Details

October 01, 2021

$150,000 Grant Awarded to Nurtury Early Education from the Boston Children’s Collaboration for Community Health

BOSTON - Nurtury Early Education, the oldest early education and care agency in New England, announced today it has received a $150,000 grant from Boston Children’s Collaboration for Community Health. The grant award will support the well-being of the more than 1,000 parents and young children in greater Boston over the next three years. Through Nurtury’s “Family Partners” program the grant funds will be used to identify challenges, share resources, and deliver targeted assistance to those in need.

“Investing in the support of families is a proven approach to improving the outcomes for children who are challenged by poverty and inequities,” said Laura Perille, CEO of Nurtury Early Education. “Together we can work to identify and eliminate the barriers that prevent young children from receiving the services and resources they deserve. We know that high-quality early education and care is critical to a child’s long-term success.”

The grant to Nurtury is part of Boston Children’s Hospital’s total commitment of $53.4 million to support community organizations and agencies in their efforts to improve the health and well-being of children and families across Massachusetts. Boston Children’s is distributing these funds as part of an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Determination of Need Program. This is in addition to the hospital’s ongoing support for programs and partnerships.

“We have long recognized that one of the best ways for Boston Children’s to make a difference is to partner with others in the community,” says Shari Nethersole, MD, Executive Director for Community Health. “The Collaboration provides organizations with funding so they can establish the infrastructure needed to grow and lead or strengthen their connections with partners to create more efficient systems of care and support.”

ABOUT NURTURY

Nurtury is a pioneer in early childhood education and has played an integral role during its more than 140-year history in shaping public early education policy to raise standards in the field of education nationally and in New England. Serving more than 1,000 young people annually, Nurtury’s mission is to help Greater Boston’s
youngest children reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development,
and strengthening families. Nurturyboston.org

Details

December 02, 2019

Roxbury, MA December 2, 2019 – Nurtury, Greater Boston’s trusted provider of early education and care for over 140 years, announced today that Laura Perille has been named the organization’s new Chief Executive Officer. The former Interim Superintendent of Boston Public Schools will begin her new role at Nurtury on January 2, 2020.

Nurtury is a true pioneer in early childhood education and has played an integral role during its 140-year history in shaping public policy to raise standards in the field of early education nationally and locally. The $20M nonprofit organization operates six early education centers serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in the Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Mission Hill, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and in Cambridge. It also supports a network of 130 family child care providers across Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Somerville, Milton, and Dedham. Together, Nurtury serves more than 1,200 children and families annually.

With over 30 years of experience across the nonprofit, philanthropic and public sectors, Perille will lead Nurtury in providing Greater Boston's youngest children in need - from birth to age five - the opportunity to reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development and strengthening families.

As the founding and longtime CEO of EdVestors, a Boston-based education nonprofit that partners with philanthropic donors and education leaders, Perille helped lead its growth to a respected and high-impact organization within Boston’s education landscape. She and her team served as the driving force behind mu ltiple reform initiatives in urban public schools to level the playing field of opportunity and achievement for Boston's students, notably in arts education and middle grades math instruction.

Prior to joining Nurtury, Perille served as Interim Superintendent of Boston Public Schools during its recent leadership transition. For over a year, she led the $1.3B city agency with nearly 10,000 employees serving 55,000 students, and advised the Boston School Committee and Mayor Martin J. Walsh on district management and long-term strategy. “Laura is an extraordinary civic leader and problem-solver who has always stepped up on behalf of this city’s most vulnerable children, from the earliest days of EdVestors to her time leading the Boston Public Schools,” said Mayor Walsh. “She will do that once again for Nurtury, and that is good for children and families in Boston and beyond.”

“Laura’s experience makes her an invaluable resource to Nurtury as the new CEO at a pivotal point in this organization’s history,” said Harriet Tolpin, chair of Nurtury’s Board of Directors. “Laura will guide Nurtury on a strategic path for continued growth while ensuring the families of the 1,200 children served each year have the resources they need to succeed.”

Mike Durkin, longstanding President & CEO for United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley, in a statement said, “Since 1952, United Way has been a proud partner and funder of Nurtury. Now more than ever, access to quality early education is vital for the health and wellbeing of the families in Boston and surrounding neighborhoods. I am confident that Nurtury is in excellent hands with a strong leader like Laura helping to ensure the children served receive the foundation needed for their future educational success.”

