CLC Spanish Language Gateways Certification

Schreiber Philanthropy has supported the College of Lake County (CLC) since 2014. CLC is focused on helping students identify their passions and setting them on a path to achieve success. The partnership between CLC and Schreiber Philanthropy ramped up significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated pre-existing challenges for CLC’s low-income and first-generation student populations. During that time, the Schreiber Philanthropy team worked to better understand CLC’s workforce pathways for early childhood educators. After meeting CLC’s team and thinking about the fact that nearly 30% of Lake County residents aged 5 and older speak a language other than English in Lake County, we started dreaming up a Spanish-language early childhood education program. The program, which was launched in 2021, has exceeded all enrollment expectations, and continues to grow. In addition to providing a unique workforce pathway for early childhood educators, it also provides an opportunity for providers to earn additional accreditations, allowing them to achieve economic mobility. With more than 75 students across 3 cohorts since 2021, Schreiber Philanthropy and CLC are exploring opportunities to build this program in the future.