Fund for Early Learning

The first three years of a child’s life are the most critical time of development, setting the foundation for their futures. But right now, young children in poverty lack access to health, learning, and socioemotional resources for future success.

Robin Hood’s Fund for Early Learning (FUEL) aims to make New York City an early learning metropolis, where all children can thrive and learn skills for future success. By working with nonprofits, government agencies, and policymakers, FUEL works to center children and families.

Our Impact

$52.3

M

Invested in grantee organizations

108

K

NYC children and families served since 2017

$3.75

M

In prize dollars awarded to community driven programs through FUEL for 50

FUEL for 50

Learn more about the grand prize winners of FUEL for 50, FUEL’s innovative challenge spurring innovation in early learning for young children living in poverty.

Our Strategy

FUEL supports children ages 0-3 and their caregivers by:

  • Uplifting community-driven change and innovation: We support our grantees in driving hyperlocal change on the ground for children and families in the communities they serve.
  • Bringing evidence-based practice to scale: We follow the data to support and scale our grantees’ work to facilitate improvements to children’s language, cognitive, and socioemotional skills, as well as improvements to caregivers’ health and mental health. We support holistic interventions that advance primary and mental health outcomes from pregnancy through early childhood. 
  • Improving public systems: We work to support collaborations between public systems and community to remove barriers families in poverty face when accessing health benefits and educational services.