The benefits of investing in children early can compound over a lifetime. For nearly a decade, Vanguard’s Strong Start for Kids program has put that idea into practice, supporting early childhood development, literacy, and access to high-quality care in communities across the country. Through grants, partnerships, and employee volunteerism, the program has reached more than one million children, families, and caregivers while helping strengthen the systems that surround them.

As Strong Start approaches the end of its planned ten-year arc, Vanguard is carrying its lessons into a broader focus on financial well-being. Its new flagship philanthropic program, Foundations and Futures, builds on years of community relationships and a growing understanding that lasting economic mobility depends not only on knowledge and confidence, but on meaningful access to the tools and opportunities that help families build wealth.

NationSwell spoke with Rashanda Perryman —Senior Manager of Philanthropy and Community Stewardship at Vanguard — about what Strong Start has taught the company, why investing in children means investing in the stability of their families, and how those lessons are shaping Vanguard’s next chapter of community investment.

NationSwell: What need was the Strong Start for Kids program originally created to address, and how has that strategy evolved over the years?

Rashanda Perryman, Senior Manager of Philanthropy and Community Stewardship, Vanguard: Vanguard’s Strong Start for Kids program started with the identification of a simple but urgent need. Too many young children, especially in underserved communities, were starting school without access to the early literacy experiences, high-quality pre-K, and nurturing learning environments that help them thrive. 

At Vanguard, we often talk about the power of compounding — the outsized gains you get when you make investments early. Investment in early childhood is one of the most human examples of that idea. When children are supported early, the benefits build over a lifetime, shaping their confidence, health, education, and future opportunity.

Over time, Strong Start became much more than a grantmaking program. It became a way for Vanguard to show up as a long-term partner, bringing together philanthropy, community relationships, our subject matter expertise, and crew volunteerism (we call our employees “crew members”). One of the biggest lessons for me is that lasting change happens when you listen first, stay close to the work, and help strengthen the systems families count on every day.

NationSwell: Which results or contributions from Strong Start feel most significant? What has Vanguard learned over the years about measuring the long-term effects of early childhood investments?

Perryman: There are many results we’re proud of, but I’d highlight the number of lives touched and the strength of the partnerships behind that impact. Strong Start for Kids has reached more than one million children, families, and caregivers. It has helped expand access to quality childcare, supported individualized coaching for families, provided early literacy resources, and strengthened the early childhood ecosystem in communities where our crew live and work.

We’ve learned to measure this work with patience and humility. Some outcomes are visible relatively quickly, like more books in homes, more families receiving coaching, or more children gaining access to quality care. But the deeper effects unfold over years. That is why we look at both immediate signs of progress and system-level change: Whether organizations are stronger, whether public and private dollars are being unlocked, whether families are better connected to resources, and whether communities are building the capacity to sustain that progress long after a grant period ends.

NationSwell: What did Strong Start reveal about the conditions children and families need to achieve lasting stability and economic mobility?

Perryman: One of the clearest lessons is something our community partners have always known: Children do best when the adults around them are supported too. A child’s readiness for school is connected to the stability of their family, the confidence of their caregivers, the quality of their early learning environment, and the broader conditions in their neighborhood.

That became clearer as we looked at the connection between early childhood development and financial well-being. Families need trusted resources, coaching, childcare, education, and economic opportunity. When those supports come together, caregivers have more room to make choices, plan ahead, and create stability for the children in their lives. So, when I think about Strong Start’s legacy, I think it reminded us that investing in children also means investing in the conditions that help families feel secure and hopeful about the future.

NationSwell: How are the lessons and relationships developed through Strong Start informing the next phase of Vanguard’s work? What prompted the organization to broaden or evolve its focus at this moment?

Perryman: The relationships built through Strong Start are very much informing what comes next. Using those relationships as our foundation, we are broadening our focus to financial well-being through a new flagship philanthropic program called Foundations and Futures. It will bring Vanguard’s mission, expertise, and community relationships together in a way that can support people across more stages of life.

Over nearly a decade, our partners have taught us the power of trust, humility, and staying connected to what communities are experiencing day to day. I think one of the most important lessons we learned is that the answers often lie with those most proximate to the challenges and opportunities we hope to address. The best strategies are built with communities, not for them.

The timing feels meaningful to me. Strong Start was designed with a ten-year arc, and as we approach the end of the arc, we have a chance to honor its legacy by building on the relationships, lessons, and systems work developed and responding to what families and communities need now. Financial insecurity, gaps in access, and barriers to wealth building are still very real for many people.

NationSwell: How do you define financial well-being beyond financial literacy? And how does your theory of change account for both the choices people can make and the structural barriers that shape their ability to build security and wealth?

Perryman: When we talk about financial well-being, we mean something broader and more personal than financial literacy. While literacy matters because it helps people understand concepts and make informed decisions, well-being is also about confidence, resilience, access, and the ability to make choices that support long-term security. 

Our theory of change related to financial well-being holds two priorities at the same time: investor readiness and investor access. At Vanguard, we have long believed that investing should not be reserved for a select few. For decades, we have worked to make investing more accessible to more people, helping millions build wealth and work toward their financial goals.

Foundations and Futures offers a vision of what’s possible when we bring that same commitment deeper into communities that have historically lacked readiness as well as access to investing opportunities. Our goal is simple: we want more people to become investors. We know the good that can happen through incremental steps over time. First, people need knowledge, confidence, coaching, and support to help them see investing as something that is available to them. But readiness alone is not enough. People also need access to meaningful on-ramps and opportunities to begin investing, whether through family wealth-building vehicles, first-time investment opportunities, children’s savings and investment accounts, or other pathways that make participation possible.

That is why our approach is twofold. We want to help people to feel confident in taking the first step while also expanding access to the tools, opportunities, and systems that make investing possible over the long term. Ultimately, we want to create the conditions for more individuals and families to become investors, grow wealth, and move toward greater financial freedom on their own terms.

NationSwell: What will this next phase of Vanguard’s financial-well-being work look like? Who do you hope to reach, what outcomes will signal meaningful progress, and how will Vanguard’s philanthropy, research, employee engagement, and financial expertise contribute?

Perryman: Foundations and Futures is about helping more people build financial stability, confidence, and long-term opportunity, particularly in under-resourced communities and among families who have faced persistent barriers to economic mobility. We know people and communities possess strengths, ideas, and aspirations.

Our role is to invest in that potential and help expand access to the opportunities, resources, and pathways that enable it to grow over time. Practically speaking, that means supporting community partners that provide evidence-based programs, financial coaching, access to benefits, job training, early financial education, and pathways to wealth building.

For me, meaningful progress will look like people feeling more confident, families becoming more financially resilient, nonprofit partners growing stronger, and communities building more durable pathways to opportunity. Through Foundations and Futures, Vanguard can contribute in a distinctive way as we bring together philanthropy, research, crew engagement, and financial expertise. But just as important, we bring a long-term mindset and a willingness to learn alongside our partners. We are not coming in with answers. Many of the answers already exist within communities. We are coming in as partners, to listen, learn, invest, and work alongside communities to help create conditions where financial well-being is within reach for more people, in more lasting ways.