Open Society Foundations Partner with Federal Government to Drive Innovation and Opportunity Combating Poverty in Communities Nationwide

NEW YORK— The Open Society Foundations today pledged $5.5 million to three nonprofit organizations working to strengthen communities and spur economic growth. The investment by the Open Society Foundations’ Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation will be matched by the federal Social Innovation Fund (SIF) as well as by private dollars.

The support from the Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation aims to foster economic opportunities in low-income communities and help disconnected youth get back on track. Another $4 million will be awarded to additional nonprofits in the coming months.

“We want to support a new cadre of groups working to strengthen communities, create good jobs, and help young people succeed,” said George Soros, chair of the Open Society Foundations. “By combining the resources of philanthropy and the federal government, we can create opportunities and drive more resources to communities in need.”

The SIF is a new competitive grant program administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The initiative represents a new way of doing business for the federal government that better targets public-private resources toward solving social challenges. The SIF grants will expand the impact of high-performing organizations and innovative solutions to issues in three key areas: economic opportunity, youth development and school support, and healthy futures.

As part of an effort to fight poverty in the United States, the Open Society Foundations joined SIF on these projects to strengthen the social safety net and create better career pathways through access to quality education and training programs. The joint investment aims to build capacity in the nonprofit sector and foster civic engagement.

The new Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation pledges announced today include:

• $2 million to the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to identify leading youth development organizations that work with the nation’s most underserved young people—those at risk of dropping out of school or who are involved with the criminal justice system or in foster care. The funding will help bring these organizations with effective programs to greater scale across the country with the goal of giving low-income youth the tools they need to lead productive, healthy lives.
• $2 million will support the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity to replicate promising anti-poverty programs nationwide that help low-income people enter the workforce.
• $1.5 million to New Profit Inc. to identify and bring to scale organizations that help youth navigate the increasingly complex path from high school through college to productive employment.

In May, the Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation awarded $500,000 to Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, a non-profit that will invest resources to help extend the reach, learning, and impact of SIF-supported groups.

The Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation was established by George Soros to provide immediate relief to low-income communities in the U.S. hardest hit by the economic crisis.

Over the past 30 years, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations have given away over $7 billion around the world, including more than $1 billion in the United States, to strengthen communities and promote justice, education, human rights, and public health.

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Active in more than 70 countries, the Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Working with local communities, the Open Society Foundations support justice and human rights, freedom of expression, and access to public health and education.