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
Financial Manager
Sarah Humphries
sarahh@together4children.org
(512) 970-1904
Board of Directors 2021-2022
Chairperson
Joy Fields Miller
Affiliation: City of Austin
Secretary
James Love
Affiliation: Northwestern Mutual
Treasurer
Debra Elzner
Affiliation: Law Office of Debra Elzner
Members
Cynthia Gamez
Affiliation: Early Childhood & Maternal Program/Austin/Travis County HHSD
Kim Kofron
Affiliation: Children at Risk
Phyllis Jack Moore
Affiliation: Community Representative/Retired Educator
Friend of the Board
Brian Peierls
Affiliation: Peierls Foundation
Together4Children’s current 990 is available upon written request.
