Linda serves as SV2’s Chief Program & Advancement Officer, working closely with team members on SV2’s programming and fund development. As the daughter of immigrants who left México to give their children a better life, she grew up working in the agricultural fields of the central San Joaquin Valley in California. In second grade, her teacher was the first person Linda ever heard say the word “college.” Until that point in her life, she didn’t know anyone who had more than a sixth-grade level education. But like her parents, she too believed that education could break the cycle of poverty. A belief in education drove Linda to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Stanford, a master’s degree in education from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in education from UT Austin. After a career in higher education, she returned to the Bay Area and transitioned to the nonprofit sector. Linda has over a decade of experience leading nonprofits most recently as the executive director of Upward Scholars, a former SV2 Grantee whose mission is to provide adult immigrants the boost they need to move up the economic ladder through education and career development support. Linda lives in Redwood City and is raising her son to be just as excited about learning, social justice, and service as she has always been. You can reach Linda at lprieto@sv2.org.

We are delighted to introduce Yajaira Chavez as SV2’s new Development & Communications Associate! Yajaira will be supporting SV2’s donor recruitment and stewardship, as well as strategic communications at the organization. Yajaira formerly interned at SV2 as an Impact Investing Analyst, working closely with our team on sourcing, screening, and due diligence of early stage startups to pitch at SV2. She also has a background in executive search and leadership advisory services for high-growth tech companies. Yajaira is passionate about philanthropy and leveraging capital as a resource for social and environmental impact in underserved communities. She holds a B.A. in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of San Francisco. You can contact her at ychavez@sv2.org and/or connect with her on LinkedIn.

On Oct. 8th, we had a deeply connective and insightful kickoff event to our Community Organizing Grant Round!

We gathered incredibly inspiring and accomplished speakers and changemakers:

• • Eddy Zheng, Founder, New Breath Foundation
  • Rita Mancera, Executive Director, Puente de la Costa Sur (SV2 Grantee Partner)
  • Ludovic Blain, Executive Director, California Donor Table

Eddy Zheng, Founder & President, New Breath Foundation (our Keynote Speaker) started by asking us to take a breath. He shared “if we don’t have anything in common, we have the breath in common.”

We were grateful to hear Eddy’s story. “Eddy  spent over 20 years in California state prisons and immigration jails. He is the first Asian American juvenile sentenced to life to lead a public community foundation. Eddy first entered prison as a teenage boy, barely old enough to understand the consequences of his actions. While incarcerated, Eddy faced the trauma of a prison adolescence while coming to terms with the harm he caused. He also began to recognize the countless racial and social inequities that delivered so many young men like himself into the U.S. prison system in the first place… Eddy established New Breath Foundation not only to offer hope of new beginnings to (Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) AANHPIs but also to unite with Black, Latinx, and Indigenous grassroots organizers to work together toward our collective vision of true healing and racial justice.”  (New Breath Foundation website)

Some of Eddy’s sharing with SV2 included:

• Understanding that organizing comes in different forms. People organized to try to get Eddy and his friends out of solitary confinement. This is “People power.” Another form is that SV2 is organizing to make a difference via our Grant Round.
• Practicing trust-based philanthropy is ‘keeping our ears to the ground’ – being in and with the community, honoring our lived experiences and understanding the realities. The New Breath Foundation does the reporting and expenditure review for Grantee Partners. They also pay for coaches and evaluation tools to help nonprofits understand the state of their organization.
• The importance of being vulnerable and in solidarity: Eddy shares his story and his perspective, when he talks to young people he lets them know he’ll be there for them “no matter what,” just as he tells his daughter. Eddy believes the same thing with philanthropy.

After this powerful keynote, we transitioned to connecting with Rita Mancera and Ludovic Blain, our wonderful Breakout Speakers. Attendees selected which breakout they wanted to join. 

