Investing across the US for transformative impact
Blue Meridian Partners believes in philanthropy’s possibility and responsibility to drive transformative, long-term social and economic mobility for all communities nationwide. Our model provides a holistic approach to addressing the complex, interconnected barriers to prosperity that perpetuate poverty in the US. Through investment in both national and place-based strategies, we expand access to socioeconomic opportunity for Americans in nearly every US state and dozens of cities. This is how we meet scale with scale.
Through our nationwide scaling portfolio, Blue Meridian has invested in Youth Villages’ LifeSet program. This strategy equips youth aging out of foster care in states such as Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi with the life skills they need to thrive. Since 2016, LifeSet has expanded from 7 to 26 states and Washington, DC—more than tripling the number of transition-age youth they support with guidance and emotional support to ensure participants graduate from school, find employment, and live independently.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, a program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, aims to increase adoptions for the hardest-to-place youth and has a presence in all 50 states. Over seven years, the program leveraged an investment from Blue Meridian to bring their model to full scale in 18 states, including Kentucky, Nevada, and North Carolina. This expansion more than doubled the number of children permanently placed, strengthening families and communities.
Our place-based portfolio solves problems specific to communities and aims to break the tie between zip code and life outcomes. In Dallas, Texas, for example, the Opportunity 2040 place-based partnership is working to cut the city’s child poverty rates in half and double the number of young adults earning a living wage by 2040. Led by the Commit Partnership and Child Poverty Action Lab, Opportunity 2040 has raised more than $140 million in new funding, which was catalyzed by an initial investment from Blue Meridian. Early results, such as local students demonstrating college readiness, are exceeding targets.
Blue Meridian also supports the Birth through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST) in Oklahoma. BEST has built a network of 50 public-sector and non-profit partners providing a continuum of care that offers Tulsa’s youngest children and their caregivers the tools they need to thrive. Through evidence-based programs, BEST is working towards disrupting intergenerational poverty in communities across the city.
Through national efforts like Youth Villages and Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, and place-based initiatives like Opportunity 2040 and BEST, Blue Meridian is working to reach young people and families in communities such as Dallas and Tulsa and in states like North Carolina and Nevada. By expanding the presence of solutions that work and deepening community connections, we seek to transform life trajectories and propel economic and social mobility for all Americans.
Spotlight
The Commit Partnership and Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) are working to align partners and resources toward a common goal to halve Dallas’ childhood poverty rate and double the number of young adults, ages 25 to 34, attaining a living wage.
In a presentation to Blue Meridian’s community, CPAL’s Founder and CEO Alan Cohen described an example of how their data-driven approach came to life.
One Dallas neighborhood dropped from
1st to 463rd
in risk of gun violence from 2020 to 2022
Using analytics, CPAL identified an area in Dallas, TX with the highest risk of gun violence and worked with community partners to bring resources into the area, such as a community center. Within two years, this work remarkably transformed the area to the 463rd most at risk of gun violence within the city from the 1st. By reducing violence and arrests, CPAL also helped keep families together, allowing more Dallas children to remain on positive life trajectories.
Voices
Breadth and Depth: The Importance of Investing in Solutions at National and Local Levels
Managing Director, Investment and Impact Lead Allana Jackson discusses the synergies between Blue Meridian’s nationwide scaling and place-based approaches, her personal history and professional experience that connects her to the mission, and a commonality for social sector leaders.
“I think a commonality for successful social sector leaders is the mindset to fall in love with the problem, not the solution. If leaders stay focused on the problem, they can recognize its dimensions, what’s helping to alleviate it, and what barriers remain. This way, leaders are constantly innovating, learning from their experience, evolving their solution, and chipping away at the problem over time. This is true whether that leader is focusing on a highly complex, but local problem impacting an entire region or a national problem affecting a specific population of people. I appreciate that Blue Meridian is open to and supportive of innovation and experimentation, as I see these as essential components to reaching scale for any solution that aims to improve the life trajectories of millions of people.”
– Allana Jackson, Managing Director, Investment and Impact Lead
Photos by Lauren Cowart