NEW Investments in Equity-Focused Programs
We are excited to announce that the Portfolio Management Team renewed our investment in Threads of Justice Collective (TOJC) with $15,000 and made a new investment in Learning Train Academy (LTA) with an initial investment of $10,000!
Monetary investments in nonprofits are always helpful and welcome, but the true value of a partnership with SVP Portland is an investment of general operating funds along with the expertise of our Partners. We exist to help these organizations grow their impact, while also helping them thrive as sustainable businesses.
We are working alongside TOJC to support their strategic organizational development, and to help balance their equity-focused mission with long-term sustainability. “TOJC is at a point where they have the opportunity to significantly increase access to justice and equity training and resources for caregivers and educators online. We are reinvesting because we believe that TOJC is doing something important to strengthen quality and equity in educational spaces,” says Carolina Castañeda del Río, Director of Community Impact.
Lead Partner Bala Cadambi further explains, “TOJC’s Justice and Inclusion toolkits and workshops align with SVP Portland’s goal of enabling high-quality and equitable early childhood experiences. These tools are carefully designed to guide the child development practitioners to remedy biases and give children the means to value and safeguard their holistic identity.”
We prioritized partnership with Learning Train Academy because their mission is to create a child development center that narrows the racial achievement gap for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) children ages 6 weeks to 13 years from working-class and historically-excluded families. They use an innovative play-based learning model to educate children in all areas of academic performance. As Carolina puts it, “This investment is important because LTA is a BIPOC-led nonprofit startup with a promising vision for increasing access to early learning experiences and scaling their programs.” She adds, "Executive Director Ashley Rollins is a social entrepreneur, and the type of leader we want to get behind!”
LTA’s immediate goal is to expand daycare and preschool services in the Portland-Vancouver area through their Academy Program and before and after-school care through their 2.0 Program. In addition to offering child-centered, play-inspired Spanish-immersion learning experiences, they want to develop curriculum, outreach services, and wrap-around services for families.
Both of these organizations reflect community needs and we look forward to working with them!
