Michigan's Children

What Michigan's Children does

Michigan's Children is a Lansing, Michigan-based nonprofit policy advocacy organization founded in 1993 that works inside the state Capitol, in Congress, and in communities to strengthen public policies affecting children and families. Its programmatic surface includes the Speaking for Kids Podcast, Lunch & Learn sessions, Candidate Forums, advocacy summits, advocacy toolkits, and newsletters, with a stated focus on early childhood, child welfare, education, and related family economic security issues. The organization does not accept government funding and is supported by individual donations, positioning it as an independent advocacy voice rather than a contracted service provider.

Its core operational model is relationship-driven policy advocacy rather than product or technology delivery. The organization invests in coalition infrastructure, including co-chairing the Think Babies Michigan Cross-Sector Workforce Strategies Workgroup and partnering with the Michigan After-School Partnership, and has incubated the Michigan Child Care Providers Collective (MCCPC) to extend its reach into direct provider organizing. Leadership is anchored by President and CEO Matt Gillard, a former Michigan legislator, with recent senior additions including Dr. Heather Bomsta as Vice President of Policy and Programs (January 2025) and Bianca Miles as Child Welfare and Education Policy Associate (January 2026). There is no disclosed revenue, budget, or staff count beyond the roughly nine named professionals visible across leadership, board, and program roles.

Name

Michigan's Children

Legal name

Michigan's Children

Website

https://michiganschildren.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Michigan's Children is a Lansing-based nonprofit founded in 1993 that advocates for public policies affecting Michigan children and families through legislative engagement, coalitions, programming, and partner networks, funded by individual donations without government support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Welfare Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Family Resource Centers & Wraparound Support Services (EDACALAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Juvenile Justice System (Courts & Detention) (BPAIAFAF), Juvenile Justice Education Programs (Detention & Correctional Education) (EDAJAEAB), Court/Community School Programs (Diversion, Probation-Linked, Community Day Schools) (EDAJAEAI), Family & Parenting Education (Family Literacy, Parenting Skills) (EDAAAFAF)

Keywords

• Child welfare advocacy
• Policy advocacy services
• Nonprofit policy research
• Legislative advocacy campaigns
• Family economic support

Headquarters

HQ city

Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Michigan's Children relies solely on donations from individuals to sustain its work. The organization explicitly states it does not accept any government funding to maintain independence and focus on public policy opportunities that work best for children and families.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Michigan's Children is an independent statewide nonprofit that conducts policy advocacy on behalf of Michigan's children and families. It mobilizes citizens to engage with state and federal policymakers, publishes research and educational resources on issues such as early childhood education, child welfare, Medicaid, family economic stability, and immigrant family policy, and convenes partners across the state to influence legislative and budget outcomes. Programs include the Speaking for Kids Podcast, Lunch & Learn sessions, Candidate Forums, the Lifting our Voices and Corey summits, YouthSpeak youth advocacy, and the Michigan Children E-Bulletin newsletter.

Product overview

Michigan's Children is a nonprofit advocacy organization that operates as a unified program portfolio rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization's offerings consist primarily of advocacy programs (Speaking for Kids Podcast, Lunch & Learn sessions, Candidate Forums, Lifting our Voices Summit, Corey Summit, YouthSpeak), educational resources (Budget Basics, Advocacy Tools, Learning from Youth/Families Resources), an email newsletter (Michigan Children E-Bulletin), and an incubated organization (Michigan Child Care Providers Collective). These programs work together to advance the organization's mission of being the independent statewide voice for public policy in the best interest of children and families in Michigan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Speaking for Kids Podcast

Quantifiable outcome

• 45% of births in Michigan are covered by Medicaid, making healthcare advocacy critical for families
• +1 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Michigan Child Care Providers Collective (MCCPC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan's Children is incubating MCCPC, a statewide group of child care providers working to make child care in Michigan available, high-quality and safe. Michigan's Children provides resources and staff to build them up until they transition to a stand-alone nonprofit.
• Michigan League for Public PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the 'Race for Results' report exploring child well-being by race and published the annual Kids Count In Michigan Data Book and Profiles.
• Think Babies MichigancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan's Children co-chairs the Think Babies Michigan Cross-Sector Workforce Strategies Workgroup and partners on early childhood advocacy initiatives.
• Michigan After-School PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan's Children partners with the Michigan After-School Partnership on advocacy for expanded learning opportunities and afterschool programs.
• Local Forum Partners (Sandbox Party)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partners supported youth-led candidate forums by facilitating locations, helping recruit candidates, and engaging media coverage in communities across Michigan.
• Kyd Network (Kalamazoo)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner organization working on youth development and advocacy, with board representation from young adults who have benefited from afterschool programs.
• Michigan CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan's Children supports expansion of CASA services statewide to help more children in foster care have dedicated volunteer advocates in court proceedings.
• Adoptive Family Support Network (AFSN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichigan's Children highlighted AFSN's work supporting adoptive families before the network was defunded in the 2020 state budget process.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• First Focus Campaign for Children: Bipartisan advocacy organization working on federal child and family policy. Overlaps with Michigan's Children's federal advocacy work on Medicaid, immigration, and family economic stability, while operating at a national rather than state level.
• Annie E. Casey Foundation: National foundation producing the KIDS COUNT data series and funding state-level child advocacy efforts. Highly comparable on data-driven child policy advocacy work; Michigan's Children co-produces the Kids Count in Michigan Data Book with a peer organization.
• Children's Defense Fund: National child advocacy organization addressing systemic issues across many states. Overlaps with Michigan's Children on policy advocacy across early childhood, child welfare, juvenile justice, and family economic security, but operates at national scale with broader issue mandate.

Others

• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP): National policy organization focused on policy solutions for low-income people, with deep work on child care, early childhood, and family economic security. An adjacent ecosystem peer that operates upstream on many of the same federal and state policy domains Michigan's Children engages.

Direct peers

• NC Child: Independent statewide policy advocacy organization focused on child and family well-being in North Carolina. It is structurally analogous to Michigan's Children — a nonpartisan voice partnering with statewide networks to influence state-level policy on health, education, and economic stability for kids.
• Groundwork Ohio: Ohio-based nonprofit advocacy organization focused on early childhood and family policy. Comparable as a state-level independent voice using research, coalition-building, and direct legislative engagement on children's issues — the same playbook Michigan's Children employs.
• Kids Forward (Wisconsin Council on Children and Families): Wisconsin-based independent advocacy organization advancing policy to support children and families. Directly comparable in mission, statewide policy focus, and reliance on research-to-advocacy models targeting state legislators and budget processes.
• Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Massachusetts-based independent research and advocacy organization with a strong focus on low-income families and kids. Comparable as a nonpartisan state-level policy and budget advocacy voice using data and convening to influence state fiscal decisions for vulnerable children.
• Partnership for Children and Families (Massachusetts): Massachusetts-based child advocacy organization focused on well-being of children and families through policy and community engagement. Comparable in mission, voice-of-the-child positioning, and educational advocacy for families statewide.

Emerging players

• Start Early (formerly Ounce of Prevention Fund): National early childhood advocacy organization. Significant overlap on early childhood policy advocacy, including Think Babies-style coalitions; Michigan's Children co-chairs the Think Babies Michigan Cross-Sector Workforce Strategies Workgroup.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@michiganschildren
• Facebookfacebook.com/MichigansChildren

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Michigan's Children