Holly and Zachary Levow are dedicated and generous Partners who inspire us with their vision and drive every day. Holly and Zach were members of the SVP network before their introduction to SVP Portland, serving as Partners at SV2, the Silicon Valley’s SVP affiliate. They joined SVP Portland in February of 2014.

This month, we'd like to recognize Roger Campana as our Featured Fellow. Roger has been with Schoolyard Farms for 15 months, and we're incredibly proud of the work he's done. Read his reflection on his fellowship:

In 2015, we made an investment in the Kindergarten Teacher Home Visit (KTHV) program, providing seed funding, and growth funding, as well as the time and effort of our partnership, to the initiative. Now, they are graduating, and we would like to share what they have accomplished.

We are making a $25,000 reinvestment in CEW to help them transition into stabilization and expansion of the program, which we have collectively been piloting and testing up until now.

Doss came to us from a brilliant and diverse career, starting with directing market research departments at several large consumer packaged goods companies (Oscar Mayer, Carnation, and General Mills) during the first half of his career, then transitioning to marketing and general management for several information and research companies. Since retiring in 2015, Doss sought a way to use his knowledge and experience to contribute to the vitality of the community.

"IRCO is a remarkable organization. Founded by refugees, it’s been serving the immigrant and refugee community for over 40 years. Its growth over that period has been amazing but one value remains constant: it remains community driven." —Jane Williams Grube

From October 20–21, SVP Portland engaged social venture partners from near and far to attend a two-day Learning Lab, co-hosted by SVP International (SVPI). The event was a deep-dive learning experience based on SVP Portland’s quest to achieve greater community impact.

The children that we seek to serve often enter the public education system at a disadvantage—their starting lines set significantly behind their more privileged peers. This holiday season, we encourage you to not only understand and address your own privilege, but to bring the conversation home with you.

On On November 13, at the request of Encore.org, SVP hosted a delegation from the Seoul 50 Plus Foundation. They sought to exchange information about the 50+ generation’s participation in the voluntary sector and about intergenerational programs for encore careers.

Erin Stevanus has been hitting the ground running with the Growing Master Trainers program since we made our 3-year $75,000 investment in them in May of 2017. She is a shining example of our Values and Behaviors, and we’re lucky to have her.

KairosPDX is an education-focused non-profit attacking Portland’s persistent achievement and opportunity gaps. The Kairos program model presents the opportunity to close these gaps and serve as a beacon for policymakers and educators across the State of Oregon and beyond. Having started with only a charter and willpower to build a high-quality, trauma-informed school, Kairos now educates over 80 children across four grades and is on a path to serve 225 children per year over the next three years.

David Williams, an Encore Fellow, retired from Intel at the end of June 2016, and slid straight into his fellowship at Friends of the Columbia Gorge. His work will be particularly valuable now, after the devastating Eagle Creek fire that scorched the Gorge, as he's been working to map the scenic, cultural and recreational values and resources which will need to be restored in the coming years.

At the Annual Partners Meeting on October 19th, Wendy Weissman was named the Board Chair’s Award for Passion and Service recipient. Wendy has been a dedicated member of the SVP community and has been Lead of Leads (the Lead Partner-in-charge for our investments) for multiple years. She’s gone above and beyond in her commitment to our mission and our goals, and we’re thrilled to be honoring her this year.