The mission of All Children Excel (A.C.E.) Nashville is to prevent and mitigate the lifelong impact of childhood adversity to improve the safety, health, and prosperity of our community. We envision Nashville as a safe, stable, and nurturing community for all.  We look forward to partnering with you and your organization! If you'd like more information, please tell us about yourself or your organization here.

How we approach the issues:

An adult’s wellbeing starts in childhood, and childhood wellbeing is like a scale with two ends. Safe and challenging experiences make the scale tip “positive” , while destabilizing and traumatic experiences (like chronic hunger, violence, or neglect) weigh down the other side, causing it to tip “negative.” The longer the scale is tipped towards the negative end, the more entrenched a child’s difficulties become in adulthood: economically, behaviorally, and biologically. ACE Nashville is acting on the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by partnering together high quality prevention programs, training on ‘ACE informed’ policies, and bolstering intervention and care services across Middle Tennessee organizations in order to prevent and mitigate the consequences of ACEs. When ACEs do occur, safe, supportive, nurturing environments and relationships with adults will be readily available through the collective. These relationships are a strong weight on the “positive” side of the scale, creating a counterbalance to the negative weight of adverse childhood experiences. 

We know that we can build resilience in children and in our communities by stacking up positive experiences and relationships that help them thrive. Even for those whose childhood is past, care and support is proven to buffer the impact of ACEs and lowers the risk of burdening the next generation. Improving the lives of adults who have had adverse experiences ultimately helps support children. Our effort is for everyone, and invites everyone; not just children and families. By coming together, we can help make sure that everyone’s scale tips positive, even in the face of adversity.  

About us:

ACE Nashville was informed by Nashville’s 2015-2020 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) and takes a public health response to childhood adversity. We are a growing collective impact initiative of individuals, organizations, and institutions working together to prevent and alleviate childhood adversity by: 

• Strengthening trauma-informed care and services 
• Advocating for policy changes to prevent and mitigate ACEs  
• Empowering families and communities to promote resilience  
• Improving health, academic, and economic outcomes for children and adults through shared data, continuous quality improvement and collective impact  

 These four activities are conducted by our Action Groups. You can find them under the blog categories to the right--->