Digging in the garden, cleaning shoes, wrapping and sorting gifts, serving meals, helping animals – these are just a few of the activities kids and parents will do together when they participate in an SV2 Kids event on a Saturday morning. Destinations this fall included Collective Roots for a morning in the garden and My New Red Shoes (a former SV2 Grantee!). Next up is working with Family Giving Tree on December 15th prepping gifts for children, families, and senior citizens in our community who need some help fulfilling their holiday gift wishes.RSVP here to join us! Each SV2 Kids activity involves learning about an issue area, volunteering together at a local nonprofit, and taking time to reflect on what was learned. Studies show that exposure to early philanthropic experiences can have a powerful lifelong impact on young people. This understanding underlies SV2’s commitment to offering program options for every member of the family. SV2 Kids events are open to parents and children ages 4-12 and take place on Saturdays, usually in the morning. We would love to see you at Family Giving Tree on December 15 and you can RSVP here. Spring 2019 events will include an animal care workshop at the Humane Society Silicon Valley and serving breakfast to guests at Hope’s Corner in Mountain View. We look forward to these opportunities to learn and serve and build compassion and community together. RSVP for event here. 

Our Tech Nonprofits Lightning Grant Round – Fall 2018, was a big success! We had the wonderful opportunity to get to know six incredibly inspiring organizations. Of the six organizations, Hack Club (network of high school clubs that teach and develop communities of coders), SIRUM (drug recycling platform to redistribute surplus medicine to low-income patients), and Think of Us (technology to improve the lives of youth in foster care) moved to the finalist round. We were honored to hear from Zach Latta and Connie Liu (Hack Club), Kiah Williams (SIRUM), and Sixto Cancel (Think of Us). After a robust review and discussion process, SV2 Partners decided to welcome SIRUM as our new Lightning Grant Round Grantee!

Shannon Farley, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Fast Forward (our amazing Funder Ally), Dan Barritt and Rekha Pai (our wonderful Partner Co-Leaders), and all who participated in making this an insightful and energizing experience! In response to the question, “how if at all, has participating in this LGR impacted you?” One Partner shared, “renewal of my hopes for the future and energized me to explore more ways to help.”

SV2 Teens will start in mid January 2019 for the teenage children (grades 7 — 12) of SV2 Partners. That may seem far away, but it will be here before we know it! For all interested parties we’re hosting an SV2 Teens Info Session on Sunday, 12/2 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm. We invite everyone who is to interested in learning more about the program to attend. Current SV2 Teens, alumni, and their parents will share their first-hand experiences with the program and the impact it has had on them. SV2 staff will provide an overview of the program. We welcome both current SV2 Partners whose teens have not yet participated as well as prospective Partner families to join us.

SV2 Teens offers youth the opportunity to participate in a non-profit grant round – reviewing three non-profits and awarding funds based on their review and analysis. Since the program’s founding in 2009, SV2 Teens have made over a dozen grants together in the areas of hunger and homelessness, STEM education, resilient youth and environmental conservation in the Bay Area.

This year, the now 11-year-old (almost a teenager!) program will consist of six sessions on non-consecutive Sunday afternoons from 1:30-4:30 pm from January through May 2019. The sessions start with an overview of philanthropy and the selection of the issue focus area, followed by three nonprofit site visits with a hands-on service component. Teens will hear from the organization leadership about their work and impact. The penultimate session will involve lively discussion and analysis about the three potential Grantees and conclude with a vote on the allocation of grant funds.

The program wraps up with a last celebratory session for Teens, their parents, and Grantees. This award-winning program has been lauded in the philanthropic field and in the press (from Gentry Magazine to the Chicago Tribune). And now the data is in: The Giving Journey report and other sources indicate the powerful lifelong influence of early philanthropic experiences.  SV2 Teens invites teens of any age and experience level to learn, be leaders and jump in as changemakers.

In order to participate in the program this year, Teens should apply here as soon as possible and at latest by January 6th, 2019.

The Impact Investing Working Group meets monthly to discuss prospective impact investment opportunities, hear pitches from social entrepreneurs, and perform due diligence in order to make informed investment decisions on behalf of SV2. Examples of social impact companies currently under consideration: a land-rights company in Colombia that formalizes property ownership for the country’s poorest residents; an enterprise which extracts lithium more efficiently, lowering costs and environmental impact; a water purification approach which builds small entrepreneurs while reducing plastic usage; and more! All Partners are welcome to begin regularly attending IIWG meetings at any point in the year or are welcome to audit meetings on a drop-in basis.

