A Movement in Motion: 10 Years of GreenLight Cincinnati

In 2015, GreenLight Fund Cincinnati became the third site to launch outside of Boston and the very first in the Midwest – marking a bold step in the organization’s national expansion. With an initial fund of $2.5 million and strong backing from local champions, Cincinnati set out to bring proven, innovative solutions to some of the city’s most persistent challenges.

What made Cincinnati unique from the start was its coalition-style investor group. When John Simon touched down in Cincinnati for a business meeting in 2013, he had no idea his conversations would quickly shift from business as usual to sharing stories about his side project-  GreenLight Fund. But that’s just how Cincinnati is – local leaders are deeply invested in creating real social good, and GreenLight’s model for high social return on investment struck a chord.

Key stakeholders and business leaders seeing great potential began gathering friends and colleagues to learn more about GreenLight’s venture philanthropy approach. Momentum built quickly and many major players stepped up to invest.

Now, as GreenLight celebrates 20 years of impact across the country, Cincinnati proudly marks its own milestone – 10 years of investing in transformative change alongside our community.

Travel with us through time as we look back at our investment selections and their local impact.

Fund I

Center for Employment Opportunities

In 2015, GreenLight Fund Cincinnati selected the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) as its very first portfolio organization. At the time, Ohio ranked among the top four states in the nation for the number of children with a parent who was incarcerated – a sobering indicator of a deeply entrenched cycle. GreenLight saw in CEO a powerful, proven solution: an organization with a strong track record of delivering immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services to individuals returning from incarceration. Through transitional job placements with state and local government agencies, CEO participants earn a daily paycheck, gain valuable work experience, and begin rebuilding their lives. 

Fast forward ten years, and the ripple effects of GreenLight Cincinnati’s investment in CEO are clear. With GreenLight’s early support and deep local engagement, CEO was able to establish strong roots in the region and deliver measurable outcomes across Hamilton County right away. That early success laid the foundation for growth: CEO has since expanded into Cleveland and Columbus, significantly multiplying its reach and impact across Ohio.

UpTogether

In its second selection cycle, GreenLight Cincinnati addressed the urgent need for working families to achieve greater economic self-sufficiency by bringing in UpTogether (formerly the Family Independence Initiative). UpTogether offers a bold, trust-based approach to fighting poverty, empowering families to set and pursue their own goals through a tech platform that tracks progress and provides access to unrestricted cash and resources.

To support the effort, GreenLight Fund Cincinnati and The Greater Cincinnati Foundation committed $2.4 million, including a historic $1.8 million grant – the Foundation’s largest ever – along with support from The Mayerson Foundation and SC Ministry. Since launching, UpTogether has helped thousands of families across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky build lasting financial stability.

First Place for Youth

In 2019, GreenLight Cincinnati embarked on the third and final selection supported by Fund I – one aimed at lifting up a deeply vulnerable population: young people aging out of the foster care system. A study by the University of Cincinnati’s Economics Center revealed the long-term cost of inaction. Each year, young adults exiting the child welfare system without adequate support cost local residents an estimated $17.7 million in social expenses and lost productivity. These costs stem from increased involvement in the criminal justice system, healthcare challenges, unstable housing, as well as lower employment rates compared to peers in the general population.

In response, GreenLight Fund Cincinnati launched First Place for Youth’s My First Place program. My First Place, now housed at NewPath, offers a powerful solution – providing stable housing and intensive case management to help young adults ages 18–25 build the foundation for an independent future.

Fund II

After bringing three high-impact organizations to Cincinnati through Fund I, momentum was building. More community leaders were paying attention. And then, the world shifted. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, Cincinnati – like so many cities – faced a new wave of urgent challenges: early childhood literacy rates were dropping after prolonged school closures, parents were overwhelmed, and signs of a youth mental health crisis were emerging.

In the midst of this uncertainty, new champions stepped up to support GreenLight Fund Cincinnati’s second fund.

GreenLight Cincinnati Fund II launched with powerful momentum—boasting more than twice the number of investors compared to Fund I. This surge in support reflected both the success of GreenLight’s early work in the city and a growing sense of urgency among local leaders to address deepening community needs with bold, proven solutions.

