The partnership also represents the first attempt to coordinate investments in afterschool programming throughout the city.

"One of issues with funding is that money comes from everywhere and goes everywhere," said Kathleen G. Traphagen, director of Boston's 2:00-to-6:00 Initiative. "We called on the private sector to invest more strategically by collaborating and talking to each other about what their investments are. This funding partnership is an answer to that."

Academic Capital

Beyond the financial commitments, many hope that Harvard's involvement will offer untapped University academic resources to the afterschool field.

Under Harvard's afterschool initiative, the University will give monetary grants to programs in the Allston/Brighton, Mission Hill and Fenway neighborhoods.

But it will also work to improve afterschool teacher training, curricula and recruitment through existing Harvard programs like the Graduate School of Education's Program in Afterschool Education and Research (PAER) and the Harvard Children's Initiative (HCI).

Professor Gil G. Noam, who directs PAER, says he believes the University's research can considerably benefit afterschool programming on a national level.

"This is an incredible moment in time when a lot of work across the country is going into make afterschool time go beyond glorified babysitting," Noam said. "This is a moment to really professionalize the field."