Some highlights of our discussions:

Breakout with Rita: 

Rita began by sharing that Puente de la Costa Sur  serves 4 unincorporated communities in San Mateo: Pescadero, La Honda, Loma Mar, and San Gregorio. Many people in San Mateo don’t realize these communities are  there. Rita shared that community organizing needs be targeted; if it is broad, it is hard to achieve. She also shared how organizing takes a lot of energy and time because organizers are working to change a system. She shared that Pescadero High School doesn’t have potable water and hasn’t had it in 20 years. The community went to make public comment on this – this was a time when there was a victory and people realized they can make an impact. They now continue to meet, write letters, and more to improve the water conditions in the school. The group also discussed examples of successful grassroots organizing. 

Breakout with Ludovic:

Ludovic shared how power building is a movement for social change. He shared how gaps in policy and service are very significant, but trying to plug them with philanthropy can be hard because philanthropy is dwarfed by government. Community organizing is the most effective way to plug those gaps.

He underscored the difference between power building and power wielding:

1. The work that shifts power relationships (power building)
2. The work that makes good things happen from that (power wielding)

An example of this difference: a community organizes around their need for green space, and the mayor agrees to a new park (power building). But there are still many steps till the park gets built and used, including permits, design, construction, and maintenance (power wielding). Once power building becomes effective, Ludovic urged that we need to build power wielding structures to help community leaders and organizers succeed. Donors play a key role in resourcing those movements across time and across this whole life cycle – building to wielding.

The group also discussed how we fund power wielding (after the initial win). One big key to this is authentic relationships between nonprofits or electeds and donors. Being on the ground, in relationship, is what gives insight and knowledge to realize where systems still need to change.

We learned a lot from this incredible experience together.

Jason Zajac, SV2 Partner, shared:

 “As one of the newer partner/donors at SV2, I am so impressed by the effort the group puts into communication and education at all levels.  At this event, we benefited from presentations by several experts in the field of community organizing and one of the things that struck me the most was how excited they all seemed to be there!  Even though they were not candidates for this grant round, the leaders of these impact organizations enthusiastically shared their knowledge and experience and genuinely enjoyed being part of the extended SV2 community.”

Have an exceptional nonprofit you’d like to share with others? Is there a social impact area you are passionate about and want to inspire others to learn more? Want to hear about the nonprofits and causes that your peers support?

Join your fellow SV2 Partners on Zoom to learn about the causes closest to their hearts. Partners will each be able to “pitch” a nonprofit, social enterprise, or social impact cause – or just come to listen and learn. While SV2 events are traditionally pitch-free, this event is an opportunity for Partners to share their philanthropic passion with the SV2 community.

Format: Partners will have three minutes to share the basics about their chosen nonprofit, enterprise, or cause (e.g., why they are passionate about it, the organization’s model and story, and their pitch). All pitches are welcome regardless of the sector or focus area. You’re welcome to share about a nonprofit you love, a social enterprise you’ve invested in, or a cause you’re passionate about. After the event, SV2 will email all attendees with contact information for the organizations and causes that were presented, for those who would like to learn more.

Sign up here to “pitch” a nonprofit, social enterprise, or cause.

RSVP here to attend the event.

SV2 has funded and supported many inspiring social impact organizations over the past 25 years. Many of these organizations have deepened community trust and relationships, accelerated in growth, developed strong partnerships, and advanced systems change.

Four amazing Alumni Grantee Partners (Fresh Lifelines for Youth, Silicon Valley Urban Debate League, SOMOS Mayfair, and Sustainable Conservation) returned to SV2 to share about their current work and impact, and to reflect on the effect that SV2 funding and beyond-the-dollars support has had on their organizations. Participants left energized and inspired by what they heard about how social impact can be sustained and deepened over time. The four Alumni Grantee leaders introduced their work in a panel format, and then each organization hosted a breakout group where participants could dive into a deeper conversation about their mission and approach. The grants SV2 made to these organizations were in 2005, 2009, 2015, and 2016, and participants appreciated the opportunity to hear about the ways the organizations have grown and deepened their work over many years since their SV2 grant.

Some key insights included:

• The value of diversifying their Boards of Directors, especially by bringing alumni clients of their organizations onto their Boards.
• The crucial need for relationship building in the long work of social change: whether building trust among multiple nonprofits in a collective impact initiative, or convincing farmers to try sustainable agricultural practices to help replenish California’s groundwater.
• The importance of youth engagement and youth leadership from initial design of programs and initiatives, to decison-making, to engaging fellow youth.

