Social Venture Partners Portland (SVP) continually seeks to understand how our investments create tangible change for families and communities who need them. One most recent example is IRCO (Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization), which continues to grow its early childhood impact, in part due to a multi-year grant combined with SVP Partner expertise, most recently through a new investment of our human capital. 

SVP Portland was founded similarly to many of our Community Partners—as a concept focused on making our community a better place for children and families. For nearly 20 years, we have practiced venture philanthropy: leveraging the money, skills, and influence of SVP Partners in local nonprofits and collaborations. Read on to hear directly from one of our founders about the beginning of SVP Portland. 

This is the type of program that probably wouldn’t have happened without the work of a committed SVP Portland volunteer team able to bring organizations together to create a win-win-win program. Now more Albina Head Start families will be financially secure, which should mean that young children have a more stable family life.  

A Partner since 2014, Oscar Mayer is passionate about SVP Portland’s venture philanthropy model and our current focus on expanding access to early learning experiences. In this feature, Oscar discusses the role SVP’s Portfolio Management Team plays in overseeing our partnerships with Community Partners to ensure they are well-positioned to grow their early childhood programs.

The SVP Portland Board of Directors held our annual planning retreat in August to identify intermediate success metrics indicating we are making strong progress toward our goal, as well as priority roles for the next year that position us to maximize our impact. Read on to hear from Board Chair, Kerry McClenahan.

On September 20th, over 600 people came out to support Latino Network at their annual Noche Bella event. One of the stories featured was the Juntos Aprendemos program, which prepares children and their families for success in kindergarten.SVP Portland's Lead Partner, Holly Levow, has played a crucial role in creating a successful partnership with Latino Network and was honored at the event.

It’s October and we are proud to welcome in the last quarter of the year by recognizing Megan Loeb as our Partner of the Month! At the end of 2018, Megan stepped into the role of Lead Partner for IRCO. Since then, she has been collaborating with the SVP Partner team and IRCO leadership to meet the preschool needs of their community. 

As we grow in our journey to advance racial equity, we are constantly reviewing our original commitments and looking for ways to deepen our work around equity. In this process, we have refined our goals toward advancing racial equity and are excited to share with you what we are already doing, and what is to come!

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!

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.