The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's True North Fund seeks to leverage public money from the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) and private money from the Foundation and other institutional and individual philanthropic co-investors to capitalize and expand evidence-based programs so they can serve more low-income young people. The name we have given this fund—the True North Fund—reflects the inspiration and  example we believe these grantees and this funding model can provide for helping our nation’s most economically disadvantaged young people overcome the obstacles that confront them, discover a sense of direction and purpose in their lives, and steer a course to productive, independent, successful adulthood.

To date, 12 co-investors have committed $53 million, and grantees, themselves, have directly raised $4 million from more than 20 additional funders, to augment $60 million in funding expected from the SIF and EMCF, so that our grantees have the capital necessary to fully execute their SIF-funded growth and evaluation plans and meet their federal matching requirements. 

The first nine grantees in the True North Fund are:

BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life), whose summer learning program is proven to help raise the academic achievement of low-income, academically behind youth during the summer months.

Center for Employment Opportunities, which runs a program proven to reduce recidivism among youth recently released from prison.

Children’s Aid Society–Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, a holistic teenage pregnancy prevention program with top tier evidence of its effectiveness.  

Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, whose child welfare services include innovative programs to help youth in foster care and educate young men about responsible sexual behavior.

Children’s Institute, Inc., which provides comprehensive, evidence-based services to vulnerable youth and their families in poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles, CA.  

Communities in Schools, which helps economically disadvantaged students in grades K-12 who are at greatest risk of dropping out stay in and succeed in school.  

Gateway to College National Network, which reconnects youth who have dropped out of high school or are in danger of doing so with educational opportunities, helping them earn diplomas and college credits.

Reading Partners, whose one-on-one tutoring program helps elementary school students lagging six to 30 months behind catch up to their peers and become proficient in reading.

The SEED Foundation, which opens and supports public boarding schools for seriously disadvantaged students who are highly unlikely to succeed in a traditional public school setting and can benefit greatly from a 24-hour-a-day learning environment.

To learn more about the True North Fund, see:

• EMCF President Nancy Roob's latest column welcoming and thanking True North Fund co-investors 
• Nancy Roob's column, Charting a New Path for Growth, which describes the rationale for the fund's creation and its relationship to EMCF's overall grantmaking strategy
• Fund Genesis, Objectives & Selection Process, which explains the creation of the fund, its goals, and how organizations were selected to participate 
• Strategic Collaborators to learn about the role of MDRC and the Bridgespan Group in assisting True North Fund grantees
• EMCF and the Social Innovation Fund regarding details about EMCF's role as a SIF intermediary