INITIATIVES & IMPACT

Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst for positive change.

Through responsive grantmaking and strategic initiatives, we provide innovative solutions to the region’s most challenging problems.

We don’t do it alone. We bring together diverse groups of people to consider the complexity of the issues and the most strategic solutions for lasting change. Our partners include nonprofits, donors, government leaders, business people, faith-based organizations – all of whom care deeply about improving the quality of life in our region. 

Our goal is impact. We develop initiatives through thoughtful research, evaluate our work for proven results and are committed to transparency. We’re not afraid to act boldly, but we’re also willing to adapt when the situation calls for a new approach. And we will always be open about the results.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation is committed to the best ideas and most effective solutions – at the local and the regional levels. With those goals in mind, we’ll be developing new initiatives in the months ahead.

As a new foundation, we’re building on the legacy of two parent foundations. Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Peninsula Community Foundation established award-winning initiatives and conducted groundbreaking research.

Community Foundation Silicon Valley pioneered Advancing the Arts, a three-year effort to strengthen the arts eco-system by supporting small and mid-size arts groups. CFSV also partnered with Hewlett Packard Corporation on the HP Nonprofit Leadership Initiative to build the next generation of nonprofit leaders, and led Young Readers – Future Leaders, a three-year effort to connect parents, childcare providers and teachers with resources for early childhood literacy.

Both parent foundations were pioneers in the field of venture philanthropy. In 1998, the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) launched as a fund of CFSV. This giving circle consists of a partnership of investors who pool their resources for the advancement and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations and has received national acclaim. Peninsula Community Foundation created the Center for Venture Philanthropy, a forum for community investors to catalyze social change through its social venture funds, including Environmental Solutions Forum and Fostering the Future, focusing on youth in the foster care system. The Center’s popular Venture Van community tours focus on key issues.

The Center for Venture Philanthropy also launched Raising A Reader,™ which has grown into a pioneering national early literacy program and supporting organization of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The Peninsula Partnership for Children, Youth and Families is a collaborative organization that connects families, schools and communities through a series of programs designed to jumpstart children’s success in school and in life.

The community foundation also works with a number of partners who are making an impact locally and globally. Our city affiliate funds in Gilroy, Los Altos, Morgan Hill and Palo Alto are community foundations that focus on smaller areas within our region and partner with us to make the maximum impact.   

Some of our supporting foundations include the eBay Foundation, Steven and Michèle Kirsch Foundation, Portola Group Foundation, Real Estate Trust at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Skoll Community Fund and Sobrato Foundation. We also have strategic partnerships with the Entrepreneurs Foundation and the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley.