
Funding Opportunity
The San Diego Foundation (SDF) Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) works collaboratively with regional partners to:
- Strengthen families
- Increase health equity
- Bolster the regional workforce
- Support economic growth
For this opportunity, SDF and the Dr. Seuss Foundation are committing $1 million in total funding for the 2023 Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) Equitable Opportunities Grant.
This total includes $500,000 in funding from the San Diego Foundation Early Childhood Initiative and $500,000 of funding from the Dr. Seuss Foundation. Nonprofit organizations are invited to apply. Maximum awards are expected to range between $75,000 and $100,000.
Application Deadline: Friday, February 10, 2023 at 2:00 pm PST

Increasing Access to Quality, Affordable Early Childhood Education and Developmental Care
The ECI strives to increase access to quality, affordable early childhood education and developmental care in San Diego County.
This year’s grant builds on the 2022 ECI Equitable Opportunities Grant launched in partnership with the Dr. Seuss Foundation, which expanded to include a focus on early literacy.
This ongoing collaboration supports early grade-level readiness and equitable access to opportunity that ensures a strong foundation for literacy in the earliest years. This approach recognizes the connection between educational readiness and social determinants of health, such as whole family health, financial security and access to supportive services.
Understanding that the earliest years of life are a critical time for mental and behavioral development that impacts educational readiness and opportunities for a lifetime, the 2023 ECI Equitable Opportunities Grant will continue to support the following four strategies:
- Early literacy and access to early education
- Instructional quality improvements and educational staff support
- Healthy, equitable starts for children and parents
- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) screening, prevention and intervention
Grants will support high-impact nonprofit organizations that provide critical services focused on regional resilience and long-term solutions.

Grant Goal
The 2023 ECI grant supports nonprofit organizations implementing strategic efforts to build the region’s resilience by increasing equitable access to educational opportunity and supportive services for young children and their caretakers.
See Grant Guidelines for more information about strategies to achieve the goal of the grant, grant eligibility and recommendations, partnerships, funded partners, unfunded supporting partners and more.

How To Apply
Organizations are asked to complete an online application on the MySDF grant application portal.
A preview of the application is available here.
Click here for detailed instructions on how to set up your MySDF user account to access the application. A video tutorial is also available here. You can also send questions about setting up your account to communityimpact@sdfoundation.org.
Application Deadline: Friday, February 10, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. PST
Q&A Webinar
To answer your questions, we will host an optional virtual Q&A webinar at 11:00 a.m. PST, Wednesday, January 25, 2023.
2023 Program Timeline
January 9, 2023 | January 25, 2023, 11:00 a.m. | February 10, 2023, 2:00 p.m. | May 2023 (tentative) |
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Application Opens | Q&A Webinar | Application Deadline | Grant Funding Announcements |