Jeri Robinson, an early childhood expert and member of the Boston School Committee, added: “Early education is a complicated landscape, and it is urgent that we get it right for children, families, and communities. Laura is a fierce advocate for children, but she is also a listener and thoughtful collaborator. I am thrilled to see her leading an important organization like Nurtury.”

>In previous roles, Perille oversaw a wide array of programs including early childhood education, alternative high school education, job training, and school-based case management. At Crittenton Hastings House, now known as EMPath, she led an NAEYC-accredited early education center and a childcare teacher training program that boasted an 80% job placement rate.

“It is an honor and privilege to become the new CEO of Nurtury,” said Laura Perille “I am inspired by the organization’s commitment to our youngest and most vulnerable children and families in Greater Boston. I am excited to support the work of our educators, staff, and family providers. Together we will help the families and children we serve build a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning.”

Laura Perille succeeds Mary Kay Leonard, who has served as interim CEO since Wayne Ysaguirre left Nurtury in 2018 following a 30-year tenure.

About Nurtury

Nurtury is a pioneer in early childhood education and has played an integral role during its 140-year history in shaping public early education policy to raise standards in the field of education nationally and in New England. Nurtury’s mission is to help Greater Boston’s youngest children reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development, and strengthening families.

MEDIA CONTACT

Bonnie Taylor for Nurtury
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(781) 559-0447

Details

September 17, 2019

Roxbury, MA September 17, 2019 – Nurtury, New England's first early education and care agency for Greater Boston's youngest children in need from birth to age five announced today that it has received a $10,000 Grant for Good from Eastern Bank, America’s oldest and largest mutual bank. The grant is part of a $1 million commitment Eastern has made to local nonprofit organizations strengthening options for children and families across Eastern’s New England footprint. The grant provided by Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation will support Nurtury’s Family Engagement Program by establishing kiosks at six Nurtury early learning centers in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Cambridge. The kiosks will include tablets loaded with specialized tracking software for families to input data. Data gathered through the Kiosks will support Family Engagement staff efforts to provide referrals for services, identify and address barriers to accessing services, strengthen communication, and monitor family progress.

“Nurtury recognizes parents and caregivers as first teacher, breadwinner, and advocate. This grant allows us to create private spaces for families to complete the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and make requests for resource referrals. The ASQ is a wonderful tool to help parents and caregivers answer questions teachers might have about how their child is learning and growing. The more we know about a child’s growth and development, the better we can support learning in the classroom and their future success!” said Mary Kay Leonard, Nurtury’s Interim CEO.

Persistent gaps in the quality of and access to early childhood development programs, as well as in parent engagement, are known to cause disparities in opportunities to succeed throughout life. Without engaging, safe, and stable environments during the first three years of life, children are likely to enter school already behind. Students who cannot read at grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school before high school graduation. And lacking a high school diploma significantly impacts future employment and earnings opportunities. Eastern is awarding grants to organizations focused on strengthening socioemotional and cognitive skills development among children in the communities it serves. Grants are intended to ensure children and their families have more equitable access to the resources needed early in life for healthy development, while funding a sector that receives a staggeringly small proportion of all philanthropy.

“Providing every child with an equal opportunity for a bright future is a basic right,” said Bob Rivers, Chair and CEO of Eastern Bank. “By supporting organizations that assist parents and caregivers and prepare children to be ready to learn and succeed, we are helping to create the foundation children need to thrive. On behalf of everyone at Eastern, we congratulate the grant recipients and thank them for their dedication to the children in our communities.”

As part of Eastern’s $1 million commitment to support enriching early childhood development, Nurtury is among 50 organizations that provide leading early childhood development programs across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island and are each receiving a $10,000 Grant for Good. These grants are focused on providing support in four critical areas: achieving early learning quality standards, strengthening parent engagement, supporting professional development for educators, and upgrading early learning facilities and supplies.

About Eastern Bank

Founded in 1818, Boston-based Eastern Bank is America’s oldest and largest mutual bank, with over $11 billion in assets and more than 115 locations serving communities in eastern Massachusetts, southern and coastal New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Eastern provides exceptional access to fairly priced banking, investment and insurance products and services for consumers and businesses of all sizes. Eastern Bank, which includes Eastern Wealth Management and Eastern Insurance, is known for its outspoken advocacy and community support that has exceeded more than $140 million in charitable giving since 1999. An inclusive company, Eastern employs 1,900+ deeply committed professionals who value relationships with their customers, colleagues, and communities. Join us for good at www.easternbank.com and follow Eastern on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Nurtury

Nurtury gives Greater Boston's youngest children in need, from birth to age five, the opportunity to reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development and strengthening families. For over a century, Nurtury has been one of Boston's largest providers of early education and care, currently impacting over 1,200 children in the Greater Boston area. Learn more by visiting: www.nurturyboston.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Contact: Jaye Smith
617.603.4666
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details

June 07, 2019

Boston, MA (June 7, 2019) – Nurtury is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. Nurtury gives Greater Boston's youngest children in need, from birth to age five, the opportunity to reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development and strengthening families.

