News
G3 Awarded $107,600 to Train 205 Employees of Boloco
Baker-Polito Administration Awards $2.4 Million in Workforce Training Grants BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 – The Baker-Polito Administration today awarded more than $2.4 million in workforce training fund grants to 25 companies to train current or newly hired...
From Prison Tech to Educational Museum: Companies That Redefine Customer Service
The companies profiled here were chosen as part of our Best for the World 2016 coverage. Each business below scored in the top 10 percent of all Certified B Corporations for their treatment of customers. This designation does not just mean the companies perform well...
Imajine That Honored as B Corporation Best for the World at Berkeley
Imajine That is proud to be honored at the first-annual B Corporation Best for the World Celebration & Awards Ceremony on September 8 2016, in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas Business School. Imajine That scored in the top 10 percent...
South Bay Community Services Receives Workforce Training Grant
(BROCKTON, Mass., July 15, 2016) – South Bay Community Services recently received a $248,665 Workforce Training Grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The funds will be used to train 341 employees across South Bay’s...
FAST 50: Entrepreneurs offer words to grow by
"Focus pocus!" This our mantra that inspires our leadership and impact team. We make our yearly sales goals manageable by breaking them down quarterly, monthly, weekly and even daily. This helps the team understand how realistic and achievable the goals can be so...
Inner City 100 Alum Imajine That Certified as B Corp
Written by Eliza LaJoie With its motto “Create the Day,” children’s discovery museum Imajine That has always aimed to provide opportunity for youth and families in its hometown of Lawrence, MA. And like the visitors to her museum, CEO Susan Leger Ferraro, has always...
Susan Launches G3 Consulting Group
G3 builds integral online and offline, customizable workplace training programs for organizations that want to activate and elevate employees’ untapped leadership and productivity capabilities and inspire them to enlarge their vision, enrich their experiences, and...
Imajine That Named Optimas Gold Winner for Partnership
LAWRENCE, MA - Imajine That is honored to be named Workforce Magazine’s Optimas Gold Winner for its partnership with WGBH. “We are so excited to be acknowledged for such a profound collaboration investing both in the community and our employees!” said Susan Leger...
Imajine That Receives B Corporation Certification
LAWRENCE, MA -- Imajine That is proud to announce its certification as a B Corporation. The prestigious designation is awarded to companies which use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems, and meet the higher standards of social and...
Preschoolers’ Math Skills Improve with PBS KIDS Content & Family Engagement
New research demonstrates that PBS KIDS content helps narrow the math achievement gap for children from low-income families and better prepares them for kindergarten San Francisco, CA–November 9, 2015 – WestEd, a national nonprofit research, development, and service...
Hundreds Turn Out for Imajine That, WGBH Ready to Learn Collaboration Celebration
Preschoolers, their parents and educators attended the event in early August to mark achievements of “Ready to Learn” initiative.
More than 200 people turned out for Imajine That’s Ready to Learn Collaboration Celebration event with public media producer WGBH on August 5 at Imajine That’s location at the Riverwalk, 354 Merrimack St. in Lawrence.
Susan Leger Ferraro Generates Training Capital through Effective Grant Writing
By Jack Daly
Many small to medium businesses that contact me to train their workforce struggle with funding the budget to afford my services, or really any outside training sources.
Some executives say they are weary of investing in training because of a high turnover rate and they can’t recoup any of the money invested in an employee who leaves. Others say their team is too small and they plan on sticking with training in-house rather than investing so much in their employees.
Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce Holds Next Generation Leaders Annual Conference
The Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold its Next Generation Leaders annual conference on Friday.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how young people began and implemented successful and innovative companies in the Merrimack Valley.
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Susan Joins MetaBrand Capital’s “Conscious Capital” Board of Advisory Partners
MetaBrand Capital, a “conscious capital” private equity firm and the investment pillar of MetaBrand – a full-service advisory group providing product formulation, outsourced operations, and sales and marketing services to natural and organic food, beverage and supplement brands – is expanding its board of Advisory Partners to better serve entrepreneurs with a broadened portfolio of capitalization options.
Imajine That Receives Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) Award
Imajine That – These 8 Massachusetts Companies are Among the 100 Fastest-Growing Inner City Business in the U.S.
Of the 100 fastest growing businesses located in U.S. inner cities, eight hail from Massachusetts, according to the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
Susan Speaks at Sages & Scientists
Susan's Speaker Profile: http://www.choprafoundation.org/speakers/susan-leger-ferraro/
Q & A With Susan Leger Ferraro and Fran Hurley: Learning Through Technology-Infused Play
Research-practice partners Susan Leger Ferraro and Fran Hurleyjoin us for an exciting Q & A about an innovative museum and play space, Imajine That.
WGBH Summer Reading Program – The Reading Den Initiative
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that the achievement gap between low income children, especially African American and Hispanic children, and their middle class peers is due less to what happens in the school year and more to what happens in the summer months. Low-income children learn at the same rate as other children during the school year but fall far behind in the summer months, especially in reading.
