From the CEO’s Desk: Upwards Celebrates Five Years!

I started Upwards because I thought all families deserved access to quality childcare – not just the families who could afford it.

It was something I always knew was a worthwhile pursuit, but, like with any startup, there were those little doubts that crept in. What if this problem is too big to solve? What if childcare isn’t flashy enough to attract the right investors? What if others don’t understand how important family is?

Starting any company is daunting, and so to see how much my co-founders and team have accomplished in the past five years is truly remarkable.

To be blunt, it takes a lot of money to make a family in America. Entire incomes are spent on childcare — even before the family buys a house or car, or puts money aside for retirement. Sometimes, the cost of childcare can be almost as much as college tuition! Families are spending more and more on childcare and finding less and less value in the services that they receive. The frustrating part is that a solution is out there, but it never seemed to get enough attention.

Simply put, employers, governments, and tech entrepreneurs must step in to help working families.

That’s why I honestly cannot think of a better way to celebrate this five-year milestone in Upwards’ journey than for us to reflect on what we’ve been able to achieve. Thanks to our work with numerous employers providing childcare benefits and local governments, we are now helping working families in all 50 states — and we couldn’t be more proud!

That’s all just to say: This month we celebrated the five-year anniversary of our little startup (which isn’t so little anymore!), and I’m a little emotional. I’m like any other working mother: Someone who gets work done with a coffee in one hand and a chatty kiddo in the other. So when I say I take childcare seriously, I mean that I take it seriously. Just knowing we are helping families across the nation is enough reward for a lifetime — although, recently having been ranked #292 of the 5000 fastest-growing companies in America by Inc. Magazine is pretty humbling, too!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported Upwards for the past five years. This is truly only the beginning.