Mission Statement

Communication - Collaboration - Creative Change

Staying true to the vision of Fred Rogers, and emulating the guiding principles of his life’s work, the mission of the Fred Rogers Center is to advance the fields of early learning and children’s media by acting as a catalyst for communication, collaboration, and creative change.

More than 50 years ago, Fred Rogers was the first to recognize the immense potential of television for nurturing and educating young children.  In 2000, he began to lay the groundwork for helping current and future generations to reap these same benefits from children’s media.

Collaborating with leaders from Saint Vincent College and a team of nationally recognized advisors, Fred began developing his vision for an international center that would bring together the brightest thinkers and practitioners in early learning, early childhood development, and children’s media.  He invited two colleagues in these fields—Milton Chen, Ph.D., Executive Director of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, and Ellen Galinsky, President and Co-Founder of Families and Work Institute—to write seminal planning papers on the role that the Rogers Center could play. 

After Fred’s death in February 2003, the planning papers and the input of many additional advisors drove the ongoing development of the Fred Rogers Center.  In September of that year, the Fred Rogers Center was established at Saint Vincent College.

As a national and international resource for addressing emerging issues affecting children from birth to age 5, the Center continues Fred’s commitment to building bridges between early learning and children’s media. The work of the Fred Rogers Center resonates with Fred’s own belief in the positive potential of television and new media for supporting the healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of young children.