We encourage you to learn more about these Alumni Grantees below. We’ve also included contact information and ways you can get involved.

• Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) | FLY partners with youth to unlock their potential, disrupt the pipeline to prison, and advance justice in California and beyond. FLY’s Law, Leadership Training, and Mentor Programs are based on ideas from youth who were facing years or life in prison. These ideas have been strengthened with best practices in youth development and crime prevention. For more information, contact June Wang, Interim CEO, jwang@flyprogram.org or Sherri Shaner, Chief Advancement Officer, sshaner@flyprogram.org 
  • Invite for SV2: ‘We will be hosting a “Why FLY” event on Nov 7th in San Francisco; this is a gathering where folks can hear directly from FLY youth and learn more about FLY.  If you’re interested in attending, please email Sherri and she’ll make sure you get an invite.’
  • FLY’s Impact Report

• Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL), | SVUDL helps students uncover and hone the power of their voices, so they can confidently step into their full potential as professional and community leaders. SVUDL creates dynamic spaces for students to learn how to exercise their voices through afterschool speech and debate, speech and debate curriculum, and debate-centered teacher instruction. For more information, contact Rolland Janairo, Executive Director, rjanairo@svudl.org. Rolland also serves on the SV2 Board of Directors.
  • SVUDL’s Impact Report

• SOMOS Mayfair | SOMOS uplifts the very people most affected by disparities to take action, to create meaningful connections with their peers, and to make an impact in Mayfair that supports their families’ immediate needs and future prosperity. SOMOS builds community power through community organizing, leadership development, early education and economic opportunity. For more information, contact Saúl Ramos, Co-Executive Director, sramos@somosmayfair.org 
  • Si Se Puede! Collective

• Sustainable Conservation | Sustainable Conservation drives collaborative solutions to meet the water needs of California’s environment, people, and economy for current and future generations – with a focus on advancing sustainable groundwater management and accelerating the stewardship of natural and working lands and waterways. For more information, contact Richael Young, Senior Director, Water for the Future Program, ryoung@suscon.org 

• • Invite for SV2: ‘We welcome the SV2 community to continue their water learning journey with us by signing up for our upcoming webinars. We’re in the midst of a webinar series called “Recharging California”. More info can be found here: Events | Sustainable Conservation.’
  • Sustainable Conservation’s 2023 Annual Report

SV2 launched our first California Equity Journey in June 2024. Sixteen Partners, Board members, and staff took a week-long journey through different parts of the state to gain a deeper understanding of our history, listen deeply to the stories of community members, and understand challenges and solutions at the local and policy level. It was amazing! We are excited about the transformational power of this model of immersive learning. 

Our journey began with two days in the East Bay, understanding the different people groups and histories in our state. We then spent time in Watsonville, Pajaro, Stockton, and Modesto, taking  a deeper dive into issues like immigration, farmworker experience, and water policy. The journey culminated with two days at the state capitol in Sacramento, helping us integrate what we’d learned on the ground with the efforts taking place at the legislative and policy levels. 

The itinerary was packed with rich experiences, from sharing a meal of indigenous foods at the Intertribal Friendship House, to standing in a migrant farmworker camp as strawberry pickers shared their stories with us, to touring an almond farm to learn about sustainable agriculture and aquifer recharge practices, to meeting with the Governor’s Social Innovation team as they told us about their housing and employment policy work. 

Partners loved the experience and expressed how transformational it was for them.

This trip was awesome. I really enjoyed it and was enriched by it. As I think about the portions that stood out, the farmworker meetings were tremendously impactful. I have never had a more powerful personal experience via SV2.

It was an awesome and amazing learning trip. The balance of get-proximate interactions and learning (presentations) sessions makes the trip effective and is aligned with immersive learning. I love traveling and learning with SV2 Partners and staff.

I find myself continually thinking about our journey, what we saw and heard. I think the overall experience has had a generative effect on my learning and expect that it will have the same effect for my giving.

