Life is a story for which the beginning sets the tone. That makes the early years of childhood a time of great opportunity, but also great risk. Children’s brains are built, one experience at a time, as they interact with their environments. In the first few years of life, more than one million neural connections are formed each second – a pace never repeated again. The quality of a child’s early experiences makes a critical difference as their brains develop, providing either strong or weak foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life. When this golden opportunity is missed, they pay the price in lost potential – dying before they have a chance to grow up, or going through life with poor physical and mental health; struggling to learn and, ultimately, to earn a living. In fact, eventually we all pay the price. Failing to give children the best start in life perpetuates cycles of poverty that can span over generations, weakening the strength and stability of our societies. Join me on this journey of strengthening the foundation for our future generations through education  interventions that fosters life-long learning and ensures holistic early childhood development.