An Updated Strategic Framework for SVP Portland

SVP Today: Meeting the Moment

For more than a decade, SVP Portland focused on strengthening organizations through traditional venture philanthropy. Since 2013 we have played a more significant role as engaged philanthropists who pursue equity and social justice. This intentional shift in approach brings us to where we are today, working together to strengthen our Community Partners who share the goal of equitable access to early-childhood learning experiences. Their focus is serving kids and families. Our focus is championing community-driven solutions and bringing our expertise to strengthen these organizations, collaborations, and initiatives.

Strategic Priority 1: Transform Ourselves & Philanthropy

SVP Portland is ready to fulfill our mission to build community capacity by mobilizing resources, but to advance social justice and racial equity we must embrace diversity and inclusion. We are a champion for racial equity, an influencer, and a hub for change-makers to both learn and achieve impact goals. To this end, we will live out our commitment to being a multi-cultural, anti-racist organization seeking creative ways to grow and diversify the resources needed for our work. But we can only do this if we grow the quality, diversity, and scale of our financial, human, and social capital. We will build and maintain trusting relationships with those closest to the issues we seek to impact, acting nimbly to fill gaps in response to community input. We recognize that the long arc for systemic change demands humility, deep partnership, along with the urgency to learn and act.

Strategic Priority 2: Steadfast Pursuit of Our Goal

Together we are paving the way to eliminate one entrenched barrier: access to high-quality, culturally-relevant early learning experiences (aka “preschool”). Our 2018 momentum-building efforts catalyzed the launch of a task force focused on “Preschool for All” in Multnomah County, resulting in a successful 2020 ballot measure that secured public financing. And now we are harnessing the lessons learned to do the same in Washington County by continuing to invest in the key players, collaborators, and system-builders needed to ensure financing, workforce, and infrastructure. We will keep working with current Community Partners as we expand our investments in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, all to grow and strengthen early learning programs and aligned policy/advocacy efforts. But capacity building alone is not enough. To effectively address intractable social challenges, we must acknowledge and address their root causes. We need to identify and eliminate the ways in which power and privilege, together with systemic oppression, have created barriers to opportunity for communities of color.

As a catalyst for positive change, SVP embraces these challenges. We accept that this may require a reckoning with our personal past and beliefs. Only through mitigating our ignorance and biases, and actively working to dismantle the racism embedded in current systems, can we contribute to achieving more equitable outcomes, and avoid being complicit in perpetuating existing problems. We will persistently pursue equity and social justice as we work to transform philanthropy on the journey to our goal.