WHO WE ARE
ABOUT US
The Early Learning Partnership is working to ensure that young children in York County are ready to learn in school and in life. By mobilizing people, leveraging resources, and empowering social, emotional, and early literacy programs, ELP is preparing children, birth to age five, for school success.
ELP has a staff of one Executive Director and one Program Coordinator. The ELP staff is supported by a Board of Directors with approximately 20 members which represent the geographic areas of all four school districts in York County.
Join us as we work together to help the youngest in our community Read. Bond. Grow.
Our History
The Early Learning Partnership of York County (ELP) was established in 1998 as a United Way initiative called Success By 6. South Carolina ranked 48th in overall child well-being and like many children in our state, York County’s children entered school unprepared to learn. Our children lacked an environment necessary to promote healthy development and basic foundational skills for learning and the potential for a successful academic career. Literacy programs such as Born to Read, Reach Out and Read, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library were established.
Four Family Resource Centers were created in 2002 to serve children within each of the four York County school districts (Clover, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, and York). Beginning in the fall of 2003, a Free Medical Clinic for uninsured children began opening in these centers and operating on a daily rotating schedule. The United Way and Success By 6 decided that the programs now administered by ELP would be better managed by an independent corporation with its own board and decision making authority. To that end, ELP was spun off with its own nonprofit status in 2005.
In July 2015, ELP transferred the fiscal and managerial duties of the Free Medical Clinic over to Affinity Health Center through a two-year collaborative effort. ELP worked through the strategic planning process to better define our identity, branding, and work in York County.
In 2019, the Board of Directors agreed to update our strategic plan to redefine our priorities in order to reflect our community involvement and collaborations while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Our Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Lisa-Anne Williams, President, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Aperture Education, Rock Hill
Laura Moore, Vice President, Vice President, Omega Communications, Clover
Adam Ackerman, Treasurer, Financial Advisor, BNA Wealth, Fort Mill
Courtney Guenther, Secretary, Course Designer, The College Board, Rock Hill
Lisa Brown, Past President, Economic & Urban Development Director, City of Rock Hill, Rock Hill
Board Members
Daniel Bentley, Program Director, Families Forward Charlotte, Fort Mill
Sylvia Echols, Community Volunteer, Rock Hill
Tom Faulkenberry, Vice President, Retired Dean, Grad Studies, Converse College, York
Judy Frothingham, Community Volunteer, Fort Mill
Courtney Green, Owner & Speech Pathologist, Tattle Tales Language & Literacy Clinic
Hilary Harris, MIECHV Director, Catawba Nation, Rock Hill
Janet Hefney, Realtor, TJM Realty, York
Dawn Mendoza, Owner, Movement, Mindfulness and Me, Fort Mill
Angel Neelands, Vice President, United Bank, Clover
Robin Owens, COO, Morton & Gettys, Rock Hill
Erin Powell, Community Development, York Electric Cooperative, York
Jim Reno, Vice President, Business Banking, First Citizens Bank, Rock Hill
Kristen Surratt, Community Volunteer, Clergy, Clover
Crystal Thompson, Customer Service Specialist, EW Process, Fort Mill
James Thompson, Direct Support Professional, MaxAbilities of York County, Rock Hill
* Board Members reside/work in York County, South Carolina, and are representative of one of each of the four school districts within York County.
Ex Officio Board Members
Will Close, Consultant, The Springs Close Foundation
Martha M. Edwards, Pediatrician, Atrium Levine Rock Hill Pediatrics
Brittany Kelly, Owner/Retail Consultant, The Mercantile by Copper Dwelling & Design
David Lisk, Executive Director, York County First Steps
Sedrick McCallum, Senior Vice President, Community Development Officer, South State Bank
Rotating Board Members
Rotating Superintendent (2 year term):
Dr. Tommy Schmolze, Rock Hill School District 3
Dr. Katie Barber, Executive Director for Elementary Education, Rock Hill School District 3
Rotating Resource Center Coordinators:
Jane Culp,LEAP Family Literacy Program, Fort Mill School District 4
Carolyn Green, Bright Beginnings Family Literacy Program, Clover School District 2
Cindy Taubenkimel, ParentSMART Parenting and Family Literacy Partnerships, Rock Hill School District 3
Jessica Elliott, Parenting Partnerships Family Literacy Program, York School District 1
Staff
Rachel Hui-Hubbard, Executive Director
Nicolette Bush, Program Coordinator