Marin County is one of only three regions nationwide receiving a multi-year investment from StriveTogether to expand neighborhood-based partnerships that improve outcomes and opportunity for youth.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Jan. 13, 2026 — Marin Promise Partnership, a countywide collaboration focused on closing educational equity gaps, has been awarded $3 million over four years from national organization StriveTogether to expand neighborhood-based partnerships that support children and families from early childhood through career.
Marin County is one of three regions nationwide selected for this level of investment as part of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, the country’s largest network of place-based partnerships working to put more young people on a path to economic mobility. These partnerships focus on creating effective local solutions to address communities’ most pressing challenges, an approach reflected in Marin’s Promise Partnership’s work around Promise Neighborhoods.
Promise Neighborhoods bring together residents, schools, nonprofits, businesses, and civic leaders within a defined community to coordinate support for children and families from early learning through career. These community partners align around shared goals, use data to guide decisions, and focus resources on strategies that work. Across California, this approach has demonstrated measurable impact. A recent statewide report found improved kindergarten readiness, stronger attendance, and higher high school graduation rates in Promise Neighborhood communities.
“Longstanding educational inequities in Marin persist, especially in communities like San Rafael, Marin City, Novato, and West Marin where families are navigating barriers like poverty, housing instability, and fragmented systems,” said Marin Promise Partnership CEO Richard Raya. “Promise Neighborhoods are designed to address these interconnected challenges, and our role is to help coordinate that work across Marin so young people in every neighborhood have what they need to succeed in school and in life.“
This investment will deepen work already underway through the Canal Promise Neighborhood, where residents and community agencies are working side by side to reduce barriers and build clearer pathways for children and families.
“People know what they need to have dignified and thriving lives. The power of community voices informing and working alongside government, school districts, and community-based organizations is the way to ensure that transformation happens,” said Chandra Alexandre, CEO of Community Action Marin and a leader in both the Canal Promise Neighborhood and Marin Promise Partnership. “What began five years ago as a collective response to the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 in the Canal neighborhood has grown into stronger collaboration, trust, and a shared understanding of the inextricable link between educational outcomes and economic stability across generations.”
The StriveTogether grant will provide a foundation to begin phasing Promise Neighborhood efforts into Marin City, Novato, and West Marin, where communities have expressed strong interest in coordinated, place-based support for children and families.
“If Marin is ever going to be an equitable, united county, it’s imperative that its underserved communities are acknowledged, understood, and given the opportunities they deserve to thrive,” said Marin Community Foundation President & CEO Rhea Suh. “Critical support like this grant, which allows neighbors to come together, mobilize on their own terms, and build power from within, is an important step in changing the system.”
Early investments from Marin Community Foundation and Aspen Institute helped to launch Marin’s first Promise Neighborhood in the Canal, laying the groundwork for the community-led work now being recognized and expanded with StriveTogether’s support.
“Marin Promise Partnership is showing how neighborhood-based collaboration can transform opportunity for young people,” said StriveTogether President and CEO Jennifer Blatz. “From strengthening supports in local communities to advancing statewide policies that center young people, their work connects systems to better serve children and families. This investment will accelerate their strategies and expand the opportunities available to young people across Marin County.”
The progress emerging across Marin shows that alignment leads to results. When communities center young people, use data to guide decisions, and focus resources on strategies that work, real change becomes possible. StriveTogether’s investment will help accelerate this momentum. It will elevate neighborhood-level successes from Marin’s Promise Neighborhood work to inform county and state policy efforts. Most importantly, it will ensure every young person in Marin County has the support they need to thrive.