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Blue Meridian Partners

Annual Giving
$352.9M
Grant Range
$10000K - $200.0M
Decision Time
3mo

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $352.9 million (2024)
  • Total Assets: ~$2.4 billion (2021)
  • Decision Time: Multi-phase process over several months
  • Grant Range: $10 million - $200 million (phased over 5-10 years)
  • Geographic Focus: United States (national and place-based)

Contact Details

Overview

Blue Meridian Partners is a pioneering philanthropic model founded in 2016, originally incubated at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation before becoming an independent 501(c)(3) organization in 2019. With approximately $2.4 billion in total assets and $352.9 million in annual giving (2024), Blue Meridian transforms the life trajectories of young people and families in poverty by pooling capital from major philanthropists and making large-scale, performance-based investments. The organization has attracted donations from nearly two dozen major donors including MacKenzie Scott, Steve and Connie Ballmer, and the Gates Foundation. Operating with an investor mindset but measuring success in terms of social impact, Blue Meridian provides flexible, unrestricted, long-term grants (typically 5-10 years) tied to performance milestones, with total investments potentially reaching $200 million per organization.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Blue Meridian Partners operates through four distinct investment portfolios:

1. Nationwide Solutions Portfolio

  • Significant, long-term investments in bringing evidence-based solutions to national scale
  • Examples: HBCU Transformation Project, Code for America
  • Typical investment range: $10-20 million per year, up to $200 million total

2. Place Matters Portfolio

  • Invests in place-based partnerships to improve economic and social mobility in communities across the US
  • Has committed more than $415 million since launch in 2020
  • Recent investments: $50 million each to Spartanburg, SC; San Antonio, TX; and Dallas, TX
  • Examples: Seeding Success (Memphis), Oakland Thrives (Oakland, CA), Northside Achievement Zone (Minneapolis)

3. Justice and Mobility Fund

  • Focuses on boosting economic mobility and improving life trajectories of people impacted by the criminal justice system
  • Currently invested in 11 organizations
  • Examples: Center for Policing Equity, STRIVE, Center for Employment Opportunities

4. The Studio @ Blue Meridian

  • Supports emerging organizations with innovative approaches
  • 2024 investments focused on reproductive health: Power to Decide, NDN Collective, OneGoal

Investment Structure: All investments are structured and paid out in phases over several years, with payouts tied to meeting key performance milestones. Investments are flexible, unrestricted, and performance-based.

Priority Areas

Blue Meridian actively funds strategies that:

  • Address key drivers of poverty from cradle to career
  • Increase economic and social mobility for young people and families in poverty
  • Have evidence-based approaches with potential for national scale
  • Focus on solutions rooted in the context of place
  • Advance equity and justice, especially for those most deeply affected by historic disparities
  • Demonstrate strong leadership connected to the communities they serve

What They Don't Fund

  • Unsolicited proposals are NOT accepted - Blue Meridian conducts its own extensive research to identify investment opportunities
  • Organizations with budgets under $1 million
  • Organizations not serving young people and families in poverty in the U.S.
  • Organizations that cannot demonstrate financial viability
  • Projects without evidence-based approaches or commitment to rigorous evaluation

Governance and Leadership

Executive Leadership

Nancy Roob - Founder and Executive Chair Nancy founded and served as CEO of Blue Meridian Partners from its start-up in 2016 until March 2025, when she transitioned to Executive Chair. As Executive Chair, she oversees Blue Meridian's board and advances the organization's capital aggregation and strategic business development priorities. Under her leadership, Blue Meridian has become one of the largest philanthropic intermediaries advancing economic and social mobility in the United States.

Key Quote: "Today, even if you're a leader with an approach and drive to help millions of people chart pathways out of poverty, you must navigate a fragmented philanthropic marketplace that is not structured to provide the level of capital to match your potential and is more oriented to achieving short-term results."

