6. A close-to-home solution for accessible childcare（subtitles）

00:13

This, this is Yoli.

00:16

I went to her childcare program that she started out of her home

00:20

in the community where I grew up.

00:22

I was in her program when I was four.

00:24

Over the years, she served hundreds of children in our community.

00:28

Her program was so fun.

00:30

We played outside, we played hide and seek,

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there was play dough, there were blocks.

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Yoli would ask us things like,

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“How are you feeling today?

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Are you feeling happy?

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Are you feeling sad?

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Are you feeling angry?”

00:45

She really helped us make sense of the world.

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She really focused on communication.

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It was a mixed-age classroom.

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There were children that were infants, there were toddlers.

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The older children learned to lead,

00:59

the younger children learned from the older children.

01:03

As it turns out, we were doing incredibly important work in her program.

01:07

People often think that the real learning starts in kindergarten,

01:12

but 90 percent of our brains develop between the ages of zero and five.

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And far too many children don't get access

01:18

to the type of early learning experiences I had in Yoli's program.

01:23

Whether that's through a childcare program in a home, a center,

01:28

a nanny, a caring parent, a grandparent.

01:32

In fact, 175 million children age three to six

01:35

don't get access at all.

01:37

In the US, 51 percent of Americans live in areas called “childcare deserts,”

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where there's not enough childcare.

01:45

And what this shortage does is it leaves parents having to choose

01:48

between their careers and childcare.

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Even in places where there's free childcare

01:54

or public pre-K options,

01:56

there's not enough spots.

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So parents are forced to drive across town

02:01

for options that don't meet their needs.

02:03

They're forced to wait in these really long wait lists

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and succumb to lotteries to try to get in o programs.

02:09

And this shortage isn't due to us not trying.

02:13

In the '70s, we pinned our hopes on television to solve our problems.

02:18

Today, the touch-screen generation's learning how to count, how to read,

02:24

using apps and games,

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but apps and games can't care for our children.

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Apps and games can't change diapers,

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can't ensure our children are getting access

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to the appropriate socio-emotional growth that they need.

02:38

And there hasn't been enough money, enough teachers,

02:41

enough classrooms.

02:43

We've tried everything, we haven't been able to solve it.

02:45

So what if we could live in a world where we did have enough childcare,

02:49

where parents had a multitude of options to choose from in their communities?

02:53

Maybe the answer is right under our noses.

02:56

Maybe Yoli was onto something:

02:59

our homes.

03:01

Rather than investing trillions of dollars building new buildings,

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what if we empowered more people

03:07

to start childcare programs out of their homes?

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Based on our data, it costs about $25,000 per spot

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if you create a commercial space for childcare.

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That’s 25,000 times each child you want to serve in that program,

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where you can do that for a fraction,

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a couple of hundred dollars, if you do it in a home-based program.

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And we can make it easier for parents to find these programs.

03:34

Software is great for this.

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So with software, we can make it easy for folks to start programs,

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get connected to parents.

03:41

Decades ago, who would have thought

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that we would be able to create a software network of drivers,

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connect them to millions of passengers

03:49

and solve the transportation needs,

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or play a role in solving the transportation needs,

03:54

of our fastest-growing cities?

03:56

Or take our spare bedrooms and apartments

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and make them available online

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and create an industry that competes with the largest hotel chains?

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So my dream is to create that kind of network

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but for home-based childcare:

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to create a movement where we empower people

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to start childcare programs out of their homes

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and play a role in solving the challenges in their communities.

04:20

These programs could be more affordable,

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they could be nimble, safe.

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They could be laboratories of innovation.

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And I'm one of the entrepreneurs

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who's working on advancing home-based childcare.

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And what I'm going to share with you

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is how I think we can turn that idea in o a reality.

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So first off, when it comes to starting a program,

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we want to make sure that the program is safe, it's high quality,

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it's a program parents can trust.

04:49

This is Christina.

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Christina started a childcare program out of her home in San Francisco.

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She started with her husband.

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When she decided to start a program,

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she had to get registered with the state.

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She got licensed by the state.

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They came out and visited her program,

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made sure she was operating a safe program.

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She was background-checked along with her husband.

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And if there's any issues that she experiences in her program,

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any violation,

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she shares this information with the state,

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and the state makes it publicly available.

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To make this work,

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we've got to make sure it's easy for parents to get this information

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when they're making a decision for their children.

05:25

Along with this,

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we need more information about Christina's program.

05:29

What's her background, what's her philosophy?

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What are her tuition rates?

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Who else is in the program?

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Is she operating a safe program?

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Is this a program parents can trust?

05:38

Along with this,

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what do other parents think about the program

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who have been enrolled in the program?

05:43

This is the type of information parents need

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when they're making this decision for their children.

05:48

When operating a childcare program, it's not the same as driving a car,

05:52

making your apartment available online or delivering groceries.

05:55

It's really important we ensure

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that the programs that get created are safe, secure,

06:01

and allow us to live up to the promise of early childhood education.

06:06

Lastly, when it comes to starting a childcare program

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we need to make it easier for folks to take the leap.

06:13

There's this big misconception

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that starting a childcare program out of your home is expensive,

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and you can barely make a living doing so.

06:22

But that's not true.

06:24

The economics vary widely by location, by your home, by your background.

06:30

It's really similar, from an economic standpoint,

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the way real estate works

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in terms of how rents work in different markets.

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For example, when Christina started her program,

06:41

she was able to break even

06:43

within three months of starting her program.

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And we're seeing folks start programs in studio apartments

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with one or two children in the program.

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And we're seeing a wide variety

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of different types of folks starting programs.

06:55

We're seeing grandmothers or former K-12 teachers.

07:00

We're seeing social workers, artists.

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We're seeing Montessori teachers who've been in the field for 20 years

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and realize the opportunity of running their own program.

07:11

Folks who are in o forestry and have master's degrees,

07:15

former nurses, starting fully outdoor programs.

07:19

Going back to Christina.

07:21

Christina was a former child therapist,

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and when she started her program with her husband,

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she quickly got to a point

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where she was earning six times as much income running her program

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than she was in her prior career.

07:36

She's able to move to a single-family home in San Francisco

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to operate her program.

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And the big reason why she's able to do this

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is she's not having to incur the costs of commercial real estate.

07:48

She's doing this out of her home.

07:50

And her program is actually more affordable than programs nearby.

07:55

It's a win-win for her and for the parents.

07:58

So I want to live in a world where there's more Christinas,

08:01

where there's more Yolis.

08:03

Where parents don't have to drive across town

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for programs that don't meet their needs,

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where parents don't have to drop out of the workforce

08:11

to ensure their children are getting access

08:13

to the vital early education our children need.

08:17

A world where we can walk around our neighborhoods

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and tour a Spanish immersion program, a fully outdoor program,

08:23

a science-based program

08:26

and make a choice.

08:27

It's during these early years

08:30

children learn to speak,

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they learn to communicate,

08:34

they learn teamwork,

08:36

they learn what it's like to start something and fail

08:39

and try again.

08:41

A lot of the skills I use as a CEO today, running my company,

08:45

these are things I learned before I was five.

08:48

These are the moments and experiences

08:50

that make us who we are and make us human.

08:53

And I can't think of anything more important than that.

08:56

Thank you.

08:58

(Applause)