Since 2000, EMCF has developed and tested a performance-based investing approach centered on large, long-term investments that help high-performing nonprofits lift the life prospects of more children and youth living in poverty.
This approach provides organizations the capital and support necessary to achieve their growth ambitions, and at the same time holds them accountable for performance and results.
EMCF pursues this approach through two strategies:
BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS
Incubated at the Foundation and launched in 2016, Blue Meridian Partners is a newly independent philanthropic model for finding and funding scalable solutions to problems that trap America’s young people and families in poverty and limit economic mobility. EMCF is a General Partner
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FUND
EMCF also invests independently through its Youth Development Fund, established in 2000, which helps high-performing organizations build the infrastructure and evidence they need to expand and help economically disadvantaged youth, ages 9–24, get an education, find a good job, and avoid setbacks such as teen parenthood or criminal behavior on the path to successful adulthood.
Blue Meridian Partners is helping EMCF fulfill its final commitments to Youth Development Fund grantees and complete its work efficiently and responsibly as the Foundation invests all its assets within the next decade to leave a lasting impact on children and families living in poverty in the U.S.
Capital Aggregation
EMCF pioneered and Blue Meridian Partners is advancing a new kind of collaborative, coordinated investment that maximizes the impact of evidence-based programs with flexible, upfront capital. LEARN MORE
Drawing on our grantmaking experience, EMCF also supports nonprofits through a third strategy that helps them use data to improve performance and amplify their impact:
PROPELNEXT
This initiative, founded in 2012, helps promising nonprofits transform their passion for serving disadvantaged youth into data-driven insights and practices that foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement and lay the foundation for future growth. Currently EMCF and four foundations in the PropelNext California Partnership are working with 12 grantees in the San Francisco Bay Area to boost their impact on vulnerable young people.