Have you ever wanted to learn more about SV2 Grantees’ progress in the second and third years of their relationship with SV2? Curious about lessons learned from our first three years of Impact Investing? Interested in better understanding SV2’s overall portfolio of grants and impact investments?

Each spring, the SV2 Board’s Grant and Impact Investment Review Committee (GIIRC) engages with questions like these through its annual review and evaluation of SV2’s full grant and impact investment portfolio. All current SV2 Partners are invited to participate in this unique learning opportunity.

On Thursday, May 31 from 10:00am – 2:30pm, all Partners are welcome to join the annual SV2 Portfolio Review meeting. Partners are welcome to join for the entire meeting or to choose a segment of particular interest to them, such as:

• Grantee reporting from 10:00am – 12:00pm
• Impact Investing reporting 12:00pm – 1:15pm
• Overall Portfolio discussion from 1:15pm – 2:15pm (attending other parts of the meeting will give helpful context for this discussion)

In the interest of time, we ask that Partners who are not on the GIIRC take an “observer only” role during the Lead Partner reporting sessions. All attendees are welcome to fully participate through questions and discussion during the Impact Investing overview and Portfolio Insights and Learning session.Please RSVP here by Friday, May 25 – this will enable you to receive the written reports for advance review before the meeting. We look forward to learning together in a day of discussion and insight.

Full Agenda

• 10:00am – 11:30am: Lead Partners will share reports on our five current “classic” (three-year) Grantees
• 11:30am – 12:00pm: Report on Lightning Grantees
• 12:00pm – 12:30pm: Lunch and Impact Investing Overview
• 12:30pm – 1:15pm: Lead Partners will share reports on our Impact Investees
• 1:15pm – 2:15pm: Portfolio Insights and Learning discussion
• 2:15pm – 2:30pm: GIIRC Executive Session

SV2’s three-part Advocacy is Everywhere Deep Dive Workshop Series launched on February 2 with a full house focused on the 30,000-foot view of the interplay between advocacy and philanthropy. Christine Sherry of Sherry Consulting led a dynamic learning session, with special guests Amanda Stanley of Compass Science Communications and Rebekah Saul Butler of the Grove Foundation.

The second session on March 28 – Funding Advocacy, Funding your Values –  focused on the do’s and don’ts for social impact organizations and explored what advocacy could look like in action, featuring Sara Matlin of Bolder Advocacy, an initiative of Alliance for Justice with special guest, Salimah Hankins, Senior Housing Attorney at Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto (CLSEPA). Sara offered us unparalleled knowledge delivered in an accessible way and all with a delightful sense of humor. She illuminated what social impact leaders need to understand the legal tax-related rules and regulations for non-profits, and how funders and organizations come together to maximize dollars and undertake advocacy efforts that drive systems-level change.

In our third and final session on Tuesday, April 24 (RSVP here) we will conclude this series by exploring practical and applied advocacy.

By boosting our collective “advocacy literacy,” we hope participants in this workshop series will be better able to evaluate whether, when, and how they want to incorporate advocacy as a social change lever in their philanthropy and work. We look forward to having you join us for our third session on Tuesday, April 24 at 9:00am (RSVP here).

Don’t miss SV2’s Spring Gathering, Resilience in Action: Strengthening Communities in Turbulent Times on Wednesday, May 16 from 6:00-8:30 pm. We’ll hear from Grantees Somos Mayfair and Youth Law Center on how they’re actively working to flip the script through responsive community-led initiatives, and how funders can most effectively support them in this work. We’ll also have plenty of time to connect with old and new friends, and we’ll honor the recipient of the 2018 Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Social Impact Award. RSVP today! 

Through candid conversations, we’ll hear from Camille Llanes-Fontanilla, Executive Director of longtime Grantee Somos Mayfair, and Jennifer Rodrigruez, Executive Director of new Grantee Youth Law Center.  They’ll share about each of their organizations, how they define resilience and how they’re finding hope and making change in today’s turbulent times.

We’ll also take the conversation beyond the stage, leaving time to connect over hors d’oeuvres and drinks. And we’ll honor one outstanding SV2 Partner who will receive the 2018 Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Social Impact Award for his or her contributions to SV2’s social impact and community.

We can’t wait to see you there.

We are delighted to introduce and welcome One Degree to the SV2 community! As winner of the Tech Nonprofits Lightning Grant Round, One Degree will receive a one-year general operating support grant of $30,000. The Tech Nonprofits Lightning Grant Round focused on organizations who use technology as the delivery structure to solve a variety of social challenges. The social challenges represented a broad spectrum, including language barriers preventing low-income parents from engaging in their children’s education, lack of access to social services, and underreporting of sexual assault. Partners were deeply impressed by the passion and savvy of these organizations’ leaders, and their creative use of technology to address entrenched social issues.

One Degree is a technology-driven nonprofit organization that helps low-income families access the resources they need to achieve social and economic mobility and, ultimately, improve their lives. Their platform has become the go-to tool for people seeing help – and the people who support them, such as case managers and social workers – throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County.

The organization currently operates two major products: One Degree and One Home. Thousands of people in the Bay Area rely on One Degree’s core platform to access health care, food banks, employment services, and much more. Through One Home, the organization works to ensure every family has a safe and stable home by making it easy to find and apply for affordable housing.

Rey Faustino, One Degree’s founder and CEO, was inspired to start the organization through his experience growing up in a working class Filipino immigrant family in Los Angeles. While his parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, like many new immigrants, his family still faced the challenges of meeting their basic needs, such as health care, educational programs, and immigration services. Knowing where to go for help was simply too hard. Rey founded One Degree to ensure everyone has access to the critical, life-saving resources he and his family needed.

