Statement on the Closing of Council for a Strong America

After nearly 30 years of advocating for public investments and policies that help improve the lives and opportunities of all children in America, Council for a Strong America (CSA) will cease operations as a national nonprofit organization on September 30, 2024, due to ongoing fundraising challenges. Since its founding, CSA has been overwhelmingly dependent on support from foundations. The loss of support from long-time foundation partners due to changes in strategy or priorities created gaps in funding that CSA could not bridge sustainably.

Founded in 1996 as Fight Crime: Invest in Kids with the express mission of organizing and mobilizing police chiefs, sheriffs, and prosecutors to advocate for investments in children and youth as a critical way to keep communities safe, CSA grew to include ReadyNation (business leaders), Mission: Readiness (retired admirals and generals), Shepherding the Next Generation (faith leaders), and Champions for America’s Future (athletes and coaches). After a strategic planning process, CSA suspended work on Shepherding the Next Generation and Champions for America’s Future in 2021. Through these networks, thousands of community leaders from every state across the country joined forces to use their trusted voices to raise awareness and impact policy decisions to promote the importance of investments in children, through their own personal and professional perspectives.

Over the years, CSA, through its members and distributed staff, contributed immensely to advancing essential policies and programs at the federal and state levels. Our membership organizations’ reports and advocacy campaigns have been pivotal to progress and success on home visiting, child care, pre-K, childhood nutrition, afterschool, juvenile justice programs, K-12 education, and transportation policy. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids produced important reports highlighting the positive impact of high-quality pre-K and afterschool programs on community safety. ReadyNation published two national reports based on original research that showcased the devastating effect of the lack of affordable child care for infants and toddlers on America’s economy. Mission: Readiness has repeatedly highlighted the importance of the school lunch and physical activity programs to national security.

While CSA is dissolving, the mission of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, ReadyNation, and Mission: Readiness continues. The work of our former staff and consultants in Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington State will continue as a federated network with the support and partnership of state allies. In addition, the work of former ReadyNation staff will allow ReadyNation to remain active nationally by partnering with the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers. The Institute for Child Success (ICS), an early childhood-focused nonprofit organization, will take ownership of CSA’s mission-related intellectual property and databases. ICS will have the power to license the use of the materials associated with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, ReadyNation, and Mission: Readiness to like-minded nonprofits working at the state or national level willing to join the federated network by following a standard set of policies and procedures that an advisory board will develop and monitor.

We hope that over time more organizations across the country will join this federated network and dedicate time and resources to mobilizing these unexpected messengers and pillars of our society. In this way, CSA’s legacy will continue to generate positive change for America’s children and families.

For any further inquiries, please contact Steve Doster at sdoster@strongnation.org.