Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s vision is a community where all can lead financially secure, safe and fulfilling lives. We believe individuals and families should have a path to financial security and equal opportunity to improve their economic well-being. However, in spite of tremendous growth and economic expansion, poverty and extreme inequality persist in Silicon Valley – specifically in communities of color. One of SVCF’s most important strategic goals is to address the structural systems that have created the social and economic inequities that exist in our region. Towards this goal, we have created SVCF’s Community Advisory Council that will engage leaders of color to help us ensure we are implementing effective strategies and advocating for effective policies as part of the roll out of our new strategic plan.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Community Advisory Council shall be called “The Community Advisory Council.” It will serve at the discretion of Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s (SVCF) President and CEO to advise on our organizational strategic direction.
Purpose
SVCF’s President and CEO, Nicole Taylor, created the Community Advisory Council with the following in mind:
- To engage leaders of color working to address the most significant challenges in our region who can provide input, guidance and feedback on the implementation of SVCF’s strategic plan.
- To help us identify and engage emerging leaders who can share opportunities to strengthen empirical practices and/or community-driven solutions to ensure the leadership and resiliency of our community.
Members
- Belinda Arriaga - Ayudando Latinos A Soñar
- Milan Balinton - African American Community Service Agency
- Pastor Paul Bains - Project WeHOPE
- Patricia Barahona - Youth Leadership Institute
- Zahra Billoo - Council on American-Islamic Relations
- Michelle Blakely - First 5 San Mateo
- Marlyn Bussey - St. James AME Zion Church
- Andre' Chapman - Unity Care
- Edwin Diaz - Latino Family Fund de Gilroy, Gilroy Foundation
- Betty Kim Duong - County of Santa Clara, Division of Equity and Social Justice
- Raj Jayadev - Silicon Valley DeBug
- Camille Llanes-Fontanilla - Somos Mayfair
- Katrina Logan - Community Legal Services in EPA
- Rod Daus Magbaul - Pinoy Education Partnership
- Rita Mancera - Puente de la Costa Sur
- Lorena Melgarejo - Faith in Action
- Malissa Netane - Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center
- Chike Nwoffiah - Silicon Valley African Film Festival
- Jessica Paz-Cedillos - School of Arts and Culture
- Anita Rees - Pacifica Resource Center
- Tony Roshan Samara - Urban Habitat
- Debra Watkins - A Black Education Network (founder emerita)
-
Walter Wilson - Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet
For more information about SVCF’s Community Advisory Council, please reach out to Mauricio Palma, SVCF Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, at mpalma@siliconvalleycf.org
You might also be interested in...
Giving Guide: Racial Justice
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is committed to amplifying and building the capacity of Black-led Organizations (BLOs) and the voices of their leaders. Unconscious bias and structural racism mean that BLOs have less access to capital and capacity strengthening support, a disparity that is only exacerbated by COVID-19. We are keen to provide you – our partners – with a list of BLOs that will help you learn more about these organizations and support them and their leaders so that they can have a greater impact on the communities they serve.
Racial Equity & Social Justice
SVCF's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is reflected in our work across multiple initiatives since our founding in 2007. Under our recently completed strategic planning process, we have established priorities focusing on addressing systemic disparities, fostering a strong and engaged community, building a culture and practice of effective philanthropy in our region, and become the trusted and enduring institution this community deserves. Learn more about our commitment to reducing systemic disparities.
SVCF CEO Nicole Taylor's Message
What happened to George Floyd is not just limited to Minneapolis. What happened in Central Park to Christian Cooper, what happened to Ahmaud Arbery – none of these are merely isolated incidents. This country has a dark, horrible history of racism and systemic injustice – from the times the lives and lands were taken from the indigenous peoples on whose land we all currently live and work, to the first slave ship that arrived from Africa in 1619. Since those early years, our country has never been free. And people have risen up to fight the injustice over and over again. Read more from SVCF’s Nicole Taylor.