Every initiative we have supported has offered an opportunity to strengthen social systems with a focus on justice. We’ve expanded our skill sets to offer a comprehensive set of solutions to drive change in the public sector, including:

• Community and family engagement
• Financial planning, budgeting, and cost modeling
• Funding policy design and implementation
• Research and analysis
• Strategic planning and implementation

Whether in early care and education, K-12 systems, workforce and economic development, or higher education, we put people first and drive changes that create a future where we all can thrive. Here are some highlights from 2023 that helped us learn and grow into who we are today: a team of committed collaborators prepared to walk beside you and take on the complex issues facing us in 2024 and beyond.

2023 Highlights

Look at our amazing team! We added close to 20 full time staff members in the last year who bring decades of diverse experience and skillsets to make Afton even stronger than before!

We conducted over 70 different initiatives last year in 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico—some big, some small, all of which are in line with our core values. We would love to tell you about each one but will instead zoom in on a few headlines that stand out as special:

• We guided Boston Public Schools’ Reimagine School Funding project and grew tremendously through equity-focused, inclusive community engagement that allowed for deep reflection on the evolving role of the school.
• We partnered with the DC Deputy Mayor for Education to develop a new approach to district/school funding adequacy studies, in collaboration with Augenblick, Palaich and Associates and Metropolitan Strategies and Solutions. We are excited to share the final report in the coming weeks—connect with us on LinkedIn to be the first to know.
• We continued our support for Illinois’ historic efforts in early childhood through design and development of proposed Smart Start Workforce Grants, cost modeling and data analysis for state-funded preschool, cost modeling and payment reform strategies for Early Intervention, and facilitation of a stakeholder advisory body for a new early childhood state agency.
• We supported dozens of charter networks in 15 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on growth planning, facility affordability analyses, financial sustainability, and strategic resource allocation.
• We developed ‘the Six Es’ Framework to acknowledge the unique context that K-12 public schools, including charters, are operating within. We approach our work with careful consideration of each of these factors, which have potential to destabilize systems if we don’t get ahead of them.
• We promoted fair early care and education staff compensation and benefits through two separate projects in Colorado.
• We have begun measuring the impact our work has on the field and use that data to be more strategic, reflective, and effective in the future. If you get a survey from us, please know that we deeply appreciate your comments and insights!

On that final note, we are so pleased when we hear that our service hits the mark, as some of you have graciously shared with us. Here are some quotes shared by our inspirational partners in 2023.

From all of us at Afton, thanks for joining us on the journey! Even in the face of systemic shortcomings, social and racial barriers, and shrinking budgets, when we work together, we can create a future where we all thrive.