About Us

Good Beginnings Alliance (GBA) is the leading policy advocacy organization in the State of Hawai`i ensuring that all keiki are safe, healthy and ready to succeed.  GBA is a member of Voices for America’s Children

The Good Beginnings Alliance (GBA) is Hawai`i’s early childhood “convener” created to ensure that the general public understands the issues, that communities are involved, efforts are connected, and that policy makers are informed on behalf of young children birth to age 8 and their families.

Good Beginnings Alliance works to raise public awareness and understanding of the importance of early childhood.  Increased public investment requires data, media coverage, family and community buy-in, and business leaders’ and policy makers’ investment and involvement.  GBA is Hawai`i’s policy advocacy organization acting on these needs and committed for the long-term to increase the quality of early childhood education in the state.

Good Beginnings Alliance leverages and links existing public and private investments and must continue to do so.  We connect Hawai`i’s P-3 Initiative with other public and private early childhood funding efforts and will do the same with the formative work to support Hawai`i’s new Early Learning Council.  We enhance existing leadership capacity and resources within each county by bringing individuals and programs together that will be essential for the expansion of Hawai`i’s early learning system and as increased resources are garnered.

We are Hawai`i’s early childhood “convener,” ensuring the general public understands the issues; communities are involved, efforts are connected, and policy makers are informed on behalf of young children.  We work closely with the many public and private groups and systems – political, community, family, business, funders, and early childhood providers – to cultivate leaders and focus attention on improving results for all of Hawaii’s young children.  GBA continues to build public-private partnerships to encourage the pooling of resources that support state and community action focusing on young children.  We collaborate to help develop policy, working to build a sustainable base and advocating for comprehensive services – health, safety and education – for children and families.

History
GBA is a 501 (c) (3) organization that was legislated into existence to act as a focal point for policy development and be dedicated to enhancing, developing, and coordinating quality early childhood education and care services in the State of Hawai`i.

In 1997, The Hawai`i State Legislature recognized that early childhood education and care are critical to the public good and that assisting the private sector in the development of a coordinated system of early education and care would serve the public purpose.

Rather than create another public entity, the Legislature created Good Beginnings Alliance; a sustainable, effective, participatory coordinating structure that cuts across existing social service systems to coordinate early childhood services for families with young children.

The staff at GBA is made up of professionals committed to ensuring all children are safe, healthy and ready to succeed.

Each of the GBA Board of Directors represents an area that possesses knowledge of the educational and developmental needs of young children as well as the support needs of their families.

As a component of our legislated responsibility, GBA established and implemented four councils to represent each of the main counties: Kaua`i, O`ahu, Maui, and Hawai`i. Each community council is responsible for developing and implementing a community plan that includes:

1.  A description of incremental and collaborative community strategies to provide early childhood education and care services to children and families.

2.  A description of new local financial resources which can be used to enhance services in those communities, outcomes to be achieve, and steps to ensure compliance with GBA’s fiscal accountability requirements.

To assist GBA in the implementation of its duties as delineated in the early childhood education and care master plan, an Interdepartmental Council was mandated and is regularly convened by the office of the Governor.