Ray Dalio, founder of Westport-based Bridgewater Associates, announced he and his wife are no longer supporting a $100 million agreement to help fund a program for Connecticut's troubled and disengaged youth.

Barbara Dalio, co-founder and director of Dalio Philanthropies, released a statement Tuesday which read in part, “Today we are announcing our intent to withdraw from The Partnership. We’ve tried hard over the past 15 months to make this unique model work, but it has become clear that it’s not working because of political fighting. I am not a politician and I never signed up to become one. I only want to help people. Through this experience I’ve learned about our broken political system and I don’t see a path through it to help people."

The Dalios initially agreed to donate $100 million to The Partnership in April 2019.

 

The state agreed to match the Dalio's donation over the course of five years.

However, the Dalios say they are committing $100 million over the next four years to address the needs of young people who are disengaged or disconnected in Connecticut. Instead of directing these resources through the Partnership for Connecticut, the Dalios say they will work through their own philanthropist organization to work with people who want to help others above all else.

Gov. Ned Lamont released a statement saying, “Last year, I was proud to announce the creation of The Partnership for Connecticut in order to match private philanthropy alongside public dollars to help disconnected and disadvantaged kids get back on track. Given the COVID-19 forced break in classroom learning, this mission is more important now than ever. In addition to Barbara Dalio and the incredible generosity of the Dalio Foundation, the board included teachers, educators who focus on kids, the four legislative leaders, Barbara and myself.”

In their statement, the Dalios also blame two leading Republicans of the House, Rep. Klarides and Rep. Candelora, who are on the board for the Partnership for Connecticut.

The Dalios claim the top Republicans only wanted to fight in the media rather than debate issues and resolve them with other board members.

"Although the full mission for the Partnership for Connecticut will not be met, we are fortunate to have people such as the Dalios in our state that are committed to helping create a better future for our youth," says Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz in a statement. "The Partnership was a novel approach with the combination of private and public funding involved, and the complexities of operating such a collaboration was challenging on a number of fronts. But at the same time, private investment in the betterment of our state needs to be cultivated and encouraged, not discouraged, otherwise, why would generous people such as the Dalios bother to share their good fortune?"