About Us

Our Vision

The youngest and most vulnerable children in Texas communities will have positive early childhood experiences so that they will become successful in life.

Our Core Values

• Focus on the youngest and most vulnerable
• Maintain ethics and integrity in all aspects of the organization
• Believe collaboration is the key to success in accomplishing mission and vision
• Utilize evidence-based models and best practices
• Maintain high expectations of quality
• Continue quality improvement through evaluation and assessment
• Build trust and nurture relationships at all levels

History

Raising Austin originated as a direct response to a community need. In 1997, a group of community members concerned with issues facing young children participated in a fact-finding mission to gather information about the state of early care and education in Austin, Texas. The group analyzed public school achievement data to identify areas of town that were producing high, medium, and low outcomes and toured a sampling of child care centers located in these areas. Not surprisingly, schools with high-performance levels were in areas where children had access to high-quality child care, while children in medium to low performing schools did not have as much. Moreover, centers in low achieving areas were mostly located in impoverished neighborhoods and served predominantly low-income and minority children. Thus, in 1998, members of other community foundations and community representatives joined efforts to form Raising Austin as a not for profit organization. They believed all young children deserved high-quality early childhood programs that enriched their social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. Furthermore, they believed that raising the level of education and training for early childhood teachers and directors was an important step to ensure that every child entered school with an equal start. This became the heart of our mission. In 2013, our name changed from “Raising Austin” to “Together4Children” to better reflect the scope of our work in Texas.

Executive Team

Executive Director

Cindy Rojas Rodriguez
cindyrr@together4children.org
(512) 970-1904

Director of Professional Development 
Kathy Keller
kathyk@together4children.org
(512) 970-1904

Director of Development & Evaluation
Belinda Rojas
belindar@together4children.org
(512) 970-1904

Administrative Coordinator
Cindy Moreland
morelandc@together4children.org
(512) 970-1904

Financial Manager
Sarah Humphries
sarahh@together4children.org
(512) 970-1904

Board of Directors 2021-2022

Chairperson
Patrick Sanders                                                                                                               Affiliation: Child Incorporated

Vice-Chair
Cynthia Gamez
Affiliation:  Early Childhood & Maternal Program/Austin/Travis County HHSD

Secretary 

James Love

Affiliation: Northwestern Mutual                                                                                                                                

Treasurer
Debra Elzner
Affiliation: Law Office of Debra Elzner

Members                                                                                                                                  Ben Baker                                                                                                                              Affiliation: IBM

Kim Kofron
Affiliation: Texas Association for the Education of Young Children

Joy Fields Miller                                                                                                               Affiliation: City of Austin

Phyllis Jack Moore                                                                                                           Affiliation: Community Representative/Retired Educator

Together4Children’s current 990 is available upon written request.