COMPASS Youth Collaborative

What COMPASS Youth Collaborative does

COMPASS Youth Collaborative is a Hartford, Connecticut-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1995 that provides violence intervention, education reconnection, workforce development, and juvenile reentry services to high-risk youth aged 16-20 free of charge. The organization serves approximately 210-213 youth per year through its flagship COMPASS Peacebuilders program, with 14 Peacebuilders maintaining 24/7 availability for crisis intervention and ongoing support. The methodology centers on Cognitive Behavior Therapy, restorative circles, and case management embedded in the community.

The product portfolio comprises the COMPASS Peacebuilders core mentorship program, the Training for Employment Program (TEP) for workforce readiness, Education Reconnection Services tailored to individual education plans, the NAVIGATE program supporting Hartford Juvenile Detention residents with four years of post-release support, COMPASS Junior Peacebuilders for younger participants in Asylum Hill and Frog Hollow, and gender-specific COMPASS Girls programming. Service delivery is fully human-centered; COMPASS operates no proprietary software, technology platform, or API. Distribution channels include street outreach, school-based programs at Hartford Public Schools (Weaver High School, Bellizzi Middle School, Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy), the 'Wounded Healers' hospital-based program at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, juvenile detention in-person and virtual groups, and a referral intake process accepting referrals from probation, Hartford Police, DCF, schools, and self-referrals.

As a registered nonprofit, COMPASS derives revenue from foundation grants and individual/corporate donations, with named institutional funders including Dalio Philanthropy, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (via the Catalyst Endowment Fund), Bank of America, Capital Workforce Partners, Community Safety Coalition, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and the Joan C. Dauber Food Pantry at St. Francis Hospital. No revenue figures are publicly disclosed. The organization is led by CEO Jacquelyn Santiago, who succeeded founder Robert Pawloski in December 2018 after his 21-year tenure.

Name

COMPASS Youth Collaborative

Legal name

COMPASS Youth Collaborative, Inc

Website

https://compassyc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

COMPASS Youth Collaborative is a Hartford, Connecticut-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit delivering violence intervention, education reconnection, workforce development, and juvenile reentry services to high-risk youth ages 16-20 through a 24/7 mentorship model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Development Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Child and Youth Services (624110), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK), Newcomer & Refugee Student Support Programs (EDAJAGAH)

Keywords

• Youth violence intervention
• Youth mentorship services
• Workforce development programs
• Education reconnection services
• Juvenile justice reentry

Headquarters

HQ city

Hartford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Grant Funding: COMPASS operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization receiving funding from foundations including Dalio Philanthropy, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Catalyst Endowment Fund, and Bank of America.
2. Individual and Corporate Donations: Organization accepts charitable donations from individuals and corporations to support program operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

COMPASS Youth Collaborative delivers intensive, relationship-based case management and mentorship to high-risk youth aged 16-20 in Hartford, CT through its Peacebuilders program. Services are provided free of charge and include Cognitive Behavior Therapy-based support, education reconnection, workforce readiness training, juvenile reentry navigation, gender-specific programming, and early-intervention youth leadership, with Peacebuilders available 24/7 for crisis intervention.

Product overview

COMPASS Youth Collaborative is a nonprofit organization offering a suite of interconnected youth development programs centered around its Peacebuilders framework. The core offering is the COMPASS Peacebuilders case management and mentorship program, supplemented by the Training for Employment Program (TEP) for workforce readiness, education reconnection services, the NAVIGATE program for juvenile justice reentry, COMPASS Junior Peacebuilders for younger youth, and gender-specific programming through the COMPASS Girls Program. All programs share a common approach: building transformative relationships with caring adult mentors who provide 24/7 support, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and wraparound services to help high-risk youth ages 16-20 in Hartford successfully transition to education, employment, and adulthood.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• COMPASS Peacebuilders: The core program providing case management, mentorship, and coaching services to high-risk youth
• Training for Employment Program (TEP)
• NAVIGATE Program
• COMPASS Girls
• Junior Peacebuilders