Representing Nurtury, Chief Advancement Officer, Jaye Smith and Vice President of Programs, Carol Campbell joined approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $260 million to Greater Boston nonprofits alone.

“Sustaining our workforce is a critical component to early education and care. This grant will help us to fully launch our workforce strategy which includes hiring a Professional Development Specialist,” said Mary Kay Leonard, Nurtury’s Interim CEO.

With funding from the Cummings Foundation, Nurtury will address the existing early education workforce crisis by preparing teachers with the skills they need to provide a high-quality learning experience; supporting educators in the workforce with a positive and empowering place of employment; and helping to build the economic security of the early education workforce through professional development and increased compensation.

The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“By having such a local focus, we aim to make a meaningful positive difference in the communities where our colleagues and leasing clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are most grateful for the nonprofit organizations that assist and empower our neighbors, and we are proud to support their efforts.”

This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention, affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grant will be paid over two to five years. The complete list of grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Cummings Foundation announced an additional $15 million in early May through its Sustaining Grants program. Through these awards, 50 local nonprofits will receive ongoing funding of $20,000 - $50,000 for 10 years.

The history behind Cummings Properties and Cummings Foundation is detailed in Bill Cummings’ selfwritten memoir, “Starting Small and Making It Big: An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Billion-Dollar Philanthropist.” It is available on Amazon or cummings.com/book.

ABOUT NURTURY

Nurtury gives Greater Boston's youngest children in need, from birth to age five, the opportunity to reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development and strengthening families. For over a century, Nurtury has been one of Boston's largest providers of early education and care, currently impacting over 1,200 children in the Greater Boston area. Learn more by visiting: www.nurturyboston.org.

ABOUT CUMMINGS FOUNDATION

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date has been to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Details

June 06, 2018

Leonard brings more than three decades of non-profit, public and private sector experience to the organization

Jamaica Plain, MA (June 6, 2018) – Nurtury, New England’s first early childhood care center and preschool, today announced that Mary Kay Leonard has been appointed interim Chief Executive Officer. She will succeed Wayne Ysaguirre, who has served as CEO of Nurtury for the past 10 years.

Leonard, who has served in the non-profit, public and private sector for more than 30 years, will lead Nurtury, providing strategic counsel and overall planning and management for the organization. She will also play a pivotal role in the search for Nurtury’s next CEO.

“Mary Kay’s leadership skills and deep expertise in the non-profit sector will be invaluable to Nurtury while she serves as interim CEO,” said Wayne Ysaguirre. “Mary Kay will help ensure Nurtury maintains its strong position for continued growth and she has always been an advocate of Nurtury’s mission to helping children reach their full potential.”

Mary Kay began her career in state government as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Office for Children which regulated more than 12,000 child and youth service programs. She helped to shape public policy for state agencies as Chief Counsel to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Human Services. Prior to creating her own consulting practice focused on helping companies during times of change, Leonard served as President and CEO of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a national non-profit organization providing research and consultation to foundations, businesses, and governments. She also had nearly a decade of experience serving as Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO of the United Way serving Boston as well as the leader of Investor Relations for United Way Worldwide.

“I’m honored to serve as interim CEO of Nurtury,” said Mary Kay Leonard. “I have always had a deep commitment to helping children reach their potential and I’m so proud to join Nurtury – an organization whose mission and values are helping our youngest children build a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning.”
Mary Kay Leonard will begin her role as interim CEO on July 2 and will serve the organization until the new CEO of Nurtury has been selected.

About Nurtury
Nurtury is a pioneer in early childhood education and has played an integral role during its 140-year history in shaping public early education policy to raise standards in the field of education nationally and in New England. Nurtury’s mission is to help Greater Boston’s youngest children reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development, and strengthening families.

Media Contact
Eva Pereira for Nurtury
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(781) 559-0424