Creating opportunities for all means to level the playing field so that circumstances such as gender, ethnicity, birthplace, or family background do not influence a person’s life chances. Education is at the heart of this approach. Early childhood interventions can act as an important policy lever to equalize opportunities for children and reduce the intergenerational grip of poverty and inequality. The region's investments in young children are also beginning to pay off. In its first year of operation, a pioneering initiative to improve the welfare of Latin American kids provided over half a million children with Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs. A $300 million dollars partnership between the World Bank and Shakira’s ALAS foundation committed US$100 million—one third of the financing available—to fund such initiatives across the region in 2010 while mobilizing public opinion towards the adoption of national ECD policies.