Empowering early childhood access and equity through responsible innovation: an interview with Sabina Andersson, Chief Product Officer, Colorado Department of Early Childhood

In this interview, Sabina Andersson, Chief Product Officer at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, describes a two-part strategy to transform Colorado’s early childhood ecosystem through Raising Colorado Kids and the Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS). Raising Colorado Kids serves as a family-friendly digital “front door” that simplifies access to services, reduces stigma, and streamlines applications so families can navigate complex benefits through a single, plain-language hub. ECIDS provides the secure, modern data backbone that connects historically siloed programs, enabling leaders to analyze access, equity, and outcomes over time and understand which services and combinations work best for different families. Sabina explains how agile methods, human-centered design, and public–private collaboration enabled rapid delivery and positioned the platforms as a model for equitable, future-ready government technology, with privacy, cultural responsiveness, and AI-informed innovation embedded from the start.