Mission and History
Leveling the playing field.
Working with a host of community partners, Say Yes Cleveland is the culmination of an intensive, collaborative effort to help make a college degree or career training certificate affordable and attainable for every CMSD high school graduate.
Our Mission
The mission of Say Yes Cleveland is to partner with CMSD to improve Cleveland’s economy, neighborhoods, and workforce over the coming generations by mobilizing community resources to address two significant barriers to success — affordability of postsecondary education and challenges associated with multi-generational poverty.
Say Yes Cleveland includes two complementary entities designed to support CMSD students:
- The Say Yes Scholarship Board provides gap-funding scholarships for eligible CMSD students to attend a public four-year or two-year institution or accredited training program. The Say Yes Scholarship is funded through private sources.
- Say Yes Cleveland provides wraparound support services for all CMSD students in grades PreK-12. Funded separately from the scholarship, through public sources, Say Yes Cleveland helps students overcome the significant challenges associated with multi-generational poverty — challenges that leave no room for setbacks and often hinder post-secondary pursuit or performance.
Our History
The path to Say Yes Cleveland began more than a decade ago when several Cleveland institutions began to explore a ”Cleveland Promise” scholarship program. The idea was prompted by three different but related goals: 1. Increasing the number of CMSD high school graduates who entered college and successfully graduated with a bachelor’s degree; 2. Stabilizing and growing enrollment in CMSD schools; and 3. Stabilizing and growing Cleveland’s population.
Say Yes Cleveland launched in January 2019, the culmination of an intensive, multi-year effort to be selected as the fourth (and final) community chapter of Say Yes to Education, formerly a national nonprofit that partnered with communities to help make a college degree affordable and attainable for every public high school graduate. Additional community chapters were formed in Syracuse, Buffalo, and Guilford County, North Carolina.
Say Yes to Education helped provide startup experience and funding but dissolved its operations in June 2021. This resulted in Say Yes Cleveland becoming a fully independent and locally governed entity.
Partner Organizations
Our partnering organizations are essential members of our village providing Say Yes Cleveland with support in fundraising, administration, planning and oversight.
Our strategic partners include:
Stay Informed!
Sign up for our Newsletter to stay connected to what’s happening at Say Yes Cleveland.
VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
“Say Yes Cleveland helps you find your career so that you can learn what you want to do in life. I’ve learned what my strengths are so that I can better understand what jobs I fit in the best. They open up opportunities that many people may not have if they are in a poor environment. It’s very good to know that Say Yes Cleveland is a part of my life to help me pay for college, because college is probably the most fun that I will ever have in my life.”
9th Grade CMSD student
Want to help make a difference at Say Yes Cleveland?
No amount of support is too small. You can help a student succeed by becoming a mentor or making a financial donation.