At First 5 San Mateo County, our mission is to promote positive outcomes for young children and their families through strategic investments, community leadership, and effective partnerships. We believe in the power of collaboration, innovation, and intentional planning to create lasting impacts.
Our 2025-2030 Strategic Plan guides our work to address the most pressing needs of our community and support young children and their families. As children and families live whole and integrated lives, First 5 San Mateo County recognizes that efforts to make a positive impact for young children and their families are inherently interwoven and often intersect.
For the duration of the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, F5SMC will continue to weave together its three primary community roles: Strategic Financial Investor, Community Partner in aligned efforts, and Systems Leader to advocate for the prioritization of young children and their families in decision-making processes.
The 2025-2030 Strategic Plan for First 5 San Mateo County is designed to guide the organization’s investments and actions to achieve the best outcomes for young children and their families in the county. The plan aligns with the Children and Families Act, focusing on building upon local progress and providing a framework for investing Proposition 10 funds. The plan prioritizes early childhood systems and services, aiming to improve outcomes for children and families.
At the center of our framework and the central drivers of our efforts are our desired outcomes for children, families, and the county. We will work to achieve these outcomes by focusing on four intersecting core domains. Changes in these domains can have a direct impact on our desired outcomes. How we focus on the domains will be guided by our five strategies. These strategies inform our investments and actions within and across the domains.
Click on the images below to read our Strategic Plan and our Executive Summary.
© 2024 First 5 San Mateo County
Kitty Lopez has served as the Executive Director of First 5 San Mateo County since 2013, focusing on strategic investing, community leadership, policy and advocacy development for young children, 0-5, and their families.
Kitty has served as Co-Chair of the Advisory Body for Build Up for San Mateo County Children’s Initiative, with Board of Supervisor, Dave Pine, since 2018. Congressman Kevin Mullin is Honorary Co-Chair. This initiative was established to preserve, grow, and increase the number of early care sites in San Mateo County.
Kitty previously served as the Executive Director of Samaritan House, one of San Mateo County’s leading Core Service Agencies and safety-net nonprofits serving low-income families and individuals with food, shelter, clothing, health care, counseling, education classes, and holiday assistance from 2002 to 2013.
Kitty taught kindergarten, second grade, and high school in southern California and San Francisco and was a consultant in schools with children who have autism and special needs. Additionally, Kitty worked in a residential substance abuse treatment center in San Francisco and psychiatric hospital for children and youth in San Diego. Kitty’s roots in supporting children began as a 16-year-old volunteer at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles where she taught swimming to children and adults with visual impairments.
She attended University of California Santa Barbara earning a California Teaching Credential and B.A in Psychology. Kitty is active in her community serving as Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Event Center, and Past President and Current Member of the San Mateo Rotary Club. She is currently serving as Past President of the First 5 Association of California. On March 2022, Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin selected Kitty Lopez as the 2022 Assembly District 22 Woman of the Year.
