Today, 33% of children in the U.S. are not ready for kindergarten. That number increases to over 50% for children from lower income families. At Promise Venture Studio, we believe that we can make meaningful progress toward closing the achievement gap when social entrepreneurs can scale the impact of evidence-based solutions for young children and families facing the greatest adversities.

This year, ASU GSV, the largest conference focused on education innovation, pulled out all the stops to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Rapper Common, tennis star Andre Aggasi, and philanthropist Priscilla Chan were just a few to bring star power to the main stage. Still, it was a live appearance from Elmo, the furry red monster from Sesame Street, that drew the most smartphone cameras out of participants’ pockets as he promoted the conference’s first-ever track dedicated exclusively to early childhood education and development.

Innovation in meeting the needs of young children is not a new thing. Head Start and Sesame Street were both born out of the War on Poverty in the 1960s, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood celebrated its 50th year anniversary this year. Notable progress in developing new practice and policy models has been undertaken over the past few decades.