Jim Shelton - Chief Executive Officer Jim Shelton became CEO in March 2025, after serving as Chief Investment and Impact Officer since January 2020 and entrepreneur-in-residence starting in 2019. As CEO, he leads Blue Meridian's strategy and work to aggregate and invest billions of dollars to transform the life trajectories of young people and families in poverty.

Key Quotes:

  • "Solutions to economic mobility are fundamentally rooted in the context of place."
  • "We must rebuild a nation that unleashes the potential of every American — enabling us to solve the problems of our communities, the nation, and the world."
  • His first priority is "to keep identifying substantive solutions to the problems that trap people in poverty."

Core Values

Blue Meridian operates according to five core values:

  1. Equity & Justice: Making decisions that advance social justice and mobility, especially for those most deeply affected by historic disparities
  2. Results & Impact: Singularly focused on creating lasting, positive impact through investments, holding themselves and investees accountable to the highest standards
  3. Humility & Learning: Recognizing that investors are not closest to the problems or solutions, thus seeking to support and learn from those that are
  4. Collaboration: Working through a collaborative model of philanthropy that unlocks significant capital to advance bold ideas and solutions
  5. Accountability: Performance-based approach with quarterly monitoring and reporting

Founding Partners

The six general partners who gave over $50 million to launch Blue Meridian in 2016:

  • The Ballmer Group
  • The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
  • Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller
  • The Duke Endowment (focus on NC and SC)
  • George Kaiser Family Foundation (focus on Tulsa, OK)
  • The Samberg Family Foundation

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

IMPORTANT: Blue Meridian Partners does NOT accept unsolicited grant proposals.

The organization conducts its own extensive research to identify and vet outstanding programs and strategies for substantially improving the life trajectories of young people and families in poverty.

Interest Survey Process: If your organization meets the eligibility criteria and you believe your plans for growth might be a promising fit, Blue Meridian encourages you to complete their brief Interest Survey available on their website at bluemeridian.org/for-grantseekers/.

Eligibility Requirements: Organizations must be:

  1. A stand-alone nonprofit with a history of service to young people and families in poverty in the U.S.
  2. Financially viable, with a budget greater than $1,000,000
  3. Able to satisfy their six selection criteria (see below)

Six Selection Criteria:

  1. Strategy: The strategy pursues solutions to important social problems that inhibit economic and social mobility
  2. Scale: Ambitious vision for achieving significant reach, impact, and influence
  3. Leadership: Visionary, capable leader and leadership team with skills to lead transformative growth, connected to the communities served
  4. Performance: History of strong performance with indicators of potential success in scaling efforts
  5. Capacity: Demonstrated capabilities to advance theory of change and build essential long-term capabilities
  6. Evidence: Combination of baseline external evidence, commitment to rigorous evaluation, and performance management culture of learning and continuous improvement

Decision Timeline

Multi-Phase Process:

  1. Scouting: Blue Meridian actively scouts organizations from various sources
  2. Initial Vetting: Rigorous vetting of prospects against six selection criteria
  3. Due Diligence: Comprehensive assessment of every aspect including operations, finances, program quality, and future potential
  4. Decision-Making: General Partners engage in decision-making across all aspects of investment strategy
  5. Performance Monitoring: After investment approval, ongoing quarterly monitoring and strategic counsel

Investment Timeline:

  • Overall process from initial contact to investment decision: Several months (specific timeline not publicly disclosed)
  • Investment payout: Structured in phases over 5-10 years
  • Annual payouts: Based on meeting key performance milestones
  • Review cycle: Quarterly performance reviews with Managing Director oversight

Success Rates

Specific success rates are not publicly disclosed. However, Blue Meridian is highly selective:

  • Made 95 awards in 2024
  • Made 100 awards in 2023
  • Made 93 awards in 2022
  • Made 78 awards in 2021

Most grants go to existing portfolio organizations as part of multi-year, phased commitments. New organizational investments are rare, making this one of the most competitive funding opportunities in philanthropy.

