The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce honored TOOTRiS with its Moving San Diego Forward Award for 2021, presenting the award on Feb. 4.
TOOTRiS, the fastest growing tech-enabled service provider enabling parents, providers, and employers to connect and transact quality Child Care services online, are proud to announce that the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce has bestowed TOOTRiS the 2021 Moving San Diego Forward Award.
Each year, Chamber members vote to select the award recipient in recognition of their significant, positive impacts to the region. TOOTRiS was chosen on its merits for engineering a comprehensive technology platform that disrupts a Child Care system long overdue for modernization, and precariously on the verge of collapse because of COVID-19 pandemic.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce presented the award during its 150th anniversary celebration on Feb. 4.
Previous Moving San Diego Forward Award recipients include California Senator (then Assembly Speaker) Toni Atkins, San Diego Mayor (then City Councilman) Todd Gloria and former Mayor Kevin Faulconer, among others.
The state of Child Care has been vulnerable for decades, but it was the pandemic that exasperated this crisis and put our economic recovery at risk. Lack of access to Child Care impacts workforce participation, especially women, a group statistically far more burdened by family responsibilities. Having accessible Child Care is not just about supporting working families and our economy – it is also an essential service for children’s health, social skills, and wellbeing.
TOOTRiS is reinventing Child Care, making it convenient, affordable and on-demand. As the world shifts to digitalized services, TOOTRiS helps parents and providers connect and transact in real-time, empowering working parents to secure quality Child Care, while allowing providers to unlock their potential and fully monetize their program. TOOTRiS is creating a new digital economy that promotes entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals with passion and talent to become Child Care providers, improving their quality of life while increasing the much-needed supply of Child Care across the state. TOOTRiS’ unique technology enables employers to provide fully managed Child Care Benefits, giving their workforce the flexibility and family support paramount to regaining employee productivity and increasing their ROI.
“TOOTRiS represents the innovative spirit that is a part of San Diego’s DNA. Through their visionary use of technology, TOOTRiS is changing the Child Care landscape and improving opportunities for working parents to access the Child Care they need. TOOTRiS is truly moving San Diego forward and the Chamber is proud to recognize their outstanding work with this award, said Jerry Sanders, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.
“When we founded TOOTRiS, we set out to reinvent Child Care, so that every working parent – especially women – has the same opportunity for advancement, having access to affordable, high quality Child Care; and so that every child, regardless of household income, has the same opportunity to early childhood education that can ensure their kindergarten readiness, and academic success,said Alessandra Lezama, TOOTRiS founder and CEO. “Thank you to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce for the extraordinary work you do to help make San Diego the best place to live and work. It is such an honor and privilege to receive this very meaningful award on behalf of our entire team at TOOTRiS.
This year, the Chamber’s award event was held virtually. Also honored were Lidia S. Martinez, who received the Herb Klein Spirit of San Diego Award, and UC San Diego, which received the Innovation in Crisis Award.
TOOTRiS is the first and only SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that combines tools for parents, providers, and employers to make quality Child Care convenient and on-demand for families everywhere. For more information about TOOTRiS, visit tootris.com.