As a trusted leader in the philanthropic realm, Silicon Valley Community Foundation is leading a COVID-19 Regional Response effort in the Bay Area counties.
In this episode, SVCF President and CEO Nicole Taylor and Executive Vice President of Community Impact Erica Wood discuss the foundation’s regional response initiative. The conversation highlights the critical partnerships across sectors, the Silicon Valley and San Mateo Strong initiatives and SVCF’s donor engagement and fundraising goals.
In SVCF’s Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Robert Stromberg leads the Housing Ready Communities initiative at Destination: Home, a public-private partnership serving as the backbone organization for collective impact strategies to end homelessness in Santa Clara County, California.
In this episode, SVCF’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Mauricio Palma, explores with Stromberg the intersection between civic engagement and collective impact. They specifically speak about the value of resident action as an essential ingredient in our collective work to end homelessness in Silicon Valley.
In SVCF's Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Vanita Gupta is President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalition.
In this episode, SVCF’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Gina Dalma, speaks with Gupta about her work advancing criminal justice reform; prosecuting hate crimes and human trafficking; defending voting rights, combating discrimination and more. They also discuss philanthropy's role in protecting civil rights for all.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Everyone experiences emergencies from time to time. For some Silicon Valley residents, however, each day is a struggle for financial stability and independence. When an emergency hits, they need somewhere to turn for help. The goal of the Emergency Assistance Network of Santa Clara County is to prevent homelessness, act as a safety net for residents facing eviction, utility disconnection and hunger, and help them return to self-sufficiency.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Mavericks Community Foundation Trustee Mary Oldham has worked and lived on the San Mateo County Coastside since 1980. She's an investor in Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, and though recently retired from her role there as director of marketing, continues to invest her time and resources to improve the Coastside community.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Kimberly Myers Hewlett is one of the newest additions to the SVCF leadership team. Serving as senior vice president, donor engagement, she leads SVCF's efforts to build and bolster relationships between SVCF donors and local nonprofits.
In this episode, SVCF Executive Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Melissa Daar Carvajal, speaks with Hewlett about her background and her initial observations since joining SVCF. They also discuss what inspires her to work in philanthropy and her vision for donor engagement moving forward.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Over the last decade, government funding for higher education has decreased by more than $9 billion dollars. The rising costs of a college education have primarily fallen on students and their families. Through partnerships with local nonprofits and generous donors, SVCF offers a variety of innovative scholarships that provide students not only with needed funds, but with coaching and support services to help them successfully graduate from college. Last year SVCF managed 47 scholarship programs, which awarded more than $2.5 million in awards to 500 different recipients.
In this episode, SVCF Scholarships Officer Dean Taylor talks with Savonna Stender-Bondesson, Coach Supervisor for Pivotal, a nonprofit helping foster youth enter and graduate from college, and Sarah Gentle, a Pivotal Scholar. Their conversation highlights the challenges students face and the successes of Pivotal's Bay Area program.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Scholar, teacher and activist Alex Schafran tells a powerful story of "the suburbanization of poverty, the failures of regional planning, urban sprawl, NIMBYism and political fragmentation between middle class white environmentalists and communities of color," in his recent book The Road to Resegregation: Northern California and the Failure of Politics.
In this episode, Schafran and SVCF Housing and Transportation Program Officer Vinita Goyal share their thoughts on recent housing successes, following legislative wins at the state level. They also discuss the popular "3 Ps" housing framework which focuses on protection, preservation and production, and tackle big questions like what to prioritize and how to incorporate diverse perspectives.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Vice President of Community Impact, Manuel Santamaria, has worked at Silicon Valley Community Foundation for more than 20 years, joining SVCF's predecessor, the Peninsula Community Foundation, in 1999 as a program officer.
In this episode, Manny sits down with SVCF Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Gina Dalma, to share some of his career highlights, philanthropy trends he is seeing, learning opportunities and what keeps him energized after two decades in the field.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
In this podcast episode, Silicon Valley Community Foundation is pleased to feature a conversation between SVCF board member Wade Loo and Nicole Taylor, our president and CEO.
Wade has been a board member since 2015, and Nicole has now been at her post for 11 months. Listen in on their conversation, in which they reflect on 2019 and discuss what’s ahead in 2020.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
This past July, the State of California rolled out a new program called CalSavers – an affordable retirement savings program for workers who do not have access to a retirement benefit through their employer. This program will help more than 7.5 million Californians and more than 300,000 workers in Silicon Valley to begin saving for retirement and more.
In this episode, Alexandra Bastien, SVCF’s Financial Stability Program Officer, speaks with Bianca Blomquist, Northern California Outreach Manager at Small Business Majority, about the role of philanthropy in supporting outreach for this ambitious new program and promoting financial security for all Californians.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Riki Wilchins is a leading author, activist and gender theorist as well as the founder of the first national transgender advocacy group, GenderPAC. Her work has been instrumental in bringing transgender rights into the mainstream LGBT movement and increasing awareness of how gender norms connect to issues of race and class.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
SVCF recently provided a grant to support the Silicon Valley Pro Bono Immigration Network (SVPBIN), a project housed within the Tahirih Justice Center that aims to increase access to no cost, culturally competent, and linguistically appropriate immigration legal services in Silicon Valley.
