The Buffett Early Childhood Institute increased its national visibility, helped strengthen early childhood education for thousands of Omaha-area children, and earned millions of dollars in new grants and contracts in Fiscal Year 2024-25.
These accomplishments and previews of upcoming projects and partnerships are highlighted in the Institute’s new annual report.
Read it here.
Among the achievements:
- More than 4,600 PreK through Grade 3 Nebraska students were directly impacted through the Institute’s School as Hub programming under the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan.
- Institute staff authored 36 publications, including 14 peer-reviewed articles and other academic works, and 16 policy and research reports and briefs.
- The Institute earned three national awards honoring our research, Tribal, and policy work.
- The Institute invested $75,000 to support the early childhood research of three doctoral students from University of Nebraska campuses.
- The Institute was awarded $25.2 million in new grants and contracts.
The addition of Native American researcher Michelle Sarche strengthened the Institute’s national research presence in early childhood Tribal systems, while Executive Director Walter Gilliam, federal policy expert Linda Smith, and the Policy team advanced policy efforts on Capitol Hill and in statehouses throughout the country.
The Institute also celebrated the first-ever unanimous renewal vote from the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties Coordinating Council for the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan contract, ensuring the ambitious initiative will continue to reach thousands of children and school leaders in Omaha for at least four more years.
“This year, our work grew in depth and reach, driving impact across research, policy, practice, and outreach—the Institute’s four-part strategy since our very beginning,” said Buffett Institute Executive Director Walter Gilliam. “We are delivering on our goal to transform early care and education in Nebraska and across the nation.”
Future work includes:
- Scaling the School as Hub approach to new sites in Nebraska and select partner districts beyond the state
- Exploring how AI and extended reality (XR) can strengthen early childhood professional learning
- Partnering with the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Nebraska Head Start programs on a $1.29 million, five-year early literacy grant