America's Promise

America's Promise Alliance is the nation’s largest cross-sector alliance of nonprofit, community organizations, businesses, and government organization dedicated to improving the lives of young people.

The organization was founded on the idea that children and youth need “Five Promises” to thrive—caring adults, safe spaces, a healthy start, effective education, and the opportunity to serve—but that not nearly enough young people have access to these basic resources.

America’s Promise works to raise awareness about the importance of these resources and inspire actions that help more children and youth receive them. The organization does this by leading national public awareness campaigns, conducting research, hosting events and convening summits, and partnering with hundreds of national, state, and community organizations that work directly with youth.

America’s Promise is currently chaired by Alma Powell and was formerly led by her husband and founding chairman, retired Gen. Colin L. Powell. The president and CEO is John S. Gomperts, a former leader of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Encore.org, and the Public Education Network.

The Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future in 1997 – a national summit held in Philadelphia to promote a civic response to many of the country’s problems, particularly the challenges facing at-risk youth – led to the creation of America’s Promise Alliance.

Presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush convened the summit, and Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret) served as the event’s general chairman. Focusing specifically on helping the nation’s young people, Gen. Powell agreed to lead a three-year campaign called America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, which set out to improve the lives of 2 million of the nation’s 15 million at-risk youth by 2000.

In 2000, the target end-date of the campaign, General Powell determined that America’s Promise should continue its work and continue to operate as a nonprofit organization. Ending the work now, he said, would be “kind of like saying we'll be out of Bosnia in a year."

Early in its history, America’s Promise drew criticism for not being able to prove it had achieved its goals. A later analysis from the National 4-H Council, the nation’s largest youth development organization, agreed that while the organization’s impact was difficult to document, “much of the increased focus on youth and positive youth development…can be attributed to the visibility, energy, and funding America’s Promise brought to youth work.”

...
Wikipedia