“Little Sprouts” Growing Like Mad
(NECN) - Their name is "Little Sprouts," and they're growing like mad. Little Sprouts Day Care and Early Education centers serve about 700 kids at 13 locations in the Boston area, and have plans to for even more locations. They've just been named the 2011 Boston...
What’s More Important: Mission or Margin? | Inc. Magazine
Susan Leger Ferraro Gives Business Lessons for Female Leaders to bSmart Magazine
A lot of women babysit, but not everyone creates an $18 million dollar early-education business. What gave you the vision and motivation to create Little Sprouts?
‘Preschool to prosperity’: Early childhood education can lead to a lifetime of success
Salvatore’s Restaurant owner Sal Lupoli put himself on the map by building pizzas. Now, he’s building brains. Members of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce gathered at Andover Country Club yesterday morning for a breakfast forum looking at how to guide the...
Family Plan – Imajine That Featured in Northshore Magazine
Two North Shore institutions team up to give families a place to learn, bond, and be carefree.
Inc.com – 2 Women Serial Entrepreneurs Tell All
Susan Leger Ferraro, founder of an early-childhood schools chain, and Laura Fitton, digital business owner, irreverently detail what has helped them most along the way.
Keep your equity in your pocket. Help out your mentor. That advice and more emerged during an Inc. panel this week in Boston titled “How I Did It: Women Entrepreneurs Tell All.”
Susan Leger Ferraro Gives Keynote Speech at New Directions Luncheon
Trying to Gauge the Impact of Growing up Digital
A few clicks, a couple of swipes, and Bridget Colvin’s 4 1/2-year-old son, August, was tapping away on an iPad smudged with tiny fingerprints.
Colvin’s younger son, 1 1/2-year-old Calum, climbed onto the table in their Roxbury kitchen, hoping to join the animated action of Early Bird, essentially Angry Birds for the pre-K set.
Boston Chamber of Commerce taps Little Sprouts as Small Business of the Year
“In recognition of the significant impact that small business has on our region’s economy, this year the Chamber will honor Greater Boston’s ‘Top 10’ small businesses, led by Little Sprouts, an innovative leader in early childhood education. The 2011 winners are an excellent representation of the entrepreneurial spirit, focus on excellence, and commitment to the community that define our region’s small businesses.”
Plant Early, Grow Strong – Little Sprouts – 2011 Small Business of the Year
Fearlessness is a good quality in an entrepreneur, says Susan Leger-Ferraro, 46, founder of Little Sprouts, the Lawrence- based group of child enrichment centers being recognized as the 2011 Small Business of the Year by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Sprouting Success – Little Sprouts’ founder Susan Leger Ferraro
Susan Leger Ferraro started what would become Little Sprouts early education centers 28 years ago at the age of 17. Today, its 11 Massachusetts schools — most of them in the Merrimack Valley — continue to get national attention and federal grants as a result of their commitment to mingle kids from every income level and improve early childhood literacy.
Entrepreneur of the Year Awards at Enterprise Bank’s 2010 Celebration of Excellence
Raising a ‘green generation’
These days, ‘going green’ is at the forefront of conversation in political, entertainment, and corporate circles. Yet to truly impact change, our future generations must carry the torch of transformation. To ensure success, we need to begin the practices with the fertile minds of young children in early education.
Project GROW
The Leadership and Literacy Foundation (L&L) has been building organizations’ workforce and developing employees since 1999 and now seeks funds to create Project GROW which will create 250 new jobs in the direct service markets of childcare and food services. L&L has partnered with Little Sprouts and Salvatore’s Restaurant to measure barriers to job growth. Both organizations had the capacity to grow in 2009 but were inhibited due to the lack of a qualified workforce, and as a result, over 60 jobs were left vacant.
Susan Leger-Ferraro awarded U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2010 Massachusetts Women in Business Champion Award
Susan Leger-Ferraro, founder and president of Little Sprouts early childhood education schools, consisting of 11 locations in Massachusetts, has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2010 Massachusetts Women in Business Champion award winner, according to an announcement made by Robert H. Nelson, Massachusetts SBA District Director. Ms. Leger-Ferraro was nominated for this award by Joe Bevilacqua, president of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Crafting an education magnet – Little Sprouts to anchor school building
The building remains as it was when it was purchased from the archdiocese for $1 million in 2006 – aging classrooms, asbestos, brickwork in need of repointing, ancient boiler, original plumbing.
Inc.com: Susan Leger Ferraro Built a $7.2 Million Day Care Business, Venture Capital Article – Inc. Magazine Article
The Pitch: I started Little Sprouts when I was 17 years old. We’re very focused on diversity; we take an equal portion of kids from affluent, middle-income, and low-income families, so our students learn to interact with diverse groups. Our model has helped us win $8 million in government and private grants, some to create innovative early-reading programs and some for serving at-risk communities. Now I want to sell part of my 87 percent stake and take financial risk off the table. I also want to expand nationally, starting with states like Florida and California, which have generous funding for children’s education.
