Blog
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.
SVP Portland's Executive Director Update: July 2019
Dear Partners, In my continued commitment to consistent and transparent communication, I want to follow up to my April letter and our Annual Partners Gathering. I begin with a personal reflection, and am also including organizational highlights here for those who want a deep-dive on SVP progress.
Meet SVP Portland’s Newest Business Partner: CENTRL Office
After two and a half years in the George Lawrence building at SW 1st and Oak, SVP Portland is relocating to the Pearl District! Starting July 1st, we’ll be at CENTRL Office on NW Everett and 14th. And this isn’t just a move. In true SVP fashion, we are thrilled to announce that this is also a business partnership with CENTRL!
Partner of the Month: Liz Fouther-Branch
July’s Partner of the Month, Liz Fouther-Branch, is no stranger to the SVP world. While Liz brings more than 30 years of experience in the areas of art, education, mentoring, volunteer recruitment, and sales, her true passion is working with progressive groups that seek to change institutional systems that are inefficient and unproductive toward solving social and economic problems in under-resourced communities across the state.
SVP Global Summit 2019
In early May of this year, six SVP Portland Partners and three staff ventured up the I-5 corridor for the annual SVP Global Summit. Hosted in collaboration with SVP Vancouver, the 2019 Global Summit brought together Social Venture Partners board leaders, affiliate staff, philanthropists, and nonprofit partners from around the world.
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.
Restructuring of the Encore Fellows Program
As part of our three-year strategic vision, with a focus on the long-term wellbeing of SVP Portland, the Community Impact Strategy Committee approved a staff recommendation in April 2019 to focus the Encore Fellows Program for maximum impact.
Partner of the Month: Nicole Thibodeau
A regular feature in SVP Portland’s communications, Partner of the Month recognizes Investor and Business Partners for their outstanding contribution to our impact. We are thrilled to introduce Nicole Thibodeau as SVP’s newly-appointed Board Treasurer and recognize her as June’s Partner of the Month!
Student Success Act Signed Into Law
On May 20, 2019, Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 3427 into law, tweeting, “Proud to sign our Student Success Act into law today, ensuring our schools will finally receive funding at the level our children deserve. This is a big day for our kids, and their future." SVP Portland has served as a capacity builder, seed investor, fiscal sponsor, and champion of the Equity Collaborative over the past several years, and we are incredibly proud of the advocacy efforts that resulted in this significant outcome.
Preschool for All: SVP Partners' Perspectives
Our network has been deeply engaged since the Preschool for All Task Force and Work Groups kicked off last year. And, like all our investments, Investor Partners have a bilateral relationship with the Community Partner, learning as much as they give. Read on to learn about our Partners’ experiences with this engagement!
2018 Partner of the Year: Linda Hassan Anderson
At the Annual Partner’s Gathering, Board Chair Kerry McClenahan had the great pleasure of announcing the 2018 Partner of the Year award recipient. This year’s award went to a Partner in her fourth year with SVP Portland who has been an amazing force in our Partnership since day one—Linda Hassan Anderson.
Partner of the Month: Alex Nelson
A regular feature in SVP Portland’s communications, Partner of the Month recognizes Investor and Business Partners for their outstanding contribution to our impact. Partners are nominated by their peers.Change would not be possible without the dedication of Partners engaged in the community and, for this, SVP thanks you!
Please Welcome Our New Director of Community Impact
As venture philanthropists, capacity building is the core of what we do. With Lauren Johnson, our former Senior Vice President for Community Impact, stepping into the role of Executive Director, we needed a strong leader to guide the strategic direction and oversight of the capacity building we do with our Community Partners as we continue work on our “Preschool for All” goal. After a thorough search process, which included SVP staff, the Board, Investor Partners, and Community Partners, we are thrilled to announce that Rose Rezai is our new Director of Community Impact!
A Partnership with Metropolitan Family Service
“Dreaming about bolder impact, the transformative power of relationship, and remaining nimble through the unexpected” are three themes that SVP Lead Partner Dani Kerrigan believe sum up SVP’s two-year business planning partnership with Metropolitan Family Service (MFS).
Building Community Capacity: SVP Influences Early Childhood Systems Change
Last week the Early Childhood Coalition (ECC) and Children’s Institute convened Early Childhood Lobby Day at our capitol in Salem, and SVP showed up in support of the cross-sector effort. Dressed in blue, Partners joined 142 early childhood advocates from across Oregon and met with 63 legislators to ask them to make significant, high impact investments in early childhood.
Meet SVP's Newest Business Partner: Stoller Wine Group
We are pleased to welcome Stoller Wine Group as SVP’s newest Business Partner! Stoller’s own James Falvey will be representing Stoller Wine Group as an SVP Partner. James was born and raised in SE Portland, where he currently still resides.
Scaling for Impact: Juntos Aprendemos affiliate pilot project
Six years after our original investment, Latino Network has built its capacity to scale Juntos and is launching an affiliate pilot with two schools in Central Oregon. Director of Children, Family & Community Service Division, Sadie Feibel Holmes, shares her gratitude to SVP, with a note to the team of twelve SVP Partners and staff who worked closely with the Juntos team over the past several years.
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.