We are thrilled that this first year was such a successful and impactful experience. We are already busy planning for our next Journey, and we hope you’ll join us. Stay tuned for more details coming later this year!

We’re thrilled to welcome Mariana Aguilar to the SV2 staff team as the new Operations Manager. Mariana’s role supports SV2’s daily operations, including finance, HR, IT, and communications. She also works closely with the Board and provides other program support.

Prior to SV2, Mariana served as Operations and Human Resource Manager at Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice & Empowerment. Mariana has been passionate about working alongside non-profits since she attended De Anza College in 2015. She holds an AA in Social Sciences and graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Sociology with a concentration in Global Information and Social Enterprise Studies and a Minor in Legal Studies. With over three years of management experience in a non-profit setting, Mariana has found that her true passion lies in creating supportive work environments that ensure all team members are equipped with what they need in order to contribute to their organization’s mission and vision.

We’re delighted to welcome Mariana to SV2. She can be reached at maguilar@sv2.org.

Our Spring 2024 Tech for Good Grant Round was insightful and hope-giving through our often troubling and uncertain times. 

As we connected with our community, we got real about challenges, including: 

• the ways tech has left misrepresented and underresourced communities behind
• the lack of diverse representation in leadership
• biases in tech design
• increased misinformation and community divides

We also learned about tech for good solutions and opportunities, including:

• the importance of changemakers with lived experiences leading tech organizations
• solving for root issues
• accessible tech training
• increased affordability of tech services and products
• how small or growing orgs can make a big impact
• equitable, rapid access to information and resources

After a holistic community nomination, learning, and selection process, we selected Ambition Angels and Tarjimly as our newest Grantee Partners. Each nonprofit received $90,000 of unrestricted funding over three years, and SV2’s beyond-the-dollars support. We are deeply honored to be in partnership with both of these outstanding organizations! 

Ambition Angels, founded in 2022, is on a mission to transform smartphones into tools of personal and professional growth for teens. Schools often don’t have classes for life skills such as goal-setting, decision-making, and financial literacy. Apps that are the most successful at engaging teens don’t necessarily have their best interests in mind. Ambition Angels focuses on black and brown teens, and empowers them with skills, resources, and support to thrive. The Ambition app enables teens to take their development into their own hands. Teens choose from a library of skill-building courses with bite-size, culturally relevant content, e.g. mental health, financial wellbeing, physical fitness, social media, and marketing essentials. 30-day simulated internships expose teens to diverse career paths while equipping them with actionable skills and real-world experience. For each 30-day internship completed, a teen earns $100 that they can redeem in the form of gift cards from their favorite brands.

“One thing I’m going to change after this program is the way in which I convey messages to people. Whether it be apologizing or asking for help from somebody, I’ll be sure to do it the correct way.” – Jason, Ambition Angel’s Communication 101 Participant

Remi Sobomehin, CEO and Founder, Ambition Angels shared

“My parents ran youth nonprofits throughout my childhood and instilled in me a dedication to serve divested communities. All of our youth deserve the highest quality investments, and when that reality comes to fruition, we all benefit.”

After Stanford, Remi spent his career devoted to the community of East Palo Alto, as a school leader and director at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, until launching Ambition. 

Tarjimly, founded in 2017, is on a mission to eliminate humanitarian language barriers to improve the lives of refugees and immigrants. There are 30 million refugees globally and 44% of them are unable to speak the same language as the people trying to help them. In the US alone, 76% of healthcare providers report inadequate access to interpretation services. Tarjimly offers free and affordable remote interpretation and translation services to nonprofit organizations, humanitarian volunteers, social workers and direct to refugees and immigrants. Tarjimly engages human multi-lingual volunteers who donate their time and skills to provide these services and leverages the power of community to offer free interpretation and translation at scale. Tarjimly rapidly increases community access to important information and essential services, including medical, legal, psycho-social and educational services. Originally a Facebook Messenger bot in a few languages, Tarjimly evolved to meet challenges in language diversity (120 languages), data security, and scalability by creating a HIPAA-compliant mobile app.

