The Citi Foundation, in partnership with the San Francisco-based Low Income Investment Fund, has announced grants totaling $3.25 million to thirteen nonprofits as part of a new initiative to boost economic progress in low-income communities across the country.

Administered by LIIF, the Partners in Progress program seeks to advance the community "quarterback" model, which leverages the capacity of high-performing local organizations to lead and coordinate across sectors and stakeholders to achieve shared goals. Each PIP grantee will receive $250,000 to initiate or strengthen their efforts to align objectives and coordinate efforts among local organizations and residents to improve neighborhoods and create pathways to economic opportunity.

PIP organizations will lead the development or expansion of local networks to improve the physical environment of a community, including housing, transit, and safety, and will work to create opportunities for people in such areas as employment, child development, education, and health. Grantees also will participate in a learning community that provides them with coaching and builds their skills.

The grantees have different levels of experience with the community quarterback model and are working to address different community needs, from linking affordable housing and health care in Los Angeles, to planning for integrated community service delivery near a new transit hub in Dallas, to creating new immigrant-driven approaches to community development in Queens, New York.

"Recognizing that there is no 'one size fits all' solution to improving economic opportunity, we know the quarterback model works to align smart approaches with smart financing," said LIIF president and CEO Nancy O. Andrews. "Through Partners in Progress, we hope to build a movement. By creating a network of quarterbacks, we can promote learning and formalize a strategy that will fundamentally change our field for decades to come. The Citi Foundation is a uniquely innovative funder to invest in this idea that is aimed at nothing short of transforming neighborhoods and lives across the country."