January 2023

Progress Newsletter

Venture Through Trust

2022 was a bountiful year with the foundation growing in assets, in staff size,

in reputation, and in the amount of our grantmaking.

We have been well known for 32 years for our quick turnaround in awarding grants. Now we are also known for the variety of grants we give. We pioneered streamlined grants to social workers for the essential needs of the dependent youths they serve, to teachers for science equipment they lack or for expensive adaptive curriculum supports needed for special education students, to expose young minds to new concepts through field trip excursions and bringing artists in to the classroom.

We have always emphasized grants to help in ameliorating poverty, such as a grant to Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange for refurnishing of bicycles in Palo Alto to help low‐income people with transportation to jobs or to Las Casas, an English as a Second Language program for adults based in Oakland empowering immigrant workers to reach their educational & vocational goals.

We initiated cash grants for rent assistance and have a long history of support for food programs.

We look for commitment, dedication, and results in such programs in order to decide on funding. 

In addition, we support over 45 programs by serving as their fiscal sponsor through designated funds. In some cases we helped give birth to ideas people had.

What is interesting now is the acceptance of the concept of venture, to take risks, by some of the larger foundations. Venture is based on trust and trust is the backbone of our work.

We thank all those who have faith in the foundation and we look forward to the

new year.

By Bill Somerville, Founder

We are Stronger Together

It was a year of challenge and resilience for all of us as COVID and conflict played out around the world, but we chose optimism and belief over despair.

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​​How were we able to accomplish this? 

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​​First, by not forgetting where we came from. We remain grounded in the origin values of Bill Somerville. Immediate response and grass roots philanthropy remain the DNA of what we do. From our teacher grant programs to helping the Domini Hoskins Black History Museum & Learning Center tell their story that all our lives matter, to supporting the most underrepresented in our communities, we keep close to the ground, find the best emerging leaders, trust them, and fund them. 

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​​And secondly, by always looking forward to where we want to go. Our ‘nonprofit as a service’ model has grown by leaps and bounds. The ‘Josh Childress Scholarships’ and ‘Judy Macias Young Leaders Scholarship’, joins the ‘Women of Courage’ award to empower and change young lives. And the launch of ‘The Jackie Speier Foundation for Women and Children’ brought good tidings in the year’s end.

In order to better support the increasing online, mobile, and national philanthropy footprint of our fund partners like ‘The 15 Percent Pledge’ or ‘Hate is a Virus’, PVF is now a registered and licensed charitable organization in all 41 states that require it. With technology moving the world towards Web3, PVF has been on the forefront of this wave. We were one of the first foundations ever to obtain a Coinbase account. Real life Bitcoin and Ethereum based partner projects were an important part of our growth this year. PVF continues to relentlessly pioneer innovation in philanthropy.

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​​2022 has shown us that radical collaboration is the way. We are stronger together.

By James Higa, Executive Director

The Jackie Speier Foundation for

Women and Children

Jackie Speier stepped down from Congress last month after 40 years of public service and and announced her next endeavor: The Jackie Speier Foundation for Women and Children at Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.

The foundation will address poverty, lack of housing and childcare, and domestic violence, with direct grants and through an innovation incubator to support ingenious solutions to the feminization of poverty. 

Jackie is starting the foundation with $1 million from her campaign fund and is asking others to help her raise the funds needed. Please click here to view all the ways you can contribute to the fund. There are also several additional ways to get involved, such as meeting with Jackie to discuss ideas or participating in a brainstorming group. For more information, contact Sheryl Young, PVF's San Mateo County Program Director at syoung@venturesfoundation.org.

Please visit the website at the button below to read Jackie's full white paper.