“One of my favorite Tarjimly memories is when I was at the ER with a new mom and baby. The mom only spoke Pashto. The doctor at the ER was going to run some tests on the baby so we couldn’t feed him, even though he was hungry and crying. I was struggling to explain to the mom why she couldn’t feed her child. I’m sure it was obvious we were visibly distressed! Then, I remembered Tarjimly and, with the help of a phone call, explained that we could feed the baby in an hour after the doctor ran some important tests. Both the mother and I felt at peace after that. Thank you SO MUCH for providing this service! I am so grateful!” – Aubrey Parke, Volunteer Coordination, Hello Neighbor

Atif Javed, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Tarjimly, served as an interpreter for his own refugee and immigrant family. He shared

“We stepped into the world with growing hate towards our faith, an unending refugee crisis, and an emboldened wave of xenophobia in our country,…” 

Atif has always been passionate about creating language access. He graduated from MIT during the height of the Syrian refugee crisis. When the travel ban was announced, he left his job as a Product Manager to launch Tarjimly to help thousands of refugees and humanitarian workers overcome language barriers. 

34 SV2 Donor Partners participated in our Grant Round. We asked about our Grant Round impact:

“Helps me to be more conscious of how I make my decisions on the organizations I choose to be involved in from a funding or volunteering perspective” – Byron Hill, SV2 Partner

“It opened my eyes and made me appreciate even more the incredible depth, breadth and creativity of solutions being developed in response to so many of the needs in underserved communities.” – Gary Grellman, SV2 Partner

Our Grant Round Community Engagement and Research Team comprised 18 people, a great mix of Grantee Partners, Donor Partners (adults and teen), and staff. Throughout our learning and decision making, we were guided by Donna Hiliard – Code Tenderloin, Iliana Garcia – Pal Center, and Quincy Sanders – StreetCode Academy – outstanding leaders with our Grantee Partner organizations. We are very grateful for this partnership. This Grant Round was co-led by Aarthi Ramaswamy and Shalyn Eason, SV2 Donor Partners, and Amy Badiani, SV2 staff. Aarthi and Shalyn’s thoughtful, detailed, and adaptive leadership created a deeply welcoming and impactful learning experience! 

 

We are thrilled to welcome four new members to SV2’s Board of Directors: Bill Brownell, Aarti Chandna, Elaine MacDonald, and Manny Smith. As part of our Strategic Plan’s emphasis on equity and power sharing, in the past two years, we have added four Board members who are current or former SV2 Grantee Partners. We now add an Impact Investee Partner as a Board member for the first time – Manny Smith is the Founder and CEO of EdVisorly, an edtech company which received an investment from SV2 this past year. We are delighted to welcome Bill, Aarti, Elaine, and Manny to the SV2 Board.

We are also deeply grateful for the many contributions of outgoing Board members David Dill, Alison Elliott, and Nancy Heinen. David served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group and the Finance Committee, as well as participating in impact investing and serving as a Partner Champion for two Impact Investees. Alison has led many Grant Rounds and served as a member of the Finance Committee. She also chaired the Board during a growth season for SV2 as we developed our current Strategic Plan. Nancy also formerly chaired the SV2 Board and more recently has chaired the Grantmaking and Impact Investment Review Committee (GIIRC). She has been a core Partner leader in our impact investing practice, serving on the Investment Committee and as Partner Champion to multiple Impact Investees. 

We appreciate all of these stellar leaders, and all they have given to the SV2 community during their time on the Board. And welcome to our newest Board members – please read more about them below!

Bill Brownell
Bill is an accomplished business leader with a strong track record in driving growth and transforming organizations. He is also a community leader with a passion for unleashing philanthropy and impact capital to solve social problems. Bill is currently on the Board of Schwab Charitable, which manages $30B in charitable assets and facilitates $6B in giving per year. He is also a Partner and Investment Committee Member at SV2, which invests in San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profits and social enterprises. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board of the Stanford GSB ACT Program. He previously served on Boards at Social Venture Partners International, Pasturemap Inc., and the Nature Conservancy. In his business career, Bill was Chief Strategy Officer at Hewlett Packard and Senior Vice President at Cisco Systems, where he led strategy, marketing and business development functions over time on a global basis. He was also a senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco. Bill holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a BA with Honors from Stanford University.

Aarti Chandna
Aarti is an impact/angel investor working with early-stage ventures. Given her deep passion for social change and empowerment, Aarti mentors social entrepreneurs and invests in innovative companies driving social change. She serves on the Investment Committee at SV2, where she is a Partner and has served on the Board in the past. She is also on the leadership team for MIT Solve’s Innovation Future Fund, an Investment Advisor and LP at Symphonic Capital (VC Fund), an LP at Black Opal Ventures, and Impact First. She serves on the board of Trustees at Case Western Reserve University. She is on the board of directors at Shine Together and recently stepped off the board at Peninsula Bridge. She is on the advisory board at the Center for Asian Health and Research at Stanford Medical School and the Miller Center – Santa Clara University. She mentors at Stanford Emergence and Stanford GSB Startup Garage. Aarti previously held executive positions in information technology and led global IT teams. Organizations she has worked at include Oracle, Hitachi, Coherent, Autodesk, and Nikon. Aarti holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Bombay University and an M.S. in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University.

Elaine MacDonald
Elaine Lum MacDonald is committed to harnessing the talents of the private sector to empower social enterprises to accelerate their positive societal and environmental impact. Elaine was the former CEO of Knowledge Impact NetworkTM (KIN), a network of passionate leaders sharing knowledge for social good. In this role, she inspired leaders to leverage their skills, insights, and connections to accelerate progress on the world’s most urgent issues. She currently serves on its Board. Prior to her role at KIN, Elaine was the Executive Director of Harvard Business School Community Partners of Northern California, where she motivated Harvard Business School alumni to leverage their business management talents to support nonprofits driving positive social change. Before her pivot to advance the social impact sector at large, Elaine founded a strategic marketing consultancy, was a Marketing Leader at the Clorox Company, and was a global management consultant for The Monitor Group. Elaine received her A.B. from Harvard College and MBA from Harvard Business School. Beyond the KIN Board, she currently serves on the Harvard Business School Alumni Board. She is also a partner at SV2, served on the Evaluation Panel of Yield Giving’s Open Call, and is an advisor/board member of nonprofits. Elaine speaks at events, conferences, and podcasts about the power of applying business acumen to social issues. Originally from New York, she now resides in California and is the mother of three daughters.

Manny Smith
Manny Smith is the Founder and CEO of EdVisorly. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy as a first-generation college student and served as a technical product manager in the US Air Force, developing satellite systems and software. Influenced by his experiences, Manny pursued an MBA at UC Berkeley where he founded EdVisorly, a platform to uplift community college freshman and sophomores with clear and accessible pathways to complete their bachelor’s degree at 4-year universities. In addition, Manny serves as a Major in the United States Air Force reserves, supporting high potential students in pursuing their dream of attending the US Air Force Academy.

Join us in welcoming these terrific new Board members!

 

On April 4th, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) and Redwood City Together co-hosted our Spring Connections event, Community Impact and Celebration Night: Teamwork Energizing Systems Change. The event highlighted the power of collective impact, as over 150 community-based organizations and leaders, community members, and SV2 Donor Partners came together for a night of open dialogue, guided discussions, and celebration.

The partnership between Redwood City Together and SV2 sprang out of the Community Initiative Grant, which is an unrestricted grant of $500,000 over three years, provided last year to Redwood City Together. Redwood City Together advances the success of youth and families in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks through community collaboration. This collaboration involves bringing together the various leaders in the community, all of whom are tackling complex issues differently, and forming partnerships across the sectors. Rafael Avendaño, Executive Director of Redwood City Together, highlighted that the spring connections event was what Redwood City Together had envisioned when beginning its work with SV2. He spoke about his goal of having everyone in community working together toward the collective success of the Redwood City and North Fair Oaks communities, sharing, “This event is that dream in action.” 

David Onek, CEO of SV2, echoed this sentiment, and in particular, highlighted the collaborative sessions that have been held during which Redwood City Together staff, SV2 staff, and SV2 Donor Partners have worked together to problem solve, share insights and resources, and learn about the community. 

