What an SVP Partner is Learning on the Goal Strategy Team
To help us pursue our Ready for Kindergarten 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. The team will inform SVP’s investment process by providing a detailed understanding and high-level perspective on Portland’s early childhood landscape. Here is what SVP Partner Ethan Samson has to say about why he's gotten involved and what he's learning.
I am senior associate general counsel in the legal department at Cambia Health Solutions, a non-profit health solutions company focused on transforming health care in our country. I support our venture investment group, which makes investments in early stage health care companies that align with our nonprofit cause. I really enjoy my job and I feel good about the fact that what I’m working on every day will eventually make our health care system better for all of us.
I was drawn to SVP because I felt like it was an organization that could make an impact in our community, and because I really wanted to see the venture philanthropy model play out. I have two young boys and being a dad has made me much more aware of how transformative the 0-5 year period is in our lives and that we need to make sure all kids get to kindergarten with the best chance to succeed.
Upon becoming an SVP Partner last year, I joined the newly formed Goal Strategy Team. It is a fairly even mix of SVP Partners and community leaders. One of my concerns when I got involved was that the team might be comprised of well-meaning, but similarly oriented Partners (similar cultural, racial, and educational backgrounds). That has not been the case at all. SVP staff have done a good job finding community leaders and the group has come together nicely. We’ve just started to dive into the substantive review of potential investments, but I think we’re already seeing the pay-off in the form of richer discussions and varied perspectives.
I’ve got a lot to learn about the R4K space, so I’ve taken advantage of some of SVP's educational events. I’ve also learned a lot just talking with other SVP Partners and members of the Goal Strategy Team. I wasn’t aware of how a stressful family life (parents working multiple jobs, lacking access to good childcare, etc.) can impact a child’s early development in such measurable ways. With my own kids, there are a lot of things I take for granted. Even things like the fact that they’ll never head off to school hungry and how important for success some of those basic things are. I’m really excited to leverage our work into great investments, and then to start seeing our investments make a difference in our community.