Blue Meridian investees transform life trajectories on the journey to meet scale with scale
11.5% of Americans live in poverty, and the limitations to economic mobility are many and multifaceted: from barriers accessing public benefits to a lack of assistance in reaching educational goals or involvement in the criminal justice system. Black, Latinx and Indigenous Americans are most likely to experience these obstacles, perpetuating cycles of inequity across generations.
At Blue Meridian Partners, we invest in social sector leaders who deeply understand the root causes of poverty and have bold visions to address them with scalable solutions. These leaders know best what their communities need and ensure they account for the experiences of the people they serve.
Our cohesive set of investments is designed to amplify the impact of organizations that support young people and families at key touchpoints from cradle to career. The road to right-sizing solutions is long, but by leveraging flexible, large-scale funding, our investees transform life trajectories while on their path to growth.
With significant capital and a daring vision for addressing social problems, the many organizations in which Blue Meridian invests are making recognizable progress in ways that positively affect lives each and every day. We are excited to lift up a few of these organizations, including FreeWorld, Saga Education, Upstream USA, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, and the place-based partnership in Spartanburg, South Carolina, who have made significant inroads and built powerful solutions to improve economic and social mobility for young people and families.
Investee Spotlights
In just three years, FreeWorld has successfully empowered over 2,000 justice-impacted individuals to earn living-wage careers in the trucking industry. Now, they’re scaling their program in partnership with another investee, the Center for Employment Opportunities. Read More
Saga Education’s innovative use of AI trains tutors by providing them with feedback on the effectiveness of their sessions. The result: more students receiving high-quality tutoring at a lower cost. Read More
Funding from the Movement 2030 plan supports the Re:Degree initiative, helping more students in Spartanburg complete their post-secondary education. This initiative is designed to advance educational attainment and economic opportunity in the community. Read More
Governor Moore announces a new partnership with Upstream USA to expand access to reproductive care for millions of women in Maryland. The collaboration will offer essential training, education, and technical assistance to healthcare providers in the state. Read More
Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, emphasizes how valuable public-private partnerships have been in scaling Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, and outlines the steps any nonprofit should take when considering this kind of partnership approach. Read More
Philanthropists embrace collaborative funding
to multiply their impact
Blue Meridian Partners’ CEO Nancy Roob spoke with Financial Times Wealth to discuss the organization’s origins starting with the Edna Clark McConnell Foundation and how it has evolved into a leading large-scale funding collaborative focused on economic mobility drivers in the US.
Nancy: Affecting youth mobility takes huge changes across sectors, including workforce, education, and health. That’s when we decided to launch Blue Meridian Partners. It is incredible, but I would say we have only scratched the surface… I think there is more room to innovate and get more capital to these important causes.
How to Create Equal Opportunity
in an AI-Driven Labor Market
Jim: There are lots of reasons people do want to go to college, but in the end, if you spend all that money, don’t finish, wind up with debt, can’t get a job that gives you a pathway to mobility or even thriving— then something went wrong.
