Philanthropic Ventures Foundation            Progress Newsletter  -  May 2014
Announcing the 1st Bay Area Inspire Award

Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF) is pleased to announce our first Bay Area Inspire Awards recipient. The Bay Area Inspire Awards program was established by PVF to provide funding to young social innovators with fresh ideas for creating change.  

 

Beginning in a small town in Michoac�n, Mexico and ending in Oakland, California, Christian Martinez's story is one filled with struggle, pain, and perseverance. After having been shot as a high school student, Christian received no support from his teachers, who assumed he was just another statistic. Rather than conform to their assumptions about him, he chose to thrive and use his experience as a way to create change.

 

This was Christian's "aha" moment, in which he realized he could help others in similar situations by fostering better relationships between teachers and their students through home visits. This out-of-the-box idea landed Christian the first ever Bay Area Inspire Award, a program run by Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF) which aims to ignite creative ideas for cultivating change in the Bay Area. 

    

Christian's "Home Visit Project" aims to build trusting relationships between teachers and their students and families. The project will be piloted at Epic Middle School, a new Oakland charter school opening in fall 2014 and managed by the nonprofit, Education for Change. By allowing teachers to visit students' homes to see firsthand the experiences they face outside of the classroom, the project encourages an increase in understanding. The project operates on the idea that when a teacher-student connection is stronger, the student has more opportunity to succeed.     

   

Recognizing the potential of young community members to tackle community issues, PVF donors created the Bay Area Inspire Awards to provide grants of up to $10,000 to young social innovators. The awards provide the capital often necessary to make an idea become a reality.  

 

Do you know a young person, aged 18-30, living and working in San Francisco or Alameda Counties who wants to create change? If so, encourage them to apply for one of the four remaining Bay Area Inspire Awards! We are currently accepting applications until the June 30th deadline. For more information about the program, please visit: bayareainspireawards.org.
Alameda County Funds Innovative Strategies for Change

Through the Innovations Grant Program, Philanthropic Ventures Foundation administers grants for Alameda County to pilot projects focused on mental health. This represents a unique collaboration between the public and social sectors.    

In this video, Woody Carter of the Bay Area Black United Fund discusses his work with the young African American male probationer population.

 

Recidivism rates in the United States are

staggeringly high, with 70% of those who were previously imprisoned returning. To address this high rate of recidivism in the African American community, two psychologists took an innovative approach: teaching meditation to probationers. They were able to pilot this project with an Innovation Grant from Alameda County's Behavioral Health Care Services.

 

Now in its third round of funding, Alameda County's Innovation Grants Program represents a unique collaboration between the public and social sectors. The aim of these grants is to provide funding for projects focused on mental health. As the administrator of these grants, PVF is able to see firsthand how these pilot projects are using innovative strategies to address mental health issues in at-risk individuals...read more on our blog! 
About PVF
PVF is a demonstration foundation practicing unique forms of grantmaking and innovative philanthropy. Our primary interest is in the creative and significant use of the philanthropic dollar.
About the Editors
James Higa
Executive Director
Bill Somerville
President/CEO

James Higa brings 28 years of executive experience from Silicon Valley, working with Steve Jobs to change the face of technology. He was at the birth of the personal computer revolution as a member of the original Macintosh team and was deeply involved in the creation of many products and services at Apple over 3 decades. He has a long history of public service as a board member of Stanford's Haas Center and in grassroots relief efforts.
Bill Somerville has been in non-profit and philanthropic work for 50 years. He was the director of a community foundation for 17 years, and in 1991 founded Philanthropic Ventures Foundation where he serves as President. Bill has consulted at over 400 community foundations, on creative grantmaking and foundation operations. Bill is the author of Grassroots Philanthropy: Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker.

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