Dalio Education, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the City of Hartford, Connecticut, have announced a commitment totaling $9.85 million over the next eighteen months in support of opportunity youth or individuals ages 16 to 24 who are currently disengaged from school or work.

The commitment includes pledges of $4.5 million from Dalio Education, $3.5 million from the Hartford Foundation, and $1.85 million from the City of Hartford. Recipients include COMPASS Youth Collaborative, which will expand its Peacebuilders programming model to increase the number of violence interrupters in the city working to de-escalate conflict and build relationships with the hardest-to-reach youth; Our Piece of the Pie, which aims to serve a hundred additional young people through the Youth Service Corps, an initiative launched in 2016 by Mayor Luke Bronin to provide young people part-time jobs, one-on-one coaching, and mentoring; and Roca, Inc., in support of efforts to assist young women, including young mothers, who are victims of abuse and neglect.

"Recognizing the growing urgency to better serve youth in Hartford, this coordinated effort will leverage the strengths of each funder, offering flexible support for program costs and building the capacity of each nonprofit to produce better outcomes for opportunity youth," said HFPG president Jay Williams. "Serving this population requires persistent and patient interventions by youth-serving organizations and the Hartford Foundation is partnering with Dalio Education and the City of Hartford to develop a multiyear co-investment strategy designed to ensure a more coordinated continuum of care and opportunity."