We are inspired by the ways in which One Degree is helping thousands of people access the services they need to create opportunity in their lives. We are excited to work with and learn from our newest Grantee!

To learn more, please visit One Degree’s website and stay tuned for future updates about One Degree’s work.

Dear SV2 community,

On behalf of the SV2 Board of Directors, I am excited to announce that Linda Lazor will be our new CEO, starting Monday, March 12, 2018. After a rigorous seven-month search process, supported by the Executive Search firm Carlson Beck, we have found an excellent leader who can take SV2 to the next level and are thrilled that it is someone who is “close to home.”

SV2 has a unique window of opportunity now to expand our role as a philanthropic intermediary toconnect the burgeoning wealth of Silicon Valley with the critical and growing areas of need in our communities. What we have been looking for is a leader that can take advantage of that opportunity and take SV2 to the “next level” of partnership growth and value, alignment with other funders, and stronger social impact.

Linda is a current SV2 Board member and Partner Leader who has shown her ability to advance SV2, working closely with our talented staff and Partners. This includes her work in architecting our new grantmaking framework (Pathways to Opportunity), working closely with Alison Elliott and Jody Chang, and her work on our Partner recruiting approach with Aarti Chandna, Lisa Van Dusen and Carrie Boyle, which is contributing to the fastest Partner growth year SV2 has ever had.

SV2’s Founder Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen commented about Linda: “Rarely in SV2’s 20 year history have I encountered anyone who both understands the power of our model so completely and possesses the unique combination of strategic, tactical, and visionary skills that I see in Linda. Her beautiful, empathetic heart coupled with her brilliant, creative mind make her a powerful force for good and an ideal new SV2 CEO.”

Linda also has a track record of leadership accomplishments in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors. Her most recent role was as Chief of Staff at Partners in School Innovation, a national education nonprofit and former SV2 Grantee. There, she led strategy and planning, design thinking, and improvement initiatives. Derek Mitchell, the CEO of Partners in School Innovation, commented that “Linda has an exceptional combination of strong business acumen coupled with a deep humanity, transparent heart, and compassion for those unfairly locked out of successful pathways. While working with us, Linda was brilliant and personable and quite effective at essentially any task we set before her.”

Her nonprofit work also includes roles on the Citizen Schools California Advisory Board and extensive “on the ground” service work in East San Jose, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City including teaching roles and also leading initiatives with faith-based organizations to serve schools.

Linda’s corporate background includes executive roles in marketing, strategy, and operations at Peoplesoft, HP, and Cisco. We believe that Linda’s business experience will help with SV2’s growing links to corporations and funders as well as in working with Partners with a business background on their philanthropic journey. Linda holds degrees from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Purdue University.

I would like to personally thank the Search Committee which, in addition to myself, included Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Aarti Chandna, Nancy Lue, Kelly Pope, and Tony Stayner. This group put in many, many hours of work during the past several months and showed their dedication to SV2.

I would also like to thank the staff team, led on an interim basis by Jody Chang and also including Carrie Boyle, Ashley Clark, Courtney Martin, and Lisa Van Dusen, for their exceptional work this year and high-quality execution as they kept SV2 moving ahead effectively while we were in process on a leadership transition.

Most importantly, I would like to thank Linda for stepping up to this role with her “servant leader” mentality.

Please join me in congratulating Linda Lazor and warmly welcoming her in her new role as our CEO!

Bill Brownell, SV2 Board Chair

It’s time to nominate a fellow Partner for the 2018 Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Social Impact Award. Each year, this award is presented to an SV2 Partner who has gone above and beyond in their service on behalf of SV2 and/or our Grantees and Impact Investees.

Past award recipients: Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen (2010), Mark Parnes (2011), Laura Lauder (2012), Nancy Heinen (2015), Kelly Pope (2016), and Alison Elliott (2017, pictured to the right). In SV2’s 15th anniversary year (2013-14), the awardees were a group of SV2 Pioneers, Partners without whom SV2 would not be what it is today: Susan Ford Dorsey, Marcia & John Goldman, Ted & Kathleen Kelly Janus, Karla & Steve Jurvetson, Charlene & Derry Kabcenell, Jeff Skoll, Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, and Akiko Yamazaki & Jerry Yang.

Nomination process & deadline: Any SV2 Partner may nominate another Partner for the 2018 award using this form. Please submit your nominations to Jody Chang via email by Sunday, April 1, 2018. SV2’s Board Executive Committee will serve as the selection committee. The award recipient will then be unveiled at SV2’s 2018 Spring Gathering, Resilience in Action: Strengthening Communities in Turbulent Times on Wednesday, May 10.

Greetings Partners,

On behalf of the SV2 Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that we will have seats on the Board to be filled this spring. The SV2 Board has limited terms, and some current members will be terming off. There will be an open application process – any Partner who is interested in serving on the SV2 Board should fill out the Statement of Interest form, which you can access and download here.

If you are interested in applying, please email your completed form to the chair of SV2’s Nominating & Governance Board Committee, Nancy Lue, by May 4, 2018. The Nominating & Governance Committee will review all Statements of Interest in May and will be in touch with applicants individually at that time.

New Board members will attend a Board orientation over the summer, and begin serving on the Board in Fall 2018. If you have any questions about the SV2 Board or the Board application process, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to serving with the new Board members who will help steward SV2 through our next exciting chapter.

With excitement and appreciation,

Bill Brownell, Board Chair