who engage in our professional development offerings and through the thousands of young lives affected by what they learn!

To make a gift. please visit the Wheelock College donation page (click on "Connected Beginnings Training Institute" in the list on the right-hand side) and send your tax-deductible gift today.

With gratitude,

Betsy Leutz, Executive Director

May, 2011