Building Bridges in the SVP Network

It’s always special to be connected across geography with people who share your sense of possibility for change, action orientation and commitment to venture philanthropy. We got a rich experience of that on Friday night at a gathering of 50 or so Partners at one of their beautiful homes in Vancouver, British Columbia. We were invited to speak at their Summer Social Series focused on Collective Impact along with the incredible Janet Austin, CEO of the local YWCA.As two SVP Portland Partners and leaders who held different roles in the genesis of our Ready for Kindergarten community goal and the collective impact efforts that were generated by it, we were excited to share our story, insights, and lessons learned. It was energizing to have our excitement met by incredible enthusiasm by the Vancouver Partners to learn. They had TOUGH questions that helped us reflect on our progress, challenges, and growth. It’s gratifying to share how we have enriched our commitment to deep partnership with our Investees and helped generate $4.5 million for them following our $600,000 direct investment. And at an SVP, we know that we don’t just rest on our laurels so they wanted to hear about our challenges and growth, like understanding and acting on the importance of our commitment to advancing racial equity.

We always hope to be articulate and convey information that’s helpful to others. We learned today that the SVP Vancouver team is hearing great feedback on the event. In the SVP network, we're often heads-down and focused on our individual initiatives. It's nice to take time out to join and share with our brothers and sisters in SVPs, and learn what our affiliates are doing, learn lessons from them, and give and receive inspiration.