NEW YORK — The Mount Sinai Parenting Center has received a $2.2 million grant from the Bezos Family Foundation to enhance early-childhood development programs through expanded training, research, and supplemental resources that foster strong caregiver-child relationships during a pivotal period in human development.
The Bezos Family Foundation was founded in 2003 by Jackie and Mike Bezos, parents of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
The $2.2 million grant will support the expansion of the Center’s marquee programs to educate health care providers on social, emotional, and cognitive development during early childhood. Building on the 25,000 providers and 550 academic institutions they have already reached, Mount Sinai will use the funds to enroll an additional 30,000 primary care providers over the next three years into its Keystones of Development Provider Portal, a digital suite of interactive learning modules and curriculums that cover topics from promoting early numeracy and literacy to discipline and self-regulation. The Center will also expand its reach through new segments of primary care, including training for nurse practitioners and family medicine physicians.
“The Bezos Family Foundation has been a passionate champion for getting the science of early childhood development into the hands of pediatric health providers. We are so grateful for their partnership in creating and distributing this work, and know that it will lead to tremendous change in the field,” said Carrie Quinn, MD, Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “This support allows us to reach providers across the country, including those with the least resources, to support parents.”
“With the Keystones of Development Provider Portal now reaching more than 25,000 health care providers, Mount Sinai Parenting Center has proven both the approach and reach of this valuable resource,” said Megan Wyatt, Bezos Family Foundation Managing Director. “Through this grant, the Mount Sinai Parenting Center will be able to expand its groundbreaking work, equipping tens of thousands of new providers with the skills to cultivate strong caregiver-child relationships.”
The investment will also support Mount Sinai’s national recruitment of other health partners, including hospital networks, community clinics, and individual providers, to implement Vroom, the Bezos Family Foundation’s early learning program focusing on boosting brain development during the critical years from birth to age five. Vroom offers access to 1,000 free tips and digital brain-building tools. As part of an earlier grant, the Mount Sinai Parenting Center pioneered Vroom messaging and staff training throughout six care units at The Mount Sinai Hospital in 2019.
“This generous grant from the Bezos Family Foundation is truly transformative for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center and the children and families we serve,” said Lisa M. Satlin, MD, Herbert H. Lehman Professor and Chair of the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “I am deeply thankful for their commitment to early childhood development. This funding will allow us to significantly expand our reach and impact, ensuring that more health care providers have access to resources and training that are key to supporting the social-emotional-cognitive development of young children. We are so excited to partner with the Bezos Family Foundation on this vital work and look forward to the positive change it will bring.”