Leading Men Fellowship (LMF)

GreenLight Cincinnati’s first Fund II investment tackled declining kindergarten readiness and early literacy following the pandemic. To address urgent learning loss and persistent inequities, GreenLight brought The Literacy Lab’s Leading Men Fellowship (LMF) to the region – an evidence-based program that delivers early literacy instruction to pre-K students while offering workforce development opportunities for men of color.

To launch LMF, GreenLight helped build a public-private partnership, securing a $3 million Ohio General Assembly appropriation and major support from funders like the Haile Foundation, Accelerate Great Schools, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. Together, they are creating a stronger, more equitable start for Cincinnati’s youngest learners.

HomeStart

In 2022, Hamilton County faced a sharp rise in eviction filings, with non-payment of rent as the main cause – a trend that predated the pandemic, severely impacted families’ stability and continued to worsen.

To address this, GreenLight Cincinnati invested in the Renew Collaborative, implemented by United Way of Greater Cincinnati. The program, developed by HomeStart, focuses on preventing evictions through rental assistance, financial coaching, case management, and 12 months of stabilization services. Preventing evictions is three to five times cheaper than carrying them out, creating strong landlord buy-in and making Cincinnati a key expansion site for the model.

Inspired by Cincinnati’s early success, other GreenLight cities, including Denver, are now adopting the Renew Collaborative – showing how local innovation can drive national change.

Fathers’ Uplift

In 2024, GreenLight Cincinnati’s third investment in Fund II aimed to address a critical community need: increased mental health support for youth. After a year of community engagement and research, one theme emerged clearly—families were seeking more resources to help children thrive emotionally, especially in the wake of the pandemic’s lasting impact. Additionally, there was a heightened awareness of how untreated parental mental health issues were affecting youth’s ability to build resilience and develop essential emotional coping skills. Research shows that safe, nurturing relationships with parents are among the strongest protective factors for a child’s mental health. When parents are emotionally well, they can provide the structure, connection, and positive reinforcement children need. In contrast, untreated parental mental health challenges and high parenting stress can significantly disrupt a child’s development.

This is where Fathers’ UpLift comes in. By focusing on the mental health of fathers and families, the program addresses a critical gap in support. Fathers’ UpLift helps fathers become emotionally healthy and engaged parents through clinical mental health treatment, trauma recovery support, and co-parenting coaching.

Fathers’ UpLift also plays a key role in expanding access to culturally responsive care by operating a workforce development fellowship. The fellowship trains and mentors BIPOC social work students on their path to clinical licensure, preparing them to serve families more effectively and ensuring a diverse mental health workforce.

By bringing Fathers’ UpLift to Cincinnati, GreenLight is addressing both immediate mental health needs and systemic challenges. The program provides direct support to fathers while also working to create lasting, community-wide improvements in mental health care. Through these efforts, GreenLight Fund Cincinnati and Fathers’ UpLift will create a stronger, more stable foundation for youth mental health in our community.

A Decade of Impact, Powered by Community

As we celebrate 10 years of impact in Cincinnati, the numbers tell a powerful story: 11,783 children and families reached, $3.6 million directly invested, and over $20.8 million in additional resources leveraged to amplify our shared vision. But these numbers are more than data points –they represent real people, real progress, and real hope.

At GreenLight Cincinnati, we bring proven, innovative solutions to the city’s most pressing challenges. We identify gaps in services and partner with local leaders to launch high-impact initiatives that tackle issues like education, housing stability, workforce development, and youth mental health. By leveraging local expertise and national best practices, we help create lasting change and empower families to thrive.

None of this would be possible without the insight and dedication of our Selection Advisory Council members. We are equally grateful to our extraordinary coalition of investors, who have trusted us every step of the way. Their partnership has shaped not only what we do, but how we do it – driving us to make bold, thoughtful decisions that create lasting change.

These milestones mark a decade of collective impact—but more importantly, they mark the beginning of what’s still possible. We’re proud of what we’ve built together, and we’re just getting started.