Products and services

• COMPASS Peacebuilders Flagship case management and mentorship program that pairs high-risk youth aged 16-20 with full-time Peacebuilders who build transformative relationships, deliver Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), and are available 24/7 to guide youth toward education, employment, and positive life outcomes. Designed for high-risk youth in Hartford, CT who meet risk-factor criteria.
• Training for Employment Program (TEP) Workforce readiness program providing basic job readiness skills, soft skills training, time management, financial literacy, and work experience for high-risk youth not yet ready for traditional job placement.
• Education Reconnection Services Education specialists tailor individual education plans to reconnect youth to school, secondary education, or GED preparation, addressing the lower income potential and higher incarceration risk associated with not completing high school.
• NAVIGATE Program Program supporting youth at the Hartford Juvenile Detention Center that helps navigate the reentry process and provides continued support for four years after release, including goal setting, court compliance, school enrollment, and employment assistance.
• COMPASS Junior Peacebuilders Youth development and early-intervention program serving younger youth in Hartford neighborhoods including Asylum Hill and Frog Hollow, focused on leadership development and building peaceful communities.
• COMPASS Girls Program Gender-specific programming for young women, including career exploration and mentorship, with partnerships designed to envision careers in healthcare and other fields.

Quantifiable outcome

• 213 youth built transformative relationships in one year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Joan C. Dauber Food Pantry at St. Francis HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to support local youth through food assistance and nutritional counseling. Future plans include integrating healthcare services such as blood pressure and glucose screenings into pantry operations to provide holistic support to families in Greater Hartford.
• Capital Workforce PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through the Summer Youth Employment and Learning Program. Youth work with Peacebuilders on resume building, interviewing techniques, and work readiness skills before applying for jobs. Provides summer employment opportunities for COMPASS youth.
• Community Safety CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide summer employment opportunities for COMPASS Peacebuilders' youth through the Summer Youth Employment and Learning Program.
• MGH/Harvard Medical School - Community Psychiatry PRIDEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to build a community of healing. Collaboration focused on mental health and psychiatric support services for COMPASS youth.
• University of Connecticut School of Social WorkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with Dr. Caitlin Elsaesser on effects of social media threats on youth. Conducted focus groups with 40 Hartford youth exploring 'cyberbanging' phenomenon. Study published in Journal of Community Psychology (April 2020).
• St. Francis Hospital and Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOMPASS 'Wounded Healers' program places Peacebuilders in St. Francis Hospital ER to work with victims and witnesses of violence. Recognized in Hartford Courant feature story.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Youth Guidance: Chicago-based nonprofit providing school-based and community-based mentoring, violence intervention, and social-emotional support to at-risk youth, with comparable CBT and restorative-practices methodology.
• Roca: Chelsea, MA-based nonprofit operating a high-touch, relationship-based violence intervention and workforce development model for young men involved in the justice system - the closest methodological analog to COMPASS Peacebuilders, scaled across Massachusetts and beyond.
• The Brotherhood/Sister Sol: New York City-based nonprofit providing multi-year rites-of-passage mentoring, education support, and violence prevention for Black and Latinx youth using a developmental, relationship-based model similar to COMPASS.
• Year Up: National workforce-development nonprofit serving low-income young adults (18-24) with training, mentorship, and corporate placement - directly comparable to COMPASS's Training for Employment Program but at significantly larger scale.
• Cure Violence Global: National violence-prevention organization treating gun violence as a public-health epidemic using trained interrupters in hospitals and on streets. Directly comparable to COMPASS's Wounded Healers model and street-outreach methodology.

Broad incumbents

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National 1:1 youth mentoring nonprofit; broader in mission than COMPASS but operates the same fundamental relationship-based mentoring model for at-risk youth across the U.S.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National youth-development nonprofit serving at-risk youth with educational, vocational, and character programs - a broader incumbent whose Hartford-area affiliate could compete for the same youth and funding.
• Fatherhood Engagement programs at My Brother's Keeper Alliance: Obama Foundation initiative supporting mentoring and opportunity programs for boys and young men of color; a national umbrella organization with shared goals and overlapping federal/policy funding pools.

Regional players

• The Village for Families and Children: Hartford-based nonprofit providing behavioral health, child welfare, and youth development services - a direct local competitor for Hartford foundation grants, juvenile-justice referrals, and at-risk youth programming contracts.
• Catholic Charities Hartford: Hartford-area social services and youth programming provider; competes locally for youth referrals, foundation funding, and juvenile-justice reentry contracts in the same Hartford geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CompassYouth
• Facebookfacebook.com/compassyouthcollaborative
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/compass-youth-collaborative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about COMPASS Youth Collaborative