In this episode, Anne Im, SVCF's Immigration Program Officer, Zulma Maciel, Director of the City of San Jose’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, and Chriselle Raguro, Coordinating Attorney for the Silicon Valley Pro Bono Immigration Network, discuss how the network will support local immigrant needs.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
This past June, Governor Newsom named Kathleen Kelly Janus as his senior advisor on Social Innovation. This new position in the Office of the Governor elevates the role of philanthropic and nonprofit organizations as innovators and illustrates how our state’s philanthropy sector is poised to take cross-sector collaboration to the next level.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Almost 100,000 people in the heart of Silicon Valley do not have access to the internet at home, limiting their educational, economic and civic engagement opportunities. In some low-income communities, nearly half the population lacks connectivity. Mayor Sam Liccardo is leading the charge to make San Jose the first city in the country to close the digital divide.
In this episode, Gina Dalma, SVCF's Senior Vice President of Public Policy, speaks with Mayor Liccardo. Listen as they share San Jose's plan to bring universal connectivity to 50,000 households in the next ten years and discuss philanthropy's role in the Digital Inclusion Fund.
In our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
What does corporate social responsibility mean? Two of SVCF’s corporate responsibility team members, Vice President Stuart Burden and Senior Manager Juliana Deans, discuss what their team does, what brought them to SVCF and what excites them about working in CSR.
Learn how SVCF’s fifteen-person corporate responsibility department helps clients advance their philanthropy, give back to their communities and engage employees.
With our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, social impact initiatives in Silicon Valley and beyond, and we look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Systemic injustice is something that commonly plagues our court systems, and it is increasingly important to figure out how to resolve these issues and implement changes that serve the community. SVCF regularly explores and exposes these injustices, and works with lawmakers to bring people together, find common ground, and find solutions.
In this episode, Gina Dalma, SVCF’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, speaks with California State Senate Majority Leader, Robert Hertzberg, about the changes taking place over the past few years and how it is affecting the judicial system. They cover the possible ways to eliminate some of the systemic injustice of the court systems and where philanthropy comes in to play.
With our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, discuss social impact initiatives, and look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
For many in the Bay Area, a single emergency can derail a safe housing situation. And for some, losing that housing means living on the street in an RV. SVCF is working with elected officials, nonprofit organizations and homeless advocates to find solutions that will lead to permanent housing for our community members.
In this episode, Gina Dalma, SVCF's Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Chelsea Tercero, Program Director of Safe and Supportive Parking with LifeMoves and Chris, a San Jose RV resident discuss the proliferation of Silicon Valley community members living in recreational vehicles and the challenges around displacement.
With our Philanthropy Now podcast series, we explore trends in the world of philanthropy, discuss social impact initiatives, and look at how SVCF promotes innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
In Santa Clara County, 7,500 people are without a home on any given night. Destination: Home is a public-private partnership that uses collective impact strategies to to work towards ending homelessness in Santa Clara County.
In this episode, Erica Wood, SVCF’s EVP of Community Impact, talks with Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home, about how communities can come together to end homelessness.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
SVCF supports California Common Cause through our civic participation grant making strategy. California Common Cause advocates for independent commissions to draw district lines for local elections.
In this episode, SVCF’s Civic Participation Program Officer Jack Mahoney talks with Rey Lopez-Calderon, the Executive Director of California Common Cause, and Pamela Jones, a Menlo Park community activist, about California’s local redistricting revolution and how district elections can be one path towards better representation.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
What is it like to become a philanthropist for the first time? Donor Sally Liu knows first hand. A long time environmentalist, Liu became a donor with SVCF 14years ago, with a focus on green causes. Liu worked with SVCF to create a vision and mission for her giving. She’s now also a member of SVCF’s Donor Circle for the Environment.
In this episode of Philanthropy Now, Liu talks about this and more with her philanthropy advisor Andy Perkins, SVCF’s Director of Donor Engagement. Listen in as the two discuss advice for new donors and some of the things Liu’s been working on.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
In this podcast, Vu Le, creator of the blog Nonprofit AF, executive director of Rainier Valley Corps and co-author of Unicorns Unite: How nonprofits and foundations can build epic partnerships, talks with SVCF’s vice president of corporate responsibility Stuart Burden. Listen in as the two discuss the challenges of securing funding, and the sometimes fraught relationship between nonprofits and funders.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
What can be done to help our homeless neighbors in the Bay Area? In this episode, Pastor Paul Bains, who leads Project WeHOPE and Dignity on Wheels, talks with Gina Dalma, SVCF’s vice president of government relations, about his work to find short and long-term solutions for displaced Bay Area residents; from a mobile hygiene unit to an RV safe parking program for those who live in their vehicles.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Our nation’s suburbanization has prioritized the use of cars and highways, leading to traffic, pollution and inequity. Silicon Valley is no exception.
In this episode, Vinita Goyal, Program Officer for Housing and Transportation at SVCF, talks with Bob Allen, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Urban Habitat; Gary Hsueh, Director of Mobility Programs at Prospect Silicon Valley; and Lalo Gonzales, Program Manager at the Youth Leadership Institute.
Listen in as they discuss the state of transportation in the Valley and how the region can address community needs.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org
Many families struggle to find a balance when it comes to technology use with their young children. SVCF and Common Sense Media recently released a fully bilingual technology guide for grown-ups with young kids. In this episode, Michelle Sioson Hyman, Deputy Director at the Center for Early Learning at SVCF, talks with Maria Alvarez, Vice President of Common Sense Latino, a program of Common Sense Media. The two discuss how the guide came together, as well as their own struggles with technology use as parents.
Access the full show notes at siliconvalleycf.org