Children's Opportunity Alliance

What Children's Opportunity Alliance does

Children's Opportunity Alliance (COA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating as the designated Early Care and Education (ECE) Coordinating Entity for Montgomery County, Maryland. COA was designated by the Montgomery County Council in July 2022 and earned its independent 501(c)(3) status in 2023. Its mandate is to convene child care providers, families, educators, employers, foundations, and County government around a shared agenda to expand equitable access to high-quality early childhood programs in Montgomery County. Kimberly Rusnak serves as founding Executive Director, and the organization operates from a small office at 1801 Rockville Pike, Suite 320, Rockville, MD, with approximately 6-8 full-time staff.

COA's core offerings are non-commercial coordination and data products. These include publicly accessible data dashboards covering demographics, kindergarten readiness, and child care capacity; what the organization describes as the first county-level fiscal map for ECE; a shared Common Agenda; technical assistance for Pre-K expansion (including grant application support); capacity-building grants for providers; the Sandbox newsletter; an Employer Survey program; and direct advocacy and policy support. Services are delivered free of charge; the underlying "platform" is a curated combination of local data, structured convening events, and partner-facing program support rather than a SaaS technology stack.

COA's business model is grant-dependent and philanthropic. Revenue is sourced from private foundation grants (including named support from the Bender Foundation and Marriott Foundation) and Montgomery County government appropriations, with no fee-for-service component. The organization has no products for sale, no pricing model, and no paying customer segments; its economic value is captured indirectly through policy outcomes, Pre-K seat expansion, and provider capacity it helps enable. Geographic scope is concentrated in Montgomery County, MD, though advocacy has begun extending to the Maryland General Assembly.

Name

Children's Opportunity Alliance

Legal name

Montgomery County Children's Opportunity Alliance

Website

https://mocochildren.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Children's Opportunity Alliance is a Montgomery County, Maryland nonprofit designated as the county's Early Care and Education Coordinating Entity, convening providers, families, employers, and government to expand access to quality early childhood programs via data dashboards, advocacy, and grant-funded capacity building.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education Advocacy and Coordination Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710), Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Early Childhood Education & Childcare Nonprofits (BPAGADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Inclusive Early Intervention & Transition-to-Preschool Services (EDACAFAM), Early Intervention Academic Readiness (Pre-K–Early Elementary) (EDAKADAG), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping Resources (State/NAEYC/Head Start) (EDACAJAN), Family Resource Centers & Wraparound Support Services (EDACALAH)

Keywords

• Early childhood advocacy
• Pre-K expansion support
• Fiscal mapping services
• Child care coordination
• Education policy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Rockville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding and Philanthropy: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Alliance operates through grant funding from foundations (Bender Foundation, Cliff and Deborah White Family Foundation, Mead Family Foundation, Ruppert Family Foundation, J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, Washington Area Women's Foundation), government funding (Montgomery County), and individual donations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Children's Opportunity Alliance is the designated Early Care and Education Coordinating Entity for Montgomery County, Maryland, serving as a nonprofit backbone organization that convenes government, schools, philanthropy, community organizations, and businesses to expand equitable early childhood education. It delivers targeted technical assistance to child care providers navigating state Pre-K Expansion grants, produces fiscal mapping and data dashboards tracking early childhood investments, runs an advocacy and policy platform, and publishes research and convenings to close opportunity gaps for young children.

Product overview

Children's Opportunity Alliance is a nonprofit coordinating entity (not a technology product company) that serves as the Early Care and Education Coordinating Entity for Montgomery County, MD. Rather than offering a unified software product or platform, the Alliance provides a portfolio of advocacy services, data tools, grant programs, and community convening initiatives. Core offerings include: data dashboards and fiscal mapping tools that track early childhood funding and outcomes; the Common Agenda framework for coordinating stakeholders; Pre-K expansion technical assistance and capacity building grants for child care providers; advocacy and policy support including legislative testimony; the Sandbox newsletter for community updates; and research publications including annual reports and thematic studies. The organization functions as a systems-change entity rather than a product vendor, connecting government, schools, philanthropy, community organizations, and businesses to close the opportunity gap for young children.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Local Data Dashboards Interactive public tools that surface disaggregated early childhood data, including a Demographic Data Dashboard, Kindergarten Readiness Data, child care provider capacity, early care and education workforce data, and Child Care Scholarship participation data, for use by policymakers, providers, and community stakeholders.
• FY24 Fiscal Map Analysis product that identifies federal, state, local, and philanthropic funding sources and uses in early care and education for Montgomery County, establishing baselines to track progress over time.
• Common Agenda Dashboard Interactive stakeholder-facing dashboard that operationalizes the Alliance's Common Agenda, sharing progress data on shared early childhood priorities across Montgomery County.
• Pre-K Expansion Technical Assistance Hands-on grant writing and implementation support for child care centers applying to Maryland's Pre-K Expansion Grant, helping providers add Pre-K seats and meet state program requirements.
• Capacity Building Grants Grants provided to child care centers rated Maryland EXCELS 3 or higher in high-need areas to expand and improve early care services for young children.
• Advocacy and Policy Testimony Legislative testimony, policy recommendations, and advocacy training services delivered on behalf of the early childhood education ecosystem at the Maryland General Assembly and Montgomery County Council.
• Employer Survey Program Research and engagement program with Montgomery County employers on family-friendly workplace policies and child care benefits, delivered jointly with Maryland Family Network.
• Educator Stories Forum Annual convening that elevates the voices and experiences of early childhood educators serving in Montgomery County's child care and early learning programs.
• Community Convenings and Advisory Groups Recurring stakeholder meetings, advisory groups, work groups, and community conversations that bring together cross-sector partners to advance early care and education system change.

