Plotting the Course to Our R4K Goal

At SVP we pursue the greatest potential, not the easiest path. To help us pursue our Ready for Kindergarten (R4K) goal to ensure that all children in the Portland metro area are prepared for kindergarten, we have built a Goal Strategy Team to plot our best course. While the SVP Capacity Investment Team currently focuses on capacity-building investments, primarily in single organizations, the Goal Strategy Team will focus on systems-level work and impact that can be made across organizations, stakeholders and even sectors. The Goal Strategy Team will inform SVP’s investment process by providing a detailed understanding and high-level perspective on Portland’s early childhood landscape (what we call the Ready for Kindergarten Ecosystem). This includes exploring that landscape to know what’s out there, identifying potential areas or organizations for SVP investments, and then developing initial hypotheses about what sort of impact could be made on a system level through those investments, known as System Innovation Projects. For System Innovation Projects, the team will also be responsible for making the investment decisions and providing oversight, strategic alignment with key stakeholders, and stewardship of SVP resources.

In order to harness an array of perspectives, we’ve put together a team of diverse and experienced R4K community partners, including representatives from Portland Public Schools, Maternal, Infant, and Child Health, Portland State University, Trauma Informed Oregon, United Way, Early Learning Multnomah and Community Health Workers. SVP Partners Larry Fox, Jock Kimberly and brand new SVP Partners Ethan Sampson and Lynne Wikoff have joined the team. These experts from venture philanthropy, the business sector, K-12 education, public and mental health, research/university education, and cultural communities will collaborate to develop and implement strategies to advance our Ready for Kindergarten goal to its greatest potential.