( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) A Community-Driven Vision for Early Learning, Economic Stability, and Generational Impact
In a city where access to affordable, high-quality childcare can determine whether a parent keeps a job, returns to school, or stabilizes their household, Keanna Sanders is doing more than running a business—she’s building infrastructure to help Black families thrive. As Executive Director and Founder of Sanbridge Early Learning Center, Sanders is spearheading a major expansion that opens new tuition-free childcare slots for toddlers ages 3–4 for qualifying Baltimore families. Available now through June 30, 2026, this initiative comes at a critical moment, as families across Maryland navigate economic uncertainty, frozen childcare vouchers, and widening affordability gaps.
Rooted in community, faith, and discipline, Sanders’ leadership reflects a larger vision: childcare as a pathway to economic mobility, educational success, and generational wealth in Black communities. Raised by her grandparents in Baltimore, Sanders learned early the values that still guide her leadership today—faith, discipline, and service. Those lessons shaped her confidence and work ethic, grounding her belief that what she commits to, she completes.
For many Maryland families, especially Black households, childcare is the difference between employment and instability. Budget cuts, political challenges, and long-standing freezes on childcare vouchers have left parents with limited options—often forcing them to choose between work and caregiving. Sanbridge’s newly secured Pre-K Expansion and Blueprint grant changes that reality. Through this funding, Sanbridge can offer tuition-free enrollment for children ages 3–4 during the academic school year, giving parents reliable childcare while their children receive high-quality early education.
This expansion doesn’t just support families—it supports the workforce. Parents cannot work without safe, dependable childcare, and Sanders understands that access is economic policy in action.
Baltimore City is home to numerous childcare deserts—neighborhoods where families struggle to find nearby, reliable early learning centers. Sanders’ long-term plan is intentional: expand Sanbridge into these underserved areas and bring culturally responsive childcare directly into the communities that need it most. Reliable childcare stabilizes families, supports parents’ careers, and fosters children’s development during their most formative years. Through grant-funded programs, Sanbridge is also strengthening school readiness for 3- and 4-year-olds, ensuring children enter kindergarten prepared, confident, and supported.
Before childcare became her calling, Sanders’ career spanned fashion, automotive entrepreneurship, and multiple business ventures. Those experiences sharpened her understanding of people, audiences, and service delivery—skills that translate across industries. Her philosophy is simple: true entrepreneurs learn from every experience, good or bad, and apply those lessons to scale. That adaptability helped her grow Sanbridge from a single location to multiple centers serving hundreds of children across Central Maryland.
Scaling Sanbridge was not without obstacles. Competing with larger providers on teacher salaries and benefits, and finding educators who view teaching as a calling rather than just a paycheck, tested her resolve. What kept her going was faith and determination—the belief that the right educators, her “superstars,” would come. And she waited for them, committed to quality over convenience.
Families interested in the newly available 3–4-year-old slots should know:
- A child’s birth certificate is required to verify age
- Families must meet income eligibility guidelines
- Children experiencing homelessness or whose parents are unemployed may qualify immediately
- Enrollment is available now through June 2026, with reopening in September 2026 for the next academic year
Access to information is key, and Sanders is intentional about ensuring families understand how to qualify and apply.
Looking ahead, Sanders envisions Sanbridge becoming a global leader in childcare—one that produces future professionals, leaders, and wealth-builders. She wants every child who walks through Sanbridge’s doors to know they are capable of greatness.
Her legacy is not just measured in centers opened or students enrolled, but in lives changed. Through faith, excellence, resilience, and dedication, Keanna Sanders is proving that when you invest in children and families, you invest in the future of the community itself.
For families seeking more information about enrollment or eligibility, Sanbridge Early Learning Centers are currently accepting applications for qualifying 3–4-year-olds through June 2026.
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