Let’s catch up with our inspiring friends in person!
Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (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.
Join us for our inaugural event to re-connect with some wonderful Grantee Partners, on Thursday September 12th, 3-5PM at SV2 in Redwood City. RSVP here.
We’re delighted to bring together these incredible SV2 Alumni Grantee speakers and leaders:
- June Wang, Co-CEO | 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.
- Rolland Janairo, Executive Director | Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL), also on SV2 Board | 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.
- Saúl Ramos, Co-Executive Director | 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.
- Richael Young, Senior Director, Water for the Future Program | 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.
During our event, we’ll have a fireside chat in an energizing storysharing format as a whole group and then breakout into smaller group discussions facilitated by each of our speakers. You can select your own breakout!
Directly after this event from 5-7PM, we’ll have a Happy Hour social with some delicious food and drinks to enjoy at SV2 / same location. If you are joining us for the Happy Hour too (hooray!), please RSVP for that here.
Let’s be safe and healthy
We care about everyone’s safety and health! We are closely following CDC guidelines. Please do not attend if you are feeling sick or are experiencing symptoms that may be contagious. We’ll have hand sanitizer and masks available for event participants.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact Amy Badiani, SV2 Director of Community Engagement, abadiani@sv2.org.
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Speaker Bios
Rolland Janairo
Rolland has served as Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL) since 2018. Born and raised in New York City to parents who immigrated from the Philippines, Rolland has developed a deep appreciation for the transformative power of education as a product of the NYC public school system. While attending and after graduating from Brown University, Rolland volunteered and taught at a preschool in Providence, Rhode Island. He later earned his Masters Degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. During his time in Boston, Rolland was the Associate Director of Teacher Development at Jumpstart for Young Children, as well as the Director of Playmaker Operations at Life is Good Playmakers. Prior to joining SVUDL, Rolland served as the Chief Operating Officer at World Savvy. Across all of these roles, Rolland’s focus has been on supporting students to reach their full potential by empowering the caring adults around them to do the same. Rolland also serves as Treasurer of the Board of the Directors of the Thrive Alliance of Nonprofits of San Mateo County, as well as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the California Association of Urban Debate Leagues. He is also a Senior Fellow faculty member with the Institute of Nonprofit Practice. In his spare time, Rolland enjoys running, cooking, and exploring the Bay Area with his wife and two young boys.
Saúl Ramos
Saúl Ramos brings over 20 years of work experience serving immigrant communities in different capacities to the SOMOS team. He is a proud son of former unionized cannery workers and farmworkers. Although he was born in Watsonville, California, Saúl spent his childhood in the Mexican coastal city of Tepic. Saúl came back to the United States at the age of 16, and as a “US-born monolingual immigrant,” he shared in similar experiences of cultural dislocation as his peers who were struggling to establish roots in the United States. He’s held positions at a family foundation, school district, and several non-profit organizations. Saúl was the Deputy Director of Administration at SOMOS before serving as a Co-Director. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley.
June Wang
June has spent over 20 years in the social sector, supporting foundations and nonprofits to improve practices and build strong organizations. She has been an independent consultant at CHANGE/D Consulting for the past 8 years, where she has served in critical interim leadership roles at Life Learning Academy, Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She was also the Program Director at Listen4Good, a national organization helping nonprofits strengthen client feedback loops and center client voices. Prior to being an independent consultant, she was the Organizational Learning Officer at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and previously held positions in nonprofit strategic planning, corporate social responsibility, and management consulting. She was a volunteer with Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and has served on the board of Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) for almost eight years, three of which she served as Board Chair. She is also the Executive Director of the Lemala Fund, a small cohort-funding model which boosts nonprofit fundraising capacity. June holds a BA in Asian Studies and History from Williams College and an MBA from the International Business School at Brandeis. Born to Chinese immigrants, she is a native Californian and speaks Mandarin. On weekends she can be found hiking with her kids, reading a good book, or catching up on k-dramas.
Richael Young
With a background in economics, engineering, and entrepreneurship, Richael brings complementary skills for water resources management and policy. Richael’s career has been guided by her values of stewardship, excellence, and trust. She is passionate about driving impact in water sustainability and proud of her track record implementing trusted water policies and technologies across the U.S. West. Before joining Sustainable Conservation, Richael was CEO and cofounder of Mammoth Water, a company that developed software for water accounting and water trading. Richael has consulted on the design of demand management programs across the U.S. West, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Washington, and Wyoming. Following Mammoth’s acquisition, Richael served as a senior economist at ERA Economics, where she supported water agencies, environmental nonprofits, and agribusinesses with designing and evaluating cost-effective water policies and projects. Richael has presented her work at the White House Water Summit, Stockholm World Water Week, Techstars Sustainability Accelerator in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, and the Imagine H2O and Milken Institute’s California Water Policy and Innovation Challenge. In her spare time, Richael advises other entrepreneurs and enjoys walks and playing board games with her husband and family. Richael holds a B.S. degree in civil and environmental engineering and M.S. degrees in environmental engineering and agricultural and consumer economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.