Harvard officials gathered with civic, business and city leaders yesterday to formally announce the Boston After School for All Partnership, beginning a five-year, $23 million dollar commitment to improve and expand afterschool programs in the city of Boston.

Amidst a celebratory crowd of teachers, students and afterschool providers at the Jackson/Mann Elementary School in Allston, the partners for the program presented the new initiative to the community and media, praising their combined efforts.

"Today we partners call for out-of-school time to be a centerpiece of this city's civic agenda, and we believe that our actions back up our words," said Christopher F. O. Gabrieli '81, the chair of the partnership in his introductory remarks.

The 12 partners for the initiative are a mixture of public and private companies and institutions, including Harvard, the City of Boston, FleetBoston Financial, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Verizon, creating the largest public-private partnership focusing on children in the city's history.

As the auditorium filled, a video presentation offered statistics on the importance of afterschool programs, along with pictures of Boston children, on the streets and in afterschool programs. After the video, a student choir from Jackson/Mann performed for the gathering.

"This is all about them," Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said about the children after they left the stage. "This is so important, to make sure every kid has the opportunity for a better future."

Menino has made afterschool programming a major priority, creating the initiative and task force that ultimately led to the partnership announced yesterday.

The goal of the partnership is to expand afterschool programs to meet existing need, creating a productive outlet for time spent out of school.