As our Community Impact Manager from 2017 to 2020, Sarah found synergy between her knowledge of early childhood education, background in marketing, and experience in project management. She was a ray of sunshine and exemplified what it is to be a community change-maker. Her passion and commitment to SVP’s work shone brightly, and it reverberated throughout our Partnership. At SVP, Sarah was energized about addressing systemic issues in the field of early learning, with a lens on the impact of our work. We were devastated when Sarah passed away unexpectedly in July 2020. Sarah was truly loved and has been profoundly missed. Her indelible mark on SVP will never be forgotten.

The SVP team is excited to announce that Dylan Hall joined SVP Portland as our new Relationship Manager! “I am deeply passionate about serving the community of Portland in ways that significantly contribute to increasing the cultural and creative diversity of the city in profound ways,” says Dylan. “I dream of a Portland where traditionally-marginalized communities become the voices of leadership and change, and I believe with the right focus we can become the epicenter of a powerful, cultural paradigm shift. I couldn't be more excited and humbled to join this team and get to work doing exactly that!”

This year we extended and adapted our unique partnership with the Center for Equity and Inclusion (CEI). CEI is a specialized consulting agency focused on advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts within organizations, education systems, and communities. Since our partnership launched in 2019, SVP has been a resource and capacity building partner for CEI, and CEI provides us trainings and consultation that help advance our equity work.

In November 2020, we celebrated a major victory: Multnomah County voters approved the Preschool for All (PFA) ballot measure. When fully implemented, PFA will provide free preschool for all 3- and 4-year olds in the county, though there is still significant work to be done to make this a reality. A September 2021 report (produced by SVP) detailed numerous, interwoven, and entrenched challenges and barriers for child care providers in Multnomah County that want to expand or establish new child care facilities. To address these needs and ensure that all children in the county have access to preschool, SVP Partners and collaborators recently launched the Child Care Facilities Initiative (CCFI), with the goal of shifting the Portland-metro child care facilities market to more efficiently and effectively connect supply and demand with minimal subsidies and interventions.

KairosPDX honored former SVP Partner Wendy Weissman at their annual Spread the Love Gala event this year. Wendy is the recipient of the 2022 KairosPDX Ambassador Service Award for her work with KairosPDX as an SVP Lead Partner for several years, and her unwavering commitment to the children in our community. SVP was a seed investor and early champion for KairosPDX well before the school officially opened almost 10 years ago. Wendy recalled “believing in their mission as well as the founders’ exceptional skills, passion, and vision.” She was able to apply her capacity-building skills, strategic planning abilities, and organizational development experience as a coach and mentor for KairosPDX as they built their organization.

Seven years ago, tragedy struck Kathmandu in central Nepal. A major earthquake killed 9,000 people and damaged or destroyed a half million structures, including thousands of classrooms. In response, the Nepali Association of Oregon (NAO) partnered with Intel volunteers to start a Rebuilding Schools for Nepal initiative. Julie Chang was one of the Intel employees who had the opportunity to not only volunteer, but travel to Nepal to assess how best to support the individuals and organizations during the rebuilding process. Julie’s passion to promote education in South Asia continued through the years. When she retired from Intel after 15 years of working in IT and the final 5 years with Sales and Marketing (SMG), she naturally chose an Encore Fellowship with NAO.

PCUN is the sixth and newest member of the Equity Collaborative. Since 2019, SVP Portland has served as fiscal coordinator, seed investor and capacity building partner to help the Collaborative realize its vision. PCUN started as a union for farm workers in 1985, fighting to gain collective bargaining rights. Since then, PCUN has become the largest Latinx organization in Oregon, and advocates for Oregon farmworkers and working Latinx families. The organization works tirelessly to empower Latinx communities, giving them tools to influence policy in ways that will improve their lives for the better. According to PCUN Executive Director Reyna Lopez, “Our members made the decision that childcare should be a top priority for PCUN because of the impacts that the lack of culturally competent and responsive childcare has had on farmworkers and their families."

A Dynamic Team is a group of people that come together to work on a short-term project with clearly defined goals and deliverables. These Teams are limited in duration and are formed in response to a specific need with a clear end date. Once it has met its goals, it dissolves. Dynamic Teams are responsible for making recommendations and decisions, but they are not responsible for implementation or performing work on a continuing basis. We evolved our governance model to include a Board with minimum responsibilities required by law that could then distribute power and decision-making to the Dynamic Teams and standing Teams. Work that may have traditionally been done by the Board will be distributed to those closest to the work and with the most relevant knowledge and expertise.

Diane Dickoff retired from Intel after a 30-year engineering career in August 2020. Senior Advocates for Generation Equity (SAGE) was a good fit for her Encore Fellowship because it allowed her to use her skills and gave her the flexibility to work from home and continue to care for her grandson. Diane shares, “I brought my past experience to help them understand from an outsider and older-generation person what would be helpful in their surveys, documents, emails, and website.” SAGE is a unique organization that motivates volunteerism through grassroots conversations and leadership development, so that older adults engage in causes that are vital to the needs of children and youth.

Earlier this month, we held an event to update the Partnership on our governance evolution and how it aligns with our audacious and extended goal of transforming SVP Portland to be more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. The robust discussion was led by SVP Partners and Board Directors Charlie Gilkey and Larry Fox. We want to share some highlights with those who were unable to attend, and look out for a Q&A about Dynamic Teams in an upcoming newsletter. 