Participants had the chance to engage with collective impact in action, as they heard stories from leaders in the community and then brainstormed at their table groups around resources and solutions. One of the stories that resonated with many attendees was from Dr. Linda Prieto, Executive Director of Upward Scholars, a Latina-led organization that provides adult immigrants the boost they need to move up the economic ladder through financial, academic, career development, and holistic support. Prieto talked about a program Upward Scholars provides to support adult immigrants in fulfilling the requirements to become certified child care providers. Prieto mentioned that some of the women in this program had not been able to fulfill the internship requirement due to their documentation status. To tackle this barrier, Upward Scholars partnered with Family Connections, another local organization, to create an internship through which these women could obtain the necessary experience to become  certified childcare providers. Prieto spoke about the importance of partnerships like this between community organizations as one of the ways that nonprofits can create practical solutions and better serve their community. This example too highlighted collective impact in action: collaboration between community organizations, sometimes organizations that span a range of sectors, that leads to creative solutions. 

Brittny Bottorff, an SV2 Donor Partner, noted “I especially enjoyed the table discussions as that allowed me to connect with others in a meaningful way and to engage with the topics presented by the speakers.” 

Throughout the event, attendees connected around food as local vendors, including a cake pop artist and boba tea maker, served their creations alongside dinner. Redwood City’s own José Castro painted a mural inspired by attendees’ responses to questions about collective impact, his artwork showcasing the diverse opinions and voices represented at the event. During the reception, eleven community-based organizations that are all core agencies of the Redwood City Together collective impact initiative hosted tables to share more about their work, how they collaborate, and how attendees can get involved. The organizations included the following:

• Community Alliance to Revitalize Our Neighborhood (CARON) fosters trust and mutual understanding between the community and the Sheriff’s Office through positive relationships, educational programs, community participation and collaboration, and shared resources.
• El Concilio increases education, employment, and access to quality of life services in San Mateo County.
• Family Connections provides free high-quality, whole-family education, paired with in-depth whole family support in the Peninsula.
• Friends for Youth safely and expertly matches adult volunteers with youth who need support through two mentoring programs: 1-to-1 Mentoring and School-Based, Group Mentoring in San Mateo and Northern Santa Clara Counties.
• IDEAL Redwood City (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Leadership) operationalizes and institutionalizes the City’s focus on equity.
• Pal Center merges public safety and service providers with community resources and Pal Center programming to provide equitable enrichment opportunities focused on wellness and mentorship, which improve life outcomes for families.
• Redwood City Together collaborates with partners to improve education, wellness, and equity in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks communities.
• San Mateo County Health administers public health programs and provides clinical and supportive services to the community, to help everyone in San Mateo County live longer and better lives.
• Siena Youth Center of the St. Francis Center Redwood City offers youth a positive, safe, happy place to become or stay healthy, to interact with others in the community, to receive mentorship, and to provide leadership.
• Upward Scholars provides adult immigrants the boost they need to move up the economic ladder through education and career development support.
• The YMCA builds healthy, confident, connected children, adults, and families in North Fair Oaks, Redwood City, and beyond.

Melissa Stevenson Diaz, City Manager of Redwood City, presented awards to the community-based organizations and thanked them for their powerful impact on the community. 

Attendees were also treated to two performances from local youth: “A Letter to Myself in Five Years,” a poetic performance from Dream Club and Redwood City’s own Afro-Brazilian Youth Drumming group SECOYAXE. These performances spotlighted local talent and centered the voices of youth in the community.

Iliana Garcia, an SV2 Grantee Partner and members of the  Redwood City Together Core Team, noted “Ivan and I were so delighted to have shared space with you all …my cup was filled that night. We are truly so grateful and excited to continue our collaborative work alongside you and our exceptional partners.”

Amy Badiani, SV2’s Director of Community Engagement, wrapped up the event by asking everyone to call out one word as they reflected on the evening. “Powerful” shouted one person. “Connection” shouted another. “Community.” “Motivating.” “Inspiring.” The evening further cemented the power of collective impact and gave all attendees the opportunity to see this collective impact in action.