The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation helps young people, ages 9 to 24, from low-income backgrounds become independent, productive adults in three ways:

• Improving educational skills and academic achievement;
• Preparing for the world of work and making the transition to employment and economic self-sufficiency; and
• Avoiding high-risk behaviors such as drug abuse, violence, and teen pregnancy.

The Foundation has developed a theory of change to achieve these outcomes:

Acknowledging that young people are most at risk at times when they are not in school or at home, the Foundation’s strategy focuses primarily on organizations that deliver services and programming in out of school hours.

Rather than design initiatives or programs itself, the Foundation works to develop and expand the pool of organizations that are able to serve thousands more youth each year with programs that produce these outcomes. It focuses solely on exemplary youth-serving organizations. The Foundation believes that significant and long-term, financial investment (coupled with extra-financial supports) in high-performing organizations is a highly efficient and effective response to urgent and unmet needs of low-income youth. The Foundation holds itself accountable for significant increases in the number of low-income young people benefiting from proven services; and the development of stronger, sustainable organizations that address the needs of low income youth at scale.

The Foundation anticipates that building strong youth-serving organizations will help transform the entire field of youth development and influence the nonprofit and public sectors in other areas as well by:

1. creating a cadre of organizations capable of addressing at scale some of the most pressing social problems disadvantaged youth confront;
2. encouraging nonprofits to adopt methods that improve their effectiveness;
3. establishing an effective model for funders (both public and private) to support and bring to scale effective interventions; and
4. influencing public policy to direct resources to programs that work.