The Gretchen Kinnell Scholarship

The Gretchen Kinnell Scholarship: Investing in Education

The Gretchen Kinnell Scholarship honors a true educator, Gretchen Kinnell, who served as the Director of Education and Training at Child Care Solutions for more than 20 years. Gretchen is a renowned expert and author in early childhood practices, recognized with a 2010 YWCA Diversity Achievers Award for her work empowering early child care professionals (over 95 percent of whom are women) to positively influence children's lives.

Donations to the Gretchen Kinnell Scholarship directly supports providing critical funding to early child care professionals, helping them defray the cost of training needed to enhance their knowledge and skills. Investing today secures the next generation of highly skilled, confident, and knowledgeable child care professionals, ensuring the highest quality of care for every child in our community.

The Gretchen Kinnell Scholarship: Supporting accessibility to knowledge, skills, and credentialing

Your donation to the scholarship provides essential financial assistance to early child care professionals in Cayuga and Onondaga Counties who demonstrate financial need. This funding defrays the cost for recipients to participate in key professional development, including Childhood Development Associate (CDA) credential classes and specialized observation, assessment, and improvement programs sponsored by Child Care Solutions. By investing in this training, you help early child care professionals gain a deeper understanding of child development and create programs that are safe, secure, foster early learning, and encourage creativity, ensuring the sustained development of outstanding child care professionals in our community.