News Release > Entergy provides $100,000 grant to support early childhood education in Jefferson Parish

Entergy provides $100,000 grant to support early childhood education in Jefferson Parish

12/08/2022

JEFFERSON – To help provide free, high-quality early education to low-income Latino children and their families in Jefferson Parish, the Entergy Charitable Foundation is providing a $100,000 grant to the Jefferson Ready Start Network to launch a new two-generation program through the Jefferson Community Foundation.

The Jefferson Ready Start Network is a coalition of individuals committed to creating and implementing a bold vision for early care and education. The organization, in partnership with the Jefferson Community Foundation, is launching a new program to build a diverse early education workforce in Jefferson Parish that is bilingual and culturally responsive to Latino children and families.

“We have an in-depth understanding of the state of early care and education for the Latino community of the parish,” says Jefferson Ready Start Network Executive Director Sarintha Stricklin, Ph.D. “Our data highlights the need to recruit, develop and support a bilingual early education workforce in Jefferson Parish. This contribution from Entergy to launch our two-generation pilot program for the 2022-23 school year will go a long way as we seek to bridge the connection with Latino children and families across Jefferson Parish.”

Funds from the Entergy Charitable Foundation grant will help recruit Latino and bilingual educators to join the early education workforce, providing high-quality mentoring, resources and training in Spanish at no cost to families. The program also provides free early care and education for participants’ infants and toddlers.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to make a meaningful impact on working families in our communities,” said Phillip May, Entergy Louisiana president and CEO. “Partnering with the Jefferson Ready Start Network will provide children in our community access to a high-quality education and build a diverse early education workforce in Jefferson Parish.”

About Jefferson Ready Start Network 

Under the authority of Jefferson Parish Schools, the Jefferson Ready Start Network works to create a culture of high-quality, comprehensive early childhood services (birth to five years) through engagement and partnerships with families, educators and community members. For more information, visit www.jeffersonreadystartnetwork.com.

About Entergy Charitable Foundation

The Entergy Charitable Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation wholly funded by Entergy Corporation. The goal of the foundation is to support initiatives that help create and sustain thriving communities. ECF has a special focus on low-income initiatives as well as educational and literacy programs and efforts to protect the environment.

About Entergy Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers in 58 parishes and natural gas service to more than 94,000 customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Entergy Louisiana is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy owns and operates one of the cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 7,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, Entergy has annual revenues of $10 billion and approximately 12,000 employees.