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Community Input Project:
Tackling More Issues and Engaging More Ideas

Strategic conversations so far have focused on immigration, arts and culture, economic development, environment, housing and basic needs, health and civic engagement.  These sessions have drawn as many as 80 participants, from grantees and donors to funders and community and government leaders.  National experts and thought leaders, such as Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, and Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, have been among those providing informative and inspirational keynote addresses. 

Evaluations from these conversations demonstrate success in meeting important goals, such as stimulating regional conversation and identifying solutions for meaningful and transformative change.  One participant told us,“[These sessions offered] a chance to share ideas, opinions, and see others in the field. Others ideas helped ignite [additional] ideas; and the mindshare [was] very valuable.”

Topics for additional conversations this fall are child and youth development, and education.  Later this year, we will launch the second key component of the Community Input Project, a community survey available at www.siliconvalleycf.org.
If you are interested in learning more about the strategic conversations, please download an issue brief, which provides the framework for the complex and important discussions, or access other resources from these events.

Silicon Valley is increasingly more global in character than any other city in California or the United States.  Two out of three individuals in the region are immigrants or children of immigrants.  It is critical to determine how we can best work together to build secure, vibrant and cohesive communities. 

Technological advances and new communication tools are also transforming the way Americans produce and consume arts and culture.  The arts and cultural sector is facing major, permanent and structural changes brought on by these advances as well as demographic shifts.  At the same time, arts education in public schools is declining despite a large body of research that shows a clear link between involvement in the arts and students’ academic achievement.

While Silicon Valley has long been known for its innovation in technology, more than 3,000 facilities generate hazardous waste, making it home to 29 federally designated toxic sites, most in the United States.  Energy, land use and environmental health, particularly for low-income and communities of color, are critical issues confronting the region.