On April 9th, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) and Redwood City Together co-hosted our third annual Spring Connections event, Community Impact and Celebration Night. The event highlighted the power of collective impact, as over 100 community-based leaders, community members, and SV2 Donor Partners came together, shared, and learned through 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 in 2023 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 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, and Dr. Linda Prieto, SV2’s Chief Program & Advancement Officer, reflected on our partnership during the opening welcome. Rafael highlighted the power of the Community Collaboration for Children’s Success (CCCS) Core team, “The power that we carry as a collective is our proximity of reach to offer a blanket of support. We are coming together as 11 partners to offer a blanket of love to our community when it comes to providing social services and positive relationships.”
Participants walked away with a better understanding of Redwood City Together, the CCCS collaborative, and the SV2 organization. Linda closed their dialogue saying, “SV2 is excited to be in partnership with Redwood City Together because we hope this work accelerates the learning and relationship building of our SV2 Donor Partners, which leads to positive impact for our SV2 partners as community members and within SV2 as an organization. While in service of common goals, we strive collaboratively for social change, and hope our joint efforts result in greater gains for the Redwood City/North Fair Oaks community.”
Participants then engaged with collective impact in action and discussed:
- How much do youth employment, youth spaces, childcare, and mentorship affect the health and well-being of youth and families in our community?
- How much do resources and support for mixed-status families affect the health and well-being of youth and families in our community?
- How well is our community working to address these issues?
Participants were then presented with opportunities to do service, give, and connect with fellow changemakers. These opportunities were shared for youth employment (e.g., recruit youth for internships, jobs, and leadership opportunities), youth recreational spaces (e.g., give one youth a summer gym membership), childcare (e.g., share resources to help caregivers find local childcare options), support for mixed-status families (e.g., cover the cost of a Know Your Rights event), and mentorship opportunities (e.g., volunteer as a mentor for youth).
Community members were deeply impacted by the event experience:
Jan Half, an SV2 Donor Partner, noted, “ …For prospective and current SV2 partners, it was very effective to learn more about Redwood City Together and their 11 partner nonprofits because they didn’t just tell us about themselves. They WERE the program, so we were immersed in it…”
Miriam Taracena, another community member, expressed “Muchas gracias por la invitación fue de gran información para seguir trabajando con nuestra bendecida comunidad y nuestros jóvenes.” (Thank you very much for the invitation. It was very informative to continue working with our blessed community and our youth.)
Andres Romero, Executive Director, Sequoia YMCA, and Core Team Leader shared, “The Spring Connections event underscored the power of honest dialogue. Engaging directly with community members provides invaluable insight, highlighting both our successes as community-based organizations and the crucial areas where we must lean in further to effectively address community needs.”
Throughout the event, attendees connected around food, music, and dancing. The event kicked off with a fun and engaging community line dance of El Caballo Dorado (Achy Breaky Heart), and Redwood City’s own Casa Circulo Cultural performed vibrant, celebratory folklórico dances, highlighting different folk music of México.
The following community-based organizations working closely together to advance collective impact were celebrated and recognized by Connie Franco, Legislative Aide, District 4 Supervisor Gauthier Office:
- 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, collaboration, and shared resources.
- El Concilio increases education, employment, and access to quality of life services to underserved communities in San Mateo County.
- Family Connections provides free, high-quality, early learning classes, caregiver education, mental health services, and community groups and workshops to families with young children ages 0 through 5 in San Mateo County.
- Friends for Youth’s mission is to empower underserved youth through mentorship and community relationships. Their vision is to provide every young person who needs a mentor with a mentor.
- IDEAL Redwood City helps the city government ensure fair services and opportunities for all community members.
- Pal Center is a vital community service resource that partners with youth, families, and service providers to co-create solutions that build brighter futures. They bring together the experience of public safety professionals and community organizations to advance public safety, social equity, and financial empowerment in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks.
- Redwood City Together collaborates with partners to improve education, wellness, and equity in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks communities.
- Public Health, Policy & Planning protects the health of everyone who lives, works, learns, and plays in San Mateo County by preventing the spread of communicable diseases, delivering targeted health care services, providing public health laboratory testing, and building communities that make it easy to stay healthy.
- Siena Youth Center of the St. Francis Center in 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.
Jennifer Martinez and Martha Verdugo, with One Life Counseling (SV2 Alumni Grantee Partner), offered wellness, therapy, and peer counseling resources to anyone who wanted them during or after our event. One Life Counseling aims to inspire, educate, and provide accessible counseling for anyone who needs it.
Brenda Graciano and Yeny Henriquez, with Upward Scholars (SV2 Alumni Grantee Partner), provided translation and interpretation.
Amy Badiani, SV2’s Director of Community Engagement, and Elisa Chavez, Redwood City Together’s Collective Impact Coordinator wrapped up the event by asking the community to share reflections and takeaways – “joy”, the importance of resource sharing, and a shared sense of community and belonging through challenges emerged as some key themes. We also honored the reflections with our hands on our hearts and had a mindful moment together.
Thank you to our generous event sponsors: Amalgamated Bank, Next Legacy, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for their role in helping to make our Spring Connections event a success!