At the heart of Hacienda CDC, and the reason we continue to have a strong partnership, is their commitment to early childhood education through their Portland Niños program. Hacienda CDC serves approximately 360 kids through three major programs: Portland Niños, Expresiones, and SUN Youth Advocacy. These programs offer a variety of important education and social support services to children from birth to 8th grade. They provide children with academic support, cultural enrichment, and health services that help them reach their full potential. In November 2021, our Portfolio Management Team approved a reinvestment in Hacienda CDC, including a $25,000 grant and Partner time, to continue to support their goals.

Katherine Fox is an Investment and Philanthropic Advisor at Arnerich Massena, an SVP Business Partner that empowers clients in both their investment and their philanthropic endeavors. As an investment advisor, Katherine believes in the power of philanthropy and the profound change it can inspire, which is why she was eager to engage with SVP. "One of my primary responsibilities is helping our clients build plans for more focused and fulfilling philanthropy. Working alongside other SVP Partners to become more active and engaged philanthropists has been a huge help to this work. I also benefit from learning more about the amazing work SVP Partners are doing and being able to share that work with our clients."

Our Community Partner, the Center for African Immigrants & Refugees Organization (CAIRO), significantly expanded its reach in 2021. SVP partners with CAIRO because one of their aims is to expand their culturally-specific preschool services, as well as their wraparound support services to families. We look forward to supporting CAIRO this year as they increase their revenue and program spending, engage with Multnomah County’s Preschool for All program, participate in Washington County’s Preschool for All advisory committee, and add partner schools for the SPACE (Schools, Parents And Communities Engaged for African Student Success) program to help hundreds of new K-12 students.

Have you ever noticed the green and white Ride Connection buses in your neighborhood? These community connectors are one of many ways that Ride Connection provides more public transportation options in the Portland-metro area. Ride Connection is a nonprofit dedicated to coordinating and providing transportation services to people with limited options in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. The organization has been in existence for almost 35 years, but in 2020 Wen-lin Wang was their very first Encore Fellow. “My Intel experiences helped me with teamwork and collaboration, taking initiative, being a leader, and having discipline to get results. This fellowship allowed me to put all these skills to work for my community.”

At SVP, one reason we are committed to advancing racial equity is because race and ethnicity play an outsized role in determining kindergarten readiness and because we want a strong, vibrant community. One way that you can advance racial equity is to educate yourself and others about issues impacting communities of color. When we begin with personal learning and reflection, we can realize our individual responsibility, and better understand how we can work collectively to make positive social change. SVP Partners and staff share what they have been reading, listening to, and watching as a part of their personal equity journeys. We hope this will inspire you!

As is our custom, we again asked Partners for their feedback through our 2021 Annual Partner Survey. Thirty-eight Partners shared their thoughts about their engagement, offered opinions about our communications, and highlighted their most meaningful and proud SVP moments.

Our first Board meeting in 2022 centered around the discussions of three primary topics: updating our strategic vision, forming our first Dynamic Team, and our Partner leadership recruitment plan. With Multnomah County’s Preschool for All (PFA) financing secured, we are now shifting our resources to help build critical aspects of PFA infrastructure, as well as broadening our focus to encompass community impact opportunities in Washington County and beyond. Additionally, we have evolved our goal of “ensuring the long-term well-being of SVP” to a more audacious and extended goal of transforming SVP Portland. We recognize that in order to remain relevant and achieve our goal, it’s imperative that we become more equitable, diverse, and inclusive as an organization. Furthermore, we see an opportunity to lead the way in philanthropy, modeling what relational, equity-driven, and community-centered partnership looks like in practice.

Alliance for Equity in Montessori Education (AEME) Executive Director Liora Berry knows about resilience. Years ago, Liora was a low-income, single mother, so she understands the difficult realities that some families face when trying to find affordable child care. Her personal experience keeps her grounded in her work today. It fueled her to advocate for the children in our community. In 2021 SVP Portland began a partnership with AEME to invest in both the potential of the organization and its leadership. AEME runs a successful free preschool program that serves children and families living in a historically under-resourced area disproportionately impacted by systemic racism and marginalization.

In 2019, SVP served as the initial fiscal coordinator, lead fundraiser, and capacity builder for our Community Partner, the Early Childhood Equity Collaborative. That same year, Oregon’s legislature passed the Early Childhood Equity Fund as part of the Student Success Act, providing funding for culturally-specific early learning, early childhood, and parent support programs.A report from Portland State University’s Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services (PSU CCF) highlights key findings from the first year of the Early Childhood Equity Fund program.

Our Community Partners continued to face obstacles in 2021, but as always they remained resourceful and resilient. We are inspired by their dedication to their missions, in awe of their creative approaches in the face of adversity, and honored to humbly walk hand-in-hand with them to help navigate challenging times. Our Partnership has remained steadfast in response to increased community needs during the pandemic and, together, we developed innovative solutions and accomplished remarkable impact. Our emotions are varied as we look back on 2021–a mix of gratitude, inspiration, grief, and compassion–but we are also hopeful. In the spirit of transformative change, we look forward to continuing our journey together, as a partnership, in 2022 and beyond.