Cindy Arenberg Seltzer has served as CEO of Children’s Services Council of Broward County, FL, since voters first approved the voter-approved children’s fund  in 2000. (Voters  permanently reauthorized the fund in 2014.) Since that time, Children’s Services Council of Broward County has grown into one of the largest voter-approved children’s funds in the country, investing approximately $150 million to serve nearly 200,000 children and youth each year. The fund supports a range of programs from early childhood literacy, health, child abuse prevention, and out-of-school time services and has contributed to meaningful outcomes for children and youth. In the 2024–2025 program year, 98% of infants and children in its maternal health program met their developmental milestones, up to 95% of youth in its out-of-school-time programs showed real gains in life skills, and 96% of youth had no new law violations a year after completing a delinquency diversion program.

In this conversation, Marina Mendoza, senior manager, local impact at Children’s Funding Project, talks with Seltzer—who also is a member of Children’s Funding Project’s board of directors—about the council’s 25 years of success and her advice for communities interested in establishing their own voter-approved children’s fund.