Quantifiable outcome

• Expanded state-funded child care seats by more than 70% (from 206 to 354)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, key, supporting and foundational.

• Montgomery County Department of Health and Human ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey government partner for Pre-K expansion planning and implementation. Collaborated on outreach events to support providers in understanding Blueprint and Pre-K Expansion grant opportunities.
• Montgomery County Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Pre-K expansion initiatives and joint planning for early childhood education system improvements. Collaboration on grant programs and stakeholder engagement.
• Maryland State Child Care AssociationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal expert partner providing targeted technical assistance to nine child care centers during MSDE's Pre-K Expansion grant application process.
• Family Child Care AlliancekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in providing technical assistance to child care providers navigating Pre-K Expansion grants.
• Capacity PartnerskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization providing technical assistance to child care centers during grant application processes.
• Maryland Family NetworkkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Maryland Family Network to conduct comprehensive study of family-friendly workplace policies and child care benefits among Montgomery County employers.
• Montgomery County Food CouncilsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered to connect SNAP outreach recipients with the early childhood system, helping parents of young children receive food assistance.
• Nonprofit MontgomerysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided two advocacy trainings for ECE stakeholders; 11 community members attended including parents, ECE educators, and nonprofit partners.
• Family Child Care Association of Montgomery CountykeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in planning the Educator Stories Forum, representing family child care educators in Montgomery County.
• Latino Childcare Association of MarylandkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in planning the Educator Stories Forum, focused on Latino early childhood educators.
• Maryland Association for the Education of Young ChildrenkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in planning the Educator Stories Forum.
• Organization of Child Care DirectorssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in planning the Educator Stories Forum.
• Montgomery Moving ForwardfoundationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated the movement that led to the Alliance's creation; issued early care and education call to action in 2018 and presented recommendations for public-private coordinating entity in 2021.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Zero to Three: National nonprofit focused on the wellbeing of infants, toddlers, and their families through policy, practice, and professional development. Comparable to the Alliance in its ECE systems-change orientation but operates nationally across all age-0-to-5 domains.
• ReadyNation: National business leader membership organization that builds support for early childhood investment among employers. Overlaps with the Alliance's business-community engagement advisory group and employer survey work, though at a national advocacy scale.
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): The largest national membership organization for early childhood educators, offering accreditation, professional development, and policy advocacy. Overlaps with the Alliance's provider-support and quality-improvement work but at a national scale rather than county-specific.

Direct peers

• Smart Start: North Carolina's public-private partnership dedicated to young children's healthy development and school readiness. Operates as a state-level coordinating entity for early childhood systems, sharing the Alliance's convening, funding, and capacity-building model.
• Thrive by Five Washington: Washington state public-private partnership coordinating early childhood systems and investment. Closely comparable to the Alliance as a state-level ECE coordinating body that funds local collaboratives, tracks system outcomes, and advocates for ECE policy.
• First 5 California: California state agency funded by tobacco taxes to support early childhood development from birth through age five. Functions as a coordinating and grantmaking entity for ECE systems, mirroring the Alliance's designator-and-convening role at county and state levels.
• Start Early (formerly Ounce of Prevention Fund): Chicago-based national ECE intermediary advancing quality early learning through policy, system-building, and direct services. Comparable to the Alliance in its role coordinating public-private partnerships and provider capacity-building, but at a larger scale.

Regional players

• Maryland Family Network: Maryland statewide nonprofit supporting child care, family support, and early literacy. Active partner of the Alliance and operates in the same state regulatory and funding environment, making it a directly comparable state-level peer.
• Nonprofit Montgomery: Montgomery County, MD-based support organization for local nonprofits. Partner of the Alliance in delivering advocacy training and a comparable regional peer in building nonprofit capacity for community impact.
• Maryland State Child Care Association: Maryland statewide trade association representing licensed child care providers. Partner organization of the Alliance for Pre-K Expansion technical assistance and a directly comparable peer in the provider-support and ECE advocacy space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MoCoChildren
• Facebookfacebook.com/mocochildren
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/childrens-opportunity-alliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Children's Opportunity Alliance