Approach
Dalio Education collaborates with public schools, non-profit organizations, and communities across Connecticut to support educators and help young people succeed. Since 2015, we have invested more than $150 million to strengthen promising solutions, build capacity, and expand opportunities for young people who face the greatest barriers.
How we work
Our approach is grounded in direct engagement and long-term collaboration with the people closest to the work, young people, educators, youth development professionals, community leaders, policymakers, and other experts. We listen, learn, and respond in ways that reflect the realities on the ground.
This means we do more than fund ideas. We stay involved, share learning across partners, and support implementation—helping programs and practices move from isolated successes to scalable, community-aligned solutions.
Signature initiatives
Connecticut RISE network
Together with the RISE Network, we help districts build educator capacity and strengthen data systems, with RISE facilitating school improvement networks where high schools share what works to improve graduation rates and reconnect more young people to school, career, and community.
Workforce initiatives
We collaborate with employers, training providers, and community partners to help young people build real-world skills and connect to meaningful career pathways. This includes supporting programs that create access to job readiness training, paid experiences where possible, and clear routes into stable employment, especially for young people who have been off track or disconnected. We recently engaged in partnerships with both MATCH in New Haven and Nuvance/Northwell Health in pursuit of strengthening these pathways to gainful employment.
Connecticut opportunity project
Through the Connecticut Opportunity Project (CTOP), we support young people who are struggling the most by investing in and building the capacity of non-profit organizations and their teams. CTOP strengthens the organizations doing frontline work, so they can expand what they offer, deepen their impact, and serve more young people with consistency and care.
To learn more, read RISE’s Annual Report and CTOP’s Annual Report.
Research and learning
Our work is grounded in research and data. We commission independent studies to better understand disconnection and what helps young people re-engage. We then share what we learn with partners across Connecticut to strengthen strategies, guide investment, and scale approaches that show promise.
The core beliefs that guide our work
Every young person has tremendous potential
Young people who are off track or disconnected from school and opportunity are often overlooked and underserved. But with the right individualized support, they can often re-engage in high school, succeed in post-secondary education and training, and build meaningful futures.
We focus on removing barriers, rebuilding momentum, and creating pathways that make success feel possible and achievable.
The power and passion of educators is limitless
Educators work tirelessly every day to support and engage young people. Connecticut’s educators deserve recognition, celebration, and access to opportunities that continually enrich their practice and impact.
We believe in supporting educators not only through resources and professional learning, but also through partnership, treating educators as essential experts whose insight should shape solutions.
Student success requires a holistic approach
At Dalio Education, offering holistic approaches often means providing wrap around services for young people so all their diverse needs are met simultaneously. Focusing too strongly on one barrier might cause you to miss the bigger picture of what these young people are facing. Young people are also more likely to thrive when they have mentors they trust and when the systems around them respond to their full lived reality, not just their grades.
Elevate the voices closest to the work
Those most impacted by the biggest challenges in education understand them best. Their perspectives and lived experience are essential for generating solutions that actually work.
We aim to elevate these voices,listen, learn, and then respond with action that reflects what we hear.
Collaboration drives results
Individual educators and youth development professionals know how to help their students succeed. But real change accelerates when people work together across roles and sectors.
By collaborating, we draw on collective expertise to turn success for one student into strategies, practices, and systems that can support many more. This focus on collaboration is a core belief and a throughline in our approach and strategies.


How we work
Our work is grounded in a simple idea: lasting change happens when listening, evidence, and collaboration come together.
Every young person has tremendous potential
Young people who are off track or disconnected from school and opportunity are often overlooked and underserved. But with the right support, academic, social, emotional, and practical, they can re-engage in high school, succeed in post-secondary education and training, and build meaningful futures. We focus on removing barriers, rebuilding momentum, and creating pathways that make success feel possible and achievable.
The power and passion of educators is limitless
Educators work tirelessly every day to support and engage young people. Connecticut’s educators deserve recognition, celebration, and access to opportunities that continually enrich their practice and impact. We believe in supporting educators not only through resources and professional learning, but also through partnership, treating educators as essential experts whose insight should shape solutions.
Elevate the voices closest to the work
Those most impacted by the biggest challenges in education understand them best. Their perspectives and lived experience are essential for generating solutions that actually work.
We aim to elevate these voices,listen, learn, and then respond with action that reflects what we hear.
Student success requires a holistic approach
Academic progress must be complemented by social and emotional development, attention to physical and mental wellness, and access to safe, supportive environments. Students are more likely to thrive when they have strong bonds with adults they trust and when the systems around them respond to their full lived reality, not just their grades.
Collaboration drives results
Individual educators and youth development professionals know how to help their students succeed. But real change accelerates when people work together across roles and sectors. By collaborating, we draw on collective expertise to turn success for one student into strategies, practices, and systems that can support many more.