Reapplication Policy

Given that Blue Meridian does not accept unsolicited proposals and actively identifies potential investees through its own research, there is no formal reapplication policy. Organizations that complete the Interest Survey but are not selected for investment may be reconsidered if circumstances change or their organizational capacity grows, but should not expect to be contacted unless Blue Meridian identifies them as a potential fit.

Application Success Factors

What Makes Organizations Stand Out

Track Record and Leadership Ambition Nancy Roob describes critical criteria as "the track record and the ambition of the leadership." Blue Meridian looks for visionary leaders with demonstrated success and bold plans for scaling impact.

Connection to Communities Served Organizations must have "built or is actively building a leadership team that is connected to and centers the communities it serves." This commitment to equity and authentic community engagement is essential.

Evidence-Based Approaches Organizations must demonstrate:

  • Baseline external evidence supporting their theory of change
  • Commitment to rigorous, practical evaluation standards
  • Performance management culture of learning and continuous improvement
  • Potential for meaningful improvement of outcomes at scale

Financial Readiness Blue Meridian looks for organizations that:

  • Have budgets exceeding $1 million
  • Are financially viable and stable
  • Have demonstrated capacity for managing large-scale growth
  • Can absorb and effectively deploy substantial multi-year investments

Recent Success Stories

FreeWorld Program: In just three years, successfully empowered over 2,000 justice-impacted individuals to earn living-wage careers in the trucking industry.

Place Matters Investments: Three communities (Dallas, Spartanburg, and San Antonio) each received $50 million from Blue Meridian, catalyzing additional local funding that brought total investments to nearly $335 million for community-driven plans designed to break cycles of poverty.

Oakland Thrives: Multi-year place-based partnership investment supporting comprehensive community-driven strategies for economic mobility.

Key Investment Philosophy

Blue Meridian operates with what Nancy Roob calls a focus on "impact over assets": "It's less about funds under management; it's more about impact."

Jim Shelton emphasizes the need for "significant pools of capital to drive the scale of solutions needed to address this nation's problems."

Language and Terminology

Blue Meridian uses investment terminology rather than traditional grant language:

  • "Investments" rather than "grants"
  • "Investees" rather than "grantees"
  • "Performance milestones" rather than "grant outcomes"
  • "General Partners" for major donors
  • "Managing Directors" for staff overseeing portfolio organizations

This reflects their business-minded approach while maintaining focus on social impact.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  1. Don't Submit Unsolicited Proposals: Blue Meridian does not accept unsolicited applications. If your organization meets the criteria, complete the Interest Survey on their website, but understand that new investments are extremely rare and highly competitive.

  2. Build Track Record First: With a minimum budget requirement of $1 million and focus on proven organizations ready to scale, smaller or newer organizations should focus on building evidence and capacity before considering Blue Meridian as a potential funder.

  3. Think Big and Long-Term: Blue Meridian makes investments of $10-20 million annually, potentially totaling $200 million over 10-12 years. Your organization must have the vision, capacity, and infrastructure to effectively deploy and manage this scale of funding.

  4. Demonstrate Performance Culture: Blue Meridian requires quarterly performance reporting against specific milestones with annual payouts tied to meeting those milestones. Organizations must have robust systems for tracking, measuring, and demonstrating impact.

  5. Center Equity and Community Connection: Leadership teams must be connected to and center the communities they serve. This is not just a "nice to have" but a core selection criterion rooted in Blue Meridian's commitment to equity and justice.

  6. Prepare for Rigorous Due Diligence: The investment process includes comprehensive assessment of operations, finances, program quality, and growth potential. Organizations must be prepared to demonstrate capacity across all organizational functions.

  7. Align with One of Four Portfolios: Ensure your work clearly aligns with Nationwide Solutions, Place Matters, Justice and Mobility Fund, or The Studio's focus areas. Blue Meridian's investments are strategic and portfolio-focused, not opportunistic.

  8. Consider Alternative Pathways: Given the highly competitive nature and "no unsolicited proposals" policy, organizations might consider building relationships with existing Blue Meridian investees, demonstrating success at smaller scale with other funders, or connecting with organizations in Blue Meridian's network.

References

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