We also welcome all Partners to attend the upcoming Learning Session on Public Equities and Market Returns. The evidence is in that values aligned investing in public equity funds yields market returns—and in this session, we’re going to help you take that evidence and put it into action in your own portfolio.  

Our panel of experts includes a return visit from Jennifer Kenning from Align Impact, who will share evidence-based research findings comparing returns over time for standard and values aligned public equities funds (both index funds and actively managed.) Then Anthony Eames from Calvert (index) and Bob Johanson from ClearBridge (actively managed) will share their perspectives on different “flavors” of values-aligned public equities funds.  These experienced practitioners will dig into the details of ESG strategies across markets and investment styles and light a path forward to help you move from analysis to action.

Other opportunities for involvement include joining the quarterly Impact Investing Interest Circle, led by Board Member Tony Stayner, and many conferences and learning opportunities in the broader Bay Area community. We hope you’ll consider joining this growing movement to learn more!

We have heard time and again that one of the most valuable benefits of becoming an SV2 Partner is the opportunity to gather with like-minded, strategic givers who share a passion for experiential learning. In response to this interest, we are pleased to offer a growing selection of SV2 Community Events this fall. Some events may be familiar to you while others are newer initiatives. Some of these events even offer gathering opportunities outside the SV2 office and traditional SV2 hours.

Social Impact Book Club

The Social Impact Book Club, founded and hosted by SV2 Partner and Board member Paru Yusuf, meets monthly at Paru’s home in Los Altos on Sunday evenings. In their upcoming meeting at 7:30PM on Sunday, Sept. 16, the group will discuss “Our Towns” by James Fallows and Deborah Fallows (RSVP by emailing Paru Yusuf).

SV2 Board Hosted Partner Community Dinners

We are also excited to share that SV2 Board members will be opening up their homes to SV2 Partners and hosting a series of Partner Community Dinners this year. The dinners will be hosted monthly and are designed to connect and engage SV2 Partners in small group discussions on a specific topic. We do ask Partners to choose just one dinner to attend this year due to limited space at each dinner. Our first dinner will be hosted by SV2 Founder and Board Chair Emeritus Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen at her home in Atherton at 6:00PM on Monday, Sept. 17 (event filled; registration closed). Our second dinner will be hosted by SV2 Board member Jim Basile at his home in San Francisco at 7:00PM on Wednesday, Oct. 17 (RSVP).

Interest Circles

SV2 is also pleased to continue hosting Interest Circles. These Interest Circles are brown bag events, typically held over the lunch hour.

Our Family Philanthropy Interest Circle, led by SV2 Partner Susan Hanson, meets quarterly to provide a safe space to explore personal experiences, successes, and challenges in family philanthropy. The Family Philanthropy Interest Circle’s first meeting of the year will feature a panel of Partners sharing their personal giving stories and will be held at 1:00PM on Thursday, Oct. 18 (RSVP by emailing Susan Hanson).

Our Impact Investing Interest Circle, led by SV2 Partner and Board member Tony Stayner, meets quarterly to explore impact investing more broadly and more personally as a complement to the Impact Investing Working Group’s activities. The Impact Investing Interest Circle will meet at 11:30AM on Tuesday, Sept. 18 (RSVP by emailing Tony Stayner).

We invite you to try out our various Community Events, if and when you can. We hope that you enjoy our expanded offering of community events for gathering with friends. Here is a list of upcoming Community Events for this fall:

• Sunday, Sept. 16 | 7:30PM – Social Impact Book Club
• Monday, Sept. 17 | 6:00PM – Board Hosted Partner Community Dinner – Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen (event filled; registration closed)
• Tuesday, Sept. 18 | 11:30AM – Impact Investing Interest Circle
• Wednesday, Oct. 17 | 7:00PM – Board Hosted Partner Community Dinner – Jim Basile
• Thursday, Oct. 18 | 1:00PM – Family Philanthropy Interest Circle meeting

As a community of givers and changemakers, we are constantly challenging ourselves to learn and grow. This fall, SV2 is pleased to meet the growing demand for learning programs and skills-based workshops by offering a special workshop: “The Journey to More Actualized Giving.” We are offering this session in partnership with Open Impact, a strategic consulting firm focused on accelerating philanthropy and social change. The workshop will be facilitated by Linda Lazor, SV2 CEO, and Alexa Culwell, Co-Founder & Managing Director with Open Impact.

What will I learn?

• High-level understanding of giving patterns in Silicon Valley
• Typical stages in the journey to more actualized giving
• Strategies to overcome barriers and build mindsets and motivations for strategic giving
• How to harness SV2 program plans to advance your giving journey this year

We will offer this workshop twice, in the hopes that all interested Partners may find the time to attend:

• Daytime Option – 11:15AM Tuesday, Sept. 11 at the SV2 office in Redwood Shores (RSVP)
• Evening Option – 5:45PM on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at Mitchell Park Community Center, Palo Alto (RSVP)

We look forward to welcoming you for this exploration of how we can all become more strategic givers.

