Out-of-School Time Workgroup

The GTY Out-of-School Time Workgroup is comprised of GTY Steering Committee organizations investing in out-of-school time (programs and systems supporting access for children and youth to high-quality experiences outside of school – before and after-school and in the summer).

Workgroup members recognize out-of-school time as a powerful space to support young people’s social and emotional development, understanding the roots of SEL can be found in the tenets of positive youth development defined by the field 20 years ago. (See Community Programs to Promote Youth Development, a 2002 consensus study published by the National Academies.) 

OST Workgroup members’ investments support the field to advance practice, policy and research focused on leveraging the unique characteristics of out-of-school time to foster young people’s social and emotional development. Interests include: 

Supporting the advancement of effective practices to foster social and emotional learning in out-of-school time

Supporting partnerships among community-based organizations, schools, school districts and other stakeholders

Understanding more about and closing historic gaps in access to high quality out-of-school time for children from BIPOC communities and economically disadvantaged children

Photos credit: All4Ed.org / license

Our Goals

The OST Workgroup’s goals include: 

Learning, knowledge exchange, and aligned investments among funders

  • Engage in shared learning on research, policy and practice on SEL and OST
  • Share strategies and investments to foster alignment and collaboration

Building field knowledge around OST/SEL & OST-K12 partnerships

  • Outreach to OST, education, and other funders to build awareness of how OST environments are uniquely positioned to enable young people’s positive social and emotional development, especially in partnership with schools and school districts
  • Support the inclusion of out-of-school time perspectives and issues in field-level conversations taking place in the SEL space

Members

  • Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
  • Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
  • HarmonySEL
  • Lefkofsky Family Foundation
  • The Overdeck Family Foundation
  • Susan Crown Exchange
  • Tauck Family Foundation
  • The Wallace Foundation, Chair
  • Wend Collective

More Information

For more information about the GTY OST Workgroup, please contact the GTY Facilitation Team.

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