Blog
The Remarkable Story of Adelante Mujeres’ Growth
Almost five years after our investment with Adelante Mujeres ended, we are thrilled to announce the opening of their new Early Childhood Education classrooms in Forest Grove! Their early childhood education program has more than doubled in size and the organization itself has grown significantly. Adelante is providing direct services to more than 9,000 people, serving close to 10% of the Latinx population in Washington County.
Meet Our Newest Community Partner: Portland Children’s Museum
Through this new partnership, SVP will help Portland Children's Museum expand its capacity to become part of the solution for ensuring that all children in the Portland metro area have access to high-quality, culturally-responsive, and affordable preschool.
SVP Portland's Executive Director Update: March 2020
On February 25, Partners gathered to learn about and discuss our 2019 impact and 2020 strategy. In case you missed it, here is a recap of the conversation. You can also read more about our 2019 impact in our Year in Review, listen to the Partnership Meeting, or see the presentation.
Where Are They Now: Children’s Book Bank
In honor of our 20th anniversary, we are taking a look back at our past investments to see where they are now. When we first partnered with The Children’s Book Bank (CBB) in 2014, they were a five-year-old organization dedicated to closing the “book gap” that exists between low-income neighborhoods and middle- and upper-income communities. From 2014 to 2017, over ten SVP Partners and four Encore Fellows engaged with CBB to build their organizational capacity.
Workforce Development: A Critical Piece of the Puzzle
With funding on the horizon from both the Student Success Act at the State level the Preschool for All initiative with Multnomah County, now is the time to build the Threads of Justice Collective’s capacity to meet the growing workforce development needs. ToJC’s programs are vital to building a robust, skilled early learning workforce.
Preschool for All: One Step Closer
All children in our community deserve the chance to enter kindergarten with the tools they need to learn, grow, and be successful. When children have access to quality early learning experiences, their positive outcomes in school increase significantly. SVP Portland is proud to celebrate the Preschool for All Task Force's report on the current state of preschool in Multnomah County and recommendations for how we can provide equitable access to high-quality early learning for all children. This report is the first step to making universal preschool a reality.
Five Years Later: Project Impact Then and Now
The fact that MFS and Adelante have continued to build upon their learnings from the Project Impact cohort and expanded the evaluation strategies to multiple programs demonstrates how a small SVP Portland investment can result in significant, sustained return.
Featured Volunteer: Michele Beneville
If you come into the SVP Portland office, Michele Beneville is likely to be the friendly face who greets you. Michele has been a constant source of administrative support and joy since she first began volunteering with us in November of 2016.
SVP Portland Year of Impact 2018
At SVP Portland, we are committed to continuous learning and improvement in order to successfully build community capacity for solving problems together. We mobilize human, social, and financial capital for investment in nonprofits, collaborations, and initiatives to ensure that all children—regardless of ethnicity, wealth, religion, gender, or zip code—have access to quality, culturally-relevant early learning experiences*. To this end, we collect qualitative and quantitative data to understand the impact of our investments, and ensure we continuously improve.
Long-time Partner Kerry McClenahan Resumes as Board Chair
We are excited to announce that at the last Board meeting, Kerry was reelected to the Board, and as Chair, by a unanimous vote. Kerry is dedicated to helping SVP pursue not the easiest path, but the one with greatest potential, as we navigate inevitable challenges and evaluate opportunities for leveraging our resources towards securing “Preschool for All” and ensuring the long-term wellbeing of SVP Portland.
Please Welcome Our New Director of Investor Partnerships
In order to secure the resources to drive progress toward our early childhood goal, we know we must provide excellent stewardship of our Investor Partners, as well as strengthen recruitment of new Partners. After a thorough search process, and a unanimous decision, the hiring team was thrilled to name their choice of Matt Little!
End of Year Gratitude
As 2018 comes to an end and we celebrate the accomplishments of the year, we want to thank you for your deep commitment and service to Social Venture Partners Portland. Because of you, SVP Portland has expanded both the breadth and depth of our impact by investing more deeply in our current Community Partners as well as growing our portfolio to 14 investments—the largest ever!
PRESCHOOL FOR ALL - SVP’s Partnership with Multnomah County
Unfortunately, while more than 7,000 children in Multnomah County qualify for public preschool programs, only four out of 10 get the chance to attend, due to limited space and funding. For a community, that bodes a dismal future. For the children, it’s a tragedy of lost potential and repeats the cycle of poverty.
Encore Fellows Spotlight: Molly Olson
Molly Olson recently retired from Intel with over 35 years leading strategic programs and managing technical design and operations teams in the semiconductor and electrical equipment industries. She is a certified New Ventures leadership coach and focuses her consulting and coaching on strategic planning, implementation planning, program management and leadership development.
Pull Up a Chair...Early Childhood Updates
As capacity builders, SVP is known for being a leader behind the public leader. This is why we have been invited to seats at early childhood decision-making tables, where we play a role in driving a cohesive strategy and alignment in. Together, across sectors, we are building the capacity of our community to ensure that all children have access to high quality, culturally relevant early learning experiences. Please read on for a snapshot of important conversations in which SVP is participating at the State and local levels.
Children's Book Bank: The Impact of Representation
It's important to see how our Investees touch lives. Dani Swope, Executive Director of the Children’s Book Bank (CBB), shared a story of how books can bring communities and cultures to life for children, and give them the representation they need to make reading relatable.
QA with Jane Williams-Grube, Lead Partner for IRCO
"IRCO was on my radar ever since I moved to Portland. Perhaps I saw it as a way of giving back to the many people in countries where I lived, who helped me navigate culture and language while making me feel safe and comfortable in my new surroundings. I wanted to be involved."
Partner of the Month: Noelle Studer-Spevak
Noelle Studer-Spevak is our Partner of the Month! Noelle has been a Partner for two years and recently received the Oregon PTA Advocate for Children Award.
Advancing Racial Equity: Together We Can
As a partnership, we have expeditiously ventured into the racial and cultural equity space. We’ve been working hard to solidify our commitment, goal, and course of action, and we are bringing that work to bear. As we push our commitment to Advancing Racial Equity into the light, our CEO shares his experiences surrounding equity, diversity and inclusion with you.