The lady knows her buzzwords, and uses them well. Fast speaker. The buzzwords capture key concepts-- they are not just buzz when coming from her lips.
She heads LEYF, the london early years foundation:
Established in 1903, we are the UK's leading childcare charity and social enterprise; our ambition is to build a better future for London's children, families and local communities through a commitment to excellence in Early Years education, training and research.
LEYF nurseries mix across social levels/income brackets. Variable pricing means more well-off families subsidize childcare for their less well off neighbors. Note that London has the best mixing of rich and poor of any city in the world. The London buroughs are (historically) built around a central estate belonging to the wealthy, with concentric rings of decreasing poverty around it, in the back mews, etc. If a London nursery draws from a 5-block radius, the lowest/highest income ratio for people living in that circle is the highest in the world.
They work to bridge communities. It isn't just leaving your kids from 8-5.They open their locals for wider hours, offereing courses and activities into the evening.
June spoke about social ROI. Wanting to get LEYF completely off of government funding, yet with profit as a secondary objective. Glossed over that England does not yet have a legal form of incorporation which allows this; technically LEYF is still a non-profit. Discussed in more detail that because non-profits people generally have a hard time talking about making money, they almost universally have poor business skills. She feels this needs to change.
She also has problems scaling up her vision. She wishes to franchize the LEYF model, which presents a number of difficulties. But franchizes better allow for local control, which is a key component of the LEYF vision-- each LEYF center MUST be a vital part of its local commmunity. Further, she is keenly aware that local control provides a better test-bed for innovation-- good ideas often come from the fringes, and can be tested there with much lower risk.
She wants the children who pass through LEYF to develop social capital. Trust networks, etc, the things which count for as much success in life as money capital.
And I reflect on the franchise model as a species type form for social evolution.
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