The Children's Equity Project

What The Children's Equity Project does

The Children's Equity Project (CEP) is a nonprofit research and policy initiative based at Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, founded in 2018. CEP operates at the intersection of research, policy, and practice to advance equity for children and families across multiple systems including early care and education, K-12 education, early intervention and preschool special education, child welfare, mental health, health, and immigration. Its primary beneficiaries are federal, state, and local policymakers; child and family-serving system leaders and practitioners; a national network of equity scholars at partner universities; and families and communities from historically and contemporarily marginalized backgrounds, the latter engaged through a family advisory committee.

CEP's offerings are organized as service-based programs rather than a software platform. Core offerings include Research & Translation Services (original equity research led by a national network of equity scholars at partner universities), Policy Work (direct engagement with federal, state, and local policymakers), Training & Technical Assistance (professional development for child and family-serving system leaders), the Start with Equity Fellowship (a one-year changemaker program funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation), and a freely distributed library of Reports, Resources, Events, and Webinars. Its core technology is described as a research translation and knowledge dissemination platform, with content distributed through the cep.asu.edu website, a newsletter, social media (Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram), and an archived YouTube webinar library. The organization's reach is materially extended through formal partnerships with thirteen or more universities including Georgetown, Howard, Vanderbilt, Bank Street College of Education, NORC at the University of Chicago, UCLA, USC, UCSF, UNC Chapel Hill, Boston University, the University of Oregon, Florida International University, and the University of Nebraska.

CEP does not sell commercial products or services. All reports, policy briefs, and resources are distributed free of charge. Revenue is derived entirely from philanthropic foundation grants and federal and state government contracts. Named funders include the Heising-Simons Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, and federal entities such as the Office of Head Start, the Administration for Children & Families, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), SAMHSA, and HRSA, alongside state and local contracts in Arizona, Vermont, Maryland, and Montgomery County, Maryland. With approximately nine employees, CEP operates as a lean hub that aggregates, translates, and disseminates equity research through its extended partner and funder network.

Name

The Children's Equity Project

Legal name

The Children's Equity Project

Website

https://cep.asu.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Children's Equity Project is a nonprofit research and policy initiative at Arizona State University that generates, translates, and disseminates equity research for federal, state, and local policymakers, child and family-serving system practitioners, and university-affiliated equity scholars.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Policy Research

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Equity, Access & Inclusion Policy Research (EDADADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Equity, Inclusion & Civil Rights Reporting (Disparities, Access, Outcomes) (EDADAIAH), Education Partnerships for Equity, Inclusion & Gender (EDADALAF), Public Health & Health Equity Organizations (BPAGACAL)

Keywords

• Early childhood equity
• Education policy research
• Training technical assistance
• Child welfare research
• Equity scholar network

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Children's Equity Project conducts original, actionable research on equity issues affecting children and families, aggregates and translates equity scholarship through a national network of equity scholars, supports federal, state, and local policy change, and delivers data-informed training, technical assistance, and professional development to child and family-serving system leaders and practitioners. It also runs the Start with Equity Fellowship, a 1-year changemaker program funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Product overview

The Children's Equity Project is a national initiative based at Arizona State University focused on closing opportunity gaps and advancing equity in systems impacting children and families. The organization operates at the intersection of research, policy, and practice, offering Research & Translation Services (original equity research and dissemination), Policy Work (federal, state, and local policy engagement), Training & Technical Assistance (professional development for practitioners), the Start with Equity Fellowship (1-year changemaker fellowship), and comprehensive Reports & Resources and Events & Webinars content libraries. Rather than a software product platform, the CEP functions as a research-to-practice organization that aggregates and translates equity research for policymakers and practitioners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research & Translation Services

Quantifiable outcome

• IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) served over 8 million children and youth in 2024 per CEP's report on the federal role in administering IDEA

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Georgetown UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEP is led in partnership with researchers at Georgetown University. Georgetown faculty collaborate on original research, policy analysis, and knowledge dissemination related to advancing equity in early childhood systems.
• Bank Street College of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEP partners with Bank Street College of Education on research and policy initiatives focused on early childhood equity, bringing expertise in child development and educator preparation.
• University of NebraskacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEP collaborates with researchers at the University of Nebraska as part of its national network of equity scholars working on original, actionable research on equity issues affecting children and families.
• University of California San FranciscocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUCSF researchers participate in CEP's partnership network, contributing to research and translation efforts on equity issues in child and family health and development.
• University of Southern CaliforniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEP partners with the University of Southern California on research and policy work, with USC scholars contributing to the national network of equity scholars.
• NORC at the University of ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNORC at the University of Chicago collaborates with CEP on equity research, bringing survey research and data analytics expertise to inform policy and practice recommendations.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel HillcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearchers from UNC Chapel Hill are part of CEP's national network of equity scholars, contributing to research and policy analysis on early childhood and education equity.
• Florida International UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIU researchers collaborate with CEP on equity-focused research and policy initiatives, particularly addressing issues affecting diverse and marginalized child populations.
• University of California Los AngelescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUCLA scholars contribute to CEP's research and policy work as part of the national equity scholar network, focusing on early childhood equity issues.
• University of OregoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Oregon partners with CEP on equity research and dissemination, contributing to the hub model that aggregates and translates equity research for policy and practice.
• Vanderbilt UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVanderbilt University researchers participate in CEP's equity scholar network and collaborate on original research and policy analysis on early childhood systems.
• Howard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoward University researchers collaborate with CEP on equity research, bringing expertise on issues affecting Black children and families in early childhood systems.
• Boston UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoston University is part of CEP's partnership network, with researchers contributing to original equity research and policy translation efforts.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Education Trust: A national nonprofit focused on advancing equity in K-12 and higher education through research, policy, and advocacy. Highly comparable to CEP's research-to-policy model with a similar equity-driven mission.
• MDRC: A nonprofit social and education policy research organization focused on programs and policies for low-income populations. Directly comparable to CEP in producing actionable policy research for practitioners.
• Child Trends: A nonprofit research organization dedicated to improving outcomes for children and youth through rigorous research and policy translation. Directly comparable to CEP's research dissemination model targeting policymakers and practitioners.
• National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER): An academic research center at Rutgers focused exclusively on early childhood education policy and quality. Highly comparable to CEP's early childhood equity research and policy translation work.

Broad incumbents

• Center for American Progress: A policy think tank with extensive K-12 and early childhood education equity work. Comparable to CEP's federal-level policy engagement, though broader in scope and explicitly progressive.
• Urban Institute: A major nonprofit research organization producing evidence on social and economic policy, including significant education and child welfare research. Overlaps with CEP's research and policy focus but operates across many domains.
• Mathematica: A research and evaluation firm with deep work in education, early childhood, and human services policy. Comparable in conducting applied research that informs federal and state programs.
• RAND Corporation: A major research institution with significant work in education policy and child wellbeing. Overlaps with CEP's policy-focused research but operates at much larger scale across many domains.
• Brookings Institution: A leading public policy research organization with substantial early childhood and education policy programs. Comparable in producing federal-level policy research, though operating across many domains.
• New America: A think tank with substantial education and family policy programs. Comparable in producing policy research and recommendations targeting federal and state decision-makers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ChildrensEquity
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheChildrensEquityProject/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChildrensEquityProject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/childrens-equity-project
• Instagraminstagram.com/childrensequityproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Children's Equity Project