The Aspen to Parachute Cradle to Career Initiative (CCI) has a mission to ensure that all children are ready for kindergarten and graduate from high school ready for college and career. Formally launched in 2012, CCI has engaged an entire region – including disadvantaged and underserved rural areas – in a collective impact initiative to ensure that all children can succeed. This mission is critically important. While the Aspen area’s scenic beauty, recreation and cultural resources attract many affluent community members and visitors, the 80 miles between Aspen and Parachute are home to many working class and low income families struggling to survive. In our service area, two-thirds of our children do not have the opportunity to attend preschool and more than half start kindergarten unprepared to learn and with poor language and literacy skills. These children often are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade, a primary indicator of school failure. Many of our low income students do not graduate from high school, and only about half of all our graduates enroll in a postsecondary education program.