Dallas, TX

EDUCATIONAL FIRST STEPS

EIN 75-2334053

Education & Youth Development Early Childhood & Preschool Children & youth Low-income Communities of color

Mission

Create and support high-quality early learning environments that ignite the minds of children from birth to age five.

IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity Contributions are tax-deductible

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About EDUCATIONAL FIRST STEPS

Educational First Steps (EFS) is a Dallas-based 501(c)(3) that works to increase the availability and quality of early childhood education for children from birth to age five, with a focus on low-income and historically underinvested communities.

EFS operates the Four Steps to Excellence model, providing training, on-site mentoring, business supports, and financial resources to help small childcare centers and home-based providers achieve national accreditation and improve classroom quality.

In recent years EFS has expanded its workforce supports (scholarships and CDA credentialing coaching), secured multi-year foundation backing to scale programs, and was designated by the Texas Education Agency as a Pre-K Partnership Intermediary for Regions 10 and 11 (designation beginning August 20, 2026).

Notable achievements

Scale of the Four Steps to Excellence

EFS has grown its signature Four Steps to Excellence model to partner with 100+ child care centers and dozens of home-based providers across North Texas, helping those sites move toward national accreditation and improved preschool quality and impacting thousands of young children annually.

State Pre-K Intermediary Designation

Designated by the Texas Education Agency as a Pre-K Partnership Intermediary for Regions 10 and 11, a role that positions EFS to support and coordinate high-quality pre-K public-private partnerships (designation effective August 20, 2026).

Sustained foundation support to expand programming

Secured multi-year philanthropic investments and competitive foundation grants in recent years to expand accreditation supports, scholarship funding for early educator credentials, and relief/continuity support for partner centers, enabling program scale and stability.

At a glance

Total assets: $7.7M
Annual revenue: $2.7M
Tax status: 501(c)(3)Public charity
EIN: 75-2334053
Location: Dallas, TX
Website: educationalfirststeps.org
On Mahalo since: September 2026

Financial figures from the IRS Business Master File, the IRS’s registry of tax-exempt organizations.

Recognition

Three-star Charity Navigator profile with a high programmatic score (profile reported at an 89% score on Charity Navigator).

Named a Texas Education Agency Pre-K Partnership Intermediary for ESC Regions 10 and 11 (designation began August 20, 2026).

Recognized and supported by regional philanthropic institutions and grantmakers as a key early-learning intermediary (recent foundation partners include regional funders that have awarded multi-year grants to expand Four Steps to Excellence and workforce supports).

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