ReadyNation Salutes the Good Work of The LaundryCares Foundation
Gardner, Wallace Receive ‘Business Champion for Children’ Awards
As the Coin Laundry Association’s LaundryCares Foundation gears up for its 2nd annual Literacy Summit in Chicago this March, the organization’s work with childhood literacy and early learning is already being recognized on an international level.
This past November, at the 2018 ReadyNation Global Business Summit on Early Childhood in New York City, LaundryCares Chairman Jeff Gardner and Executive Director Brian Wallace each received ReadyNation’s Business Champion for Children Award. ReadyNation – an organization that leverages the experience, influence and expertise of more than 2,300 business executives to promote public policies and programs that help build a stronger workforce and economy – presents select business leaders with this award at its capstone event, in recognition of their contributions to the early childhood development field.
“Speaking on behalf of everyone at the LaundryCares Foundation who has worked so hard, to be recognized on such a grand scale for our efforts in getting children’s books, educational materials and reading programs into laundromats is truly humbling and beyond gratifying,” Wallace said. “And, as we put the finishing touches on our upcoming Literacy Summit, it’s quite clear that we’ve only scratched the surface with the good we can do and the difference we can make in the communities we serve across the country.”
All in all, the 2018 ReadyNation event, held November 1-2 at the Grand Hyatt New York, convened more than 230 business leaders from 16 countries – inspiring and equipping these businesspeople to take action to support young children in order to build the current and future workforce.
More than 70 percent of the participants were attending their first ReadyNation Summit. Moreover, in a live audience poll at the conclusion of the event, 94 percent said the Summit gave them evidence, contacts or other information they needed to take action in support of early childhood.
“Our Summit is a truly unique conference in light of its audience and content around early childhood development/education as a business issue,” explained Daniel Frank, co-global director of ReadyNation. “The future economic vitality of every country rests squarely on solid investments in the most precious resource: human capital.”
Event highlights also included:
- Five global executives discussing their personal and corporate commitment to early childhood.
- The CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation facilitating a diverse panel – including Houston’s Chief of Police, a retired U.S. admiral and an Olympic silver medalist – who discussed their varying reasons for supporting early childhood.
- An international panel of experts sharing the latest neuroscience and economic research.
- World Bank Vice President Annette Dixon discussing her company’s new “Human Capital Index.”
- Representatives from 13 countries joining pre- and post-Summit sessions focused on building or expanding networks of business champions in their respective nations.
LaundryCares was established in 2006 as a charitable foundation, which is administered by the Coin Laundry Association. The organization’s mission is to provide services and education to individuals and communities that have long supported the vended laundry industry.
