The American Indian College Fund has announced a $5.315 million grant from the Bezos Family Foundation in support of its Indigenous Early Childhood Education program.

The grant will fund a four-year initiative to expand the College Fund's efforts to educate students, train faculty, create early childhood education programs at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), and engage parents and community members in the education of young people. According to the organization, early childhood education has been shown to promote education access, persistence, degree completion, and career readiness in students, and the College Fund's holistic program steeped in culture and language strengthens Native communities.

The program will work with ten TCUs to establish a community of practice for early childhood educators that creates and strengthens TCUs' early childhood education pathways that are rooted in community knowledge; help create and enhance degree programs, create pathways to bachelor's degrees in early childhood education, support internship practicums, and bolster student recruitment, transfers, retention, and college completion; empower parents to advocate for their children and themselves as they interact with education institutions; and engage diverse audiences and connect program participants to a movement to strengthen the Native teacher pipeline, shift the narrative about Native communities to focus on their rich knowledge and traditions, and inspire the next generation of Native teaching professionals.

The College Fund also will work to develop capacity to expand its expertise and better administer early childhood education programs with TCUs, grow education opportunities for children, and strengthen Native nations. In addition, the fund has committed to raising another $6 million to offer its programming to twenty-five other TCUs.

"As Indigenous people, we have traditional knowledge about how to raise and teach children that helps us to be better citizens of our tribal nations and of American society," said American Indian College Fund president and CEO Cheryl Crazy Bull. "We are looking forward to building on that knowledge and on the dreams of our families and tribal colleges and universities for even better social and educational experiences for our children."