We are excited to share our lineup of experiential grantmaking, impact investing, and hands-on learning sessions! Whether you are a new Partner, seasoned philanthropist, a working professional, or all of the above, we hope you feel inspired to join us this year.

Our programming is shaped in response to your feedback and is designed to invite all of our Partners into a year of learning shoulder-to-shoulder and practicing effective giving in pursuit of creating a more equitable Bay Area for all.

Workshops & Learning Sessions: Our program year kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 6 with a panel and Q&A on The State of the State, co-hosted by CALmatters. In mid-September, we will turn to the topic of giving with a workshop co-hosted by Open Impact. This session will explore the key motivators and stages in the journey to more actualized, impactful giving. We’re also excited to present a forum on affordable housing in the Bay Area, featuring Alumni Grantees SV@Home and Destination: Home.

• Thursday, Sept. 6 | 6:30PM – The State of the State
• Tuesday, Sept. 11 | 11:15AM – Workshop with Open Impact – daytime option
• Wednesday, Sept. 19 | 5:45PM – Workshop with Open Impact – evening option
• Wednesday, Oct. 10 | 5:30PM – Affordable Housing Panel

Impact Investing: Our 2018-19 Impact Investing Working Group (IIWG) will begin its regular monthly meetings on Wednesday, Sept. 12 (RSVP). Our IIWG meetings are a great way to learn alongside other Partners interested in Impact Investing. The group regularly hears pitches from social venture teams and conducts a rigorous due diligence process on promising prospective investees. All Partners are welcome to attend IIWG meetings on a drop-in, audit or ongoing basis. This year’s Impact Investing Co-Leaders are Partners Aarti Chandna and Karl Matzke.

Classic Grant Rounds: Building on the work of last year’s Pathways to Opportunity Grant Round, we are pleased to announce two Classic Grant Rounds this year: one focused on Pathways to Early Life Development, and one focused on Entrepreneurship. Pathways to Early Life, co-led by Alison Elliott and Clara Roa, will begin with a learning session and research work this fall, and move into a Grant Round from January – May. Entrepreneurship, co-led by Terry Connelly and Shalyn Eason, will take place in the spring. We welcome all interested Partners to participate—stay tuned for more details!

Lightning Grant Rounds: We are also thrilled to be offering two Lightning Grant Rounds this year. Back by popular demand, SV2 will offer another Tech Nonprofits Round this fall. This Round will be led by Partners Dan Barritt and Rekha Pai, and will meet on Tuesday, October 30 and November 13 (RSVP). The second Lightning Grant Round, led by Partners Lisa Jones, Ellen Lussier, and JoAnne Tillemans, will focus on Performing Arts in underserved communities and will be offered in spring 2019.

“How of Giving” Series: SV2 will offer three skills-based workshops designed to equip Partners in their personal giving, as well as inform the collaborative grantmaking we do at SV2. We’ll offer a learning session on Organizational Theory of Change this fall, our “Art of Assessing Nonprofits” workshop in the winter, and a deep dive on Nonprofit Financials in the spring.

“Get Proximate” Series: This year, SV2 will also kickoff an experiential learning series entitled “Get Proximate.” This series aims to be part of exploring our “why” as engaged givers. We hope that through this series, Partners will take part in mutual experiential learning experiences with communities and community-based organizations.

Family Philanthropy: And as always, we are pleased to be offering our ever-popular SV2 Kids and SV2 Teens programs. These programs are a great way for our Partners to engage the whole family with the SV2 community through fun and experiential events. SV2 Kids is ideal for children between ages 4 – 12 and brings families together to engage in local community service projects that broaden the perspectives of our younger children, connect families, and spark compassion for others and a love of giving in the next generation. Fall SV2 Kids events will be at Collective Roots on Saturday, Sept. 8 (RSVP) and My New Red Shoes on Saturday, Oct. 20 (RSVP). The SV2 Teens Program meets from January to May, and is offered to the 7th – 12th grade children of Partners. SV2 Teens is an opportunity for youth to learn about effective philanthropy, engage in meaningful service learning, and participate in hands-on grantmaking.

Community Events: In addition to building relationships at all of our events, we are providing additional opportunities for Partners to connect this year through small group SV2 Board hosted dinners, interest circles, and our Social Impact Book Club. You can read more about upcoming SV2 Community Events here on our website.