Blue Meridian Partners is a pioneering philanthropic model for finding and funding scalable solutions to the problems that trap America’s young people and families in poverty and limit economic mobility.
Blue Meridian’s model helps unlock billions of untapped philanthropic dollars by pooling resources and bringing investors and social sector leaders together to scale the most promising strategies.
Launched in 2016 and incubated by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Blue Meridian builds on EMCF’s decades-long experience making performance-based investments and its leadership in aggregating growth capital. Its strategic, long-term investments provide visionary social sector leaders the upfront growth capital they require to reach maximum scale and extend their impact, while providing philanthropists a vehicle to invest more effectively and efficiently than any one of them could individually, sharing the costs, risks and successes.
In October 2018, Blue Meridian Partners announced plans to become an independent enterprise and embark on a new phase of growth, expanding its capital base (over $3 billion as of 2022).
Visit the Blue Meridian Partners website.
Today, Blue Meridian’s investments fall into one of five portfolios:
- Nationwide Solutions
- Place Matters Portfolio
- Justice & Mobility Fund
- The Studio @ Blue Meridian
- COVID-19 Emergency Relief
Blue Meridian recognizes the importance of investing in both nationwide and place-based strategies in order to maximize impact across the country and within communities and touch more lives.
Additionally, in light of the COVID-19 crisis, Blue Meridian has adapted its strategy across its portfolios to stimulate economic mobility for those most impacted by the crisis and support long-term equitable recovery.
Blue Meridian continues to welcome new Partners to join in helping solve problems confronting children and youth living in poverty in America by meeting scale with scale.
Blue Meridian in the News:
Blue Meridian - The Big Picture
CEO Nancy Roob describes the Partners' vision: "to really move the needle on social problems in this country."
HOW DOES BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS DIFFER FROM THE EDNA MCCONNELL CLARK FOUNDATION?
First, although EMCF’s approach to identifying, investing in and holding nonprofits accountable for performance is the “engine” driving Blue Meridian Partners’ investments, this initiative is exploring opportunities to invest in programs serving a broader age range of youth, from birth to age 30. The areas in which these programs are working are also broader and include (but are not limited to) early childhood development and learning, K-12 education, postsecondary education and career training, and the child welfare and juvenile/criminal justice systems.
Second, the size of the commitments made by Blue Meridian Partners will make possible investments that are significantly larger and longer than EMCF’s have been -- totaling [$100 million or more (over 5 to 10 years)] for each organization.
Finally, in contrast to EMCF’s previous ventures in capital aggregation, General Partners share in Blue Meridian Partners’ decision-making and sit on its board, which is chaired by Stanley Druckenmiller.