Wendy Weissman Honored with the 2022 KairosPDX Ambassador Service Award
KairosPDX honored former SVP Partner Wendy Weissman at their annual Spread the Love Gala event this year. Wendy is the recipient of the 2022 KairosPDX Ambassador Service Award for her work with KairosPDX as an SVP Lead Partner for several years, and her unwavering commitment to the children in our community. “This year we are honored to be standing on the shoulders of two phenomenal women who have influenced and supported KairosPDX from the beginning,” said KairosPDX CEO Marsha Williams of Wendy and Leadership Awardee Betty Dorsey. While Wendy does not seek out accolades, she said the award “made me feel very appreciated and loved.”
KairosPDX focuses on transforming education through a model built on love and inclusion, and elevating the voices of historically-underserved children, their families, and their communities. KairosPDX is poised to make a real impact on the root causes of the racial achievement gap in education. To achieve this, they operationalize a multi-pronged approach with the KairosPDX Learning Academy, a public charter school serving grades K-5, community relations work, linking arms with partners in the fight for education justice, policy and advocacy government affairs work, and via the KairosPDX Training Academy.
SVP was a seed investor and early champion for KairosPDX well before the school officially opened almost 10 years ago. Wendy recalled “believing in their mission as well as the founders’ exceptional skills, passion, and vision.” She was able to apply her capacity-building skills, strategic planning abilities, and organizational development experience as a coach and mentor for KairosPDX as they built their organization. Wendy and others were part of SVP’s innovative “Accelerator Program'' which focused on business basics to help KairosPDX get up and running.
Wendy used her corporate start-up experience to help KairosPDX meet their ambitious goals and timelines. She and other Partners aided in hiring staff, navigating real estate issues, marketing, bookkeeping, public relations, writing grants, and finding Encore Fellows to support operations. The investment paid off tremendously with KairosPDX adding a new grade to their school every year, and they continuously built a network of community support. In those early years, Wendy reflected, “every Fall was cause for enormous celebration” as KairosPDX successfully enrolled 25 to 35 additional children and families in school.
Today KairosPDX continues to thrive, and has expanded their programs to include additional services for early learners and their families and strengthened their community outreach. Launched in 2021, the KairosPDX Training Academy provides professional development for organizations, businesses, administrators, and educators. They are also a voice for change for young Black children and families by actively representing them at state and local policy tables, including as a part of the Equity Collaborative (for which SVP serves as capacity building partner and fiscal coordinator).
Wendy remains both proud of and impressed with the strength of the relationships we build at SVP, both with Community Partners and among Partners. “SVP always shows up to KairosPDX fundraisers in a significant way (even after the active partnership ended), and it is very meaningful.” Wendy is now on the board of directors of Adelante Mujeres, another former Community Partner, and says, “because of SVP, I better understand how to contribute in my role at Adelante Mujeres.” She adds, “I have maintained my close relationships with the founders of KairosPDX and the SVP Partners I worked with. These enduring, deep, and important friendships extend beyond my work at SVP and are an unexpected benefit of my time as a Partner.”