The Cleveland Foundation has announced a $40 million commitment in support of scholarships for public high school students through Say Yes to Education Cleveland, a community-focused scholarship fund launched in January.

The fourth community-based chapter of the organization established by Philadelphia money manager George Weiss in 1987, Say Yes Cleveland provides full-tuition scholarships to eligible students who live in Cleveland and graduate from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District or a partner charter high school. To date, the fund has secured $92 million in contributions and pledges toward its fundraising goal of $125 million, an amount it expects will be sufficient to fund scholarships for area high school students over the next twenty-five years. The commitment by the Cleveland Foundation is the single largest grant, by a factor of four, it has ever awarded. Other local donors to the fund include the KeyBank Foundation and the George Gund Foundation, which have contributed $10 million each; Geoffrey and Sarah Gund, who have pledged $4 million; and Giving Pledgers Gordon and Llura Gund, who contributed $1 million.

Say Yes Cleveland has already awarded scholarships to hundreds of 2019 graduates of CMSD and is moving quickly to build out school services, including family support specialists, in the first cohort of CMSD Say Yes schools.

"Say Yes to Education is an unprecedented investment in the potential of our youngest residents," said Cleveland Foundation president and CEO Ronn Richard. "This multi-generational undertaking has inspired many in the community, including our foundation, to make historic contributions to this game-changing effort because we believe in the transformative power of a quality education. For the next twenty-five years, Cleveland students will have the chance to realize their greatest dreams, shattering barriers that stand in their way to achieving personal success while also propelling our community to extraordinary heights. The people of Cleveland are our greatest asset. We encourage others to join us in saying 'yes' to our students because our shared future depends on the commitments we make today."

For a list of major donors to the Say Yes to Education Cleveland funds, see the Cleveland Foundation website.