Board Dashboard
Organizational Snapshot
Where ECEA of Colorado stands at the close of August 2026. Every number below represents private early childhood businesses that ECEA advocates for, and partnerships that save or earn those owners real money.
Membership & Momentum
Membership held at 279 programs through August, and new programs kept joining every month. Seven joined in August alone, a sign that owners still see ECEA as worth the investment even in a tough year for the sector.
2026 is year to date and counts programs currently on the roster. Recruitment has softened with the sector, but ECEA is still adding members.
Months reflect recorded start dates. A few 2026 joins predate monthly tracking.
Why this matters to the board
Adding 43 new programs in 2026, including 7 in August, while the wider child care sector contracts shows the ECEA value story is landing. Each new member is a Colorado small business that decided partnership beats going it alone.
Who Our Members Are
ECEA represents the full range of licensed private early childhood businesses in Colorado: large centers and single home providers, for-profit and non-profit, faith-based and secular, infants through school age.
Membership level totals 279 programs. Program type reflects the 272 programs classified by facility type in the membership master.
Statewide Reach & Advocacy Power
ECEA members are spread across Colorado, which is exactly what gives the association its voice at the Capitol. With a member in every state Senate district, ECEA can bring a constituent voice to any legislator on any early childhood bill.
Members sit in all 35 Colorado Senate districts and 62 of 65 House districts, across 30 counties from the Front Range to the Western Slope, mountains, and eastern plains.
Rooted in Colorado's Public Early-Childhood System
ECEA members are not on the sidelines of state programs. They are the private businesses actually delivering subsidized care and universal preschool to Colorado families, and ECEA helps them navigate the paperwork and get paid.
CCCAP is the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (state help for lower-income families). UPK is Universal Preschool. Colorado Shines is the state quality rating system, where Levels 4 and 5 are the highest.
Revenue Sustainability
Membership revenue is the fuel for advocacy, and August was the strongest dues month of the year. Recurring auto-pay keeps that revenue predictable, which lets ECEA plan its legislative work with confidence.
The partnership payoff
Every dollar of dues comes back to owners as savings and revenue. One member reported ECEA's Career Plug hiring partnership saved roughly $40,000 a year versus advertising on Indeed. Membership is a business decision that pays for itself.
2026 Membership Changes & Closures
In the spirit of full transparency for the board, here is the departure picture alongside the growth story. Colorado's private child care sector is under real strain, and ECEA is recruiting and retaining against a strong headwind.
Two things are worth the board's attention. First, most departures are lapsed or unresponsive renewals, not confirmed business closures, so the raw count overstates how many programs actually shut their doors. That said, August's 5 departures were all real closures, a reminder of the pressure owners are under.
Second, 2025 and 2026 were platform-transition years for ECEA, and they followed the end of federal COVID child care stabilization funds, which had been propping up the whole sector. Both effects push departure counts up. About 50 programs also sit between the overall totals and the itemized drop lists and are not yet fully reconciled.
Finally, keep in mind that ECEA changed from GrowthZone to Kajabi in July 2025. That's 2 years in a row that we changed membership platforms through which billing is automated.
In June of 2021 we had 120 member sites.
The advocacy case, in one line
This is exactly the environment where ECEA membership earns its keep: when budgets are tight and closures rise, the programs that stay connected get money-saving partnerships, a voice at the Capitol, and a partner who fights the fights so they do not have to. We are the workforce behind the workforce.
Website Reach
Digital reach is the top of the membership funnel. These figures show how many owners and families ECEA is putting its message in front of each month across its websites and social channels.
The top of the funnel
Combined, ECEA reached more than 54,000 views across its two websites and Facebook in August. That visibility is what feeds recruitment, keeps members engaged, and puts private child care in front of Colorado families looking for care.
The Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado (ECEA) has advocated for Colorado's licensed private child care and early education programs since 1985. Through legislative representation, administrative advocacy, education, and money-saving partnerships, ECEA helps program owners thrive, so they can focus on the children and families they serve.
