Share a Moment of Joy in Giving Back!
Share a moment of joy you have experienced in giving back to the community. Was it a donation that made a difference? Was it a volunteer experience that changed an organization or the life of someone in need? Was it a conversation with another Social Venture Partner or someone with the same deep commitment to helping our community? Let us know.
A Message from Mark
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
Executive Director
You will see in this issue that SVP Portland is on the move with new Partners and our exciting keynote speaker for the Annual Partners Meeting. While this year is challenging for everyone, I'm excited about our energy and the progress we continue to enjoy. Our Investees fuel us, so I hope you enjoy learning about Friends of the Children as much as we have enjoyed working with them so far.
Mark HollowayFriends of the Children Providing Opportunities for Portland Youth
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
Friends of the Children is a revolutionary mentoring program that is transforming the lives of Portland’s most vulnerable children with paid, professional mentors, called Friends. These Friends provide our most vulnerable and challenged children a loving, caring, nurturing and sustained relationship with an adult role model who teaches values and has attainable expectations for each child in order that they become healthy, productive members of our community.
Conducting an intensive six-week assessment in the kindergarten classes of eight Portland neighborhoods characterized by poverty and crime, Friends of the Children specifically identifies youth in our community who face significant challenges. Ryan, a fifteen year-old adolescent in the Friends of the Children – Portland program, shares what his relationship with Darren, his Friend, has brought into his life since entering the program as a kindergartener in 1999.
Friends of the Children is a revolutionary mentoring program that is transforming the lives of Portland’s most vulnerable children with paid, professional mentors, called Friends. These Friends provide our most vulnerable and challenged children a loving, caring, nurturing and sustained relationship with an adult role model who teaches values and has attainable expectations for each child in order that they become healthy, productive members of our community.
Conducting an intensive six-week assessment in the kindergarten classes of eight Portland neighborhoods characterized by poverty and crime, Friends of the Children specifically identifies youth in our community who face significant challenges. Ryan, a fifteen year-old adolescent in the Friends of the Children – Portland program, shares what his relationship with Darren, his Friend, has brought into his life since entering the program as a kindergartener in 1999. I met my mentor, Darren ten years ago, and we’ve shared a strong bond since. Without him, I don’t know what I would’ve turned out like. He’s the reason I’m so talented in school, because in my early years he took time to come see me and help me with my homework. Now that I do homework on my own time, we can do a lot more fun things together.Ryan is currently doing well in school and plans to participate in the organization’s Summer Internship Program again this summer. Ryan has expressed an interest in becoming a pharmacist and knows Darren will help him find out what it will take to achieve his goals.
Of course we’ve had our good days, but no one can forget our bad times either. Some of our bad times include when he can’t come pick me up because I’m in trouble or something comes up. Others include when we first met, I argued and threw temper tantrums a lot. We’ve had our bad days, but we’ve overcome them. Our glory days outnumber our bad days one thousand fold.
My mentor has gotten me into so many programsthat I’ve lost count. When I was younger, he used to get me involved in the Saturday activities at PSU. He has also gotten me into Friday night programs through Friends of the Children where they take a bunch of kids in the program out to do something fun. They also have programs on Wednesday afternoons that help kids with their homework or just provide a hang out spot. There are so many opportunities out there and my mentor has helped me find them.
Another thing my mentor has helped me with has been getting an internship. Just this summer, I got an internship at Community Energy Project through Friends of the Children that allowed me to work for six hundred dollars. The internship was off the hook. We’d work Mondays through Thursdays, and then do something fun or interesting on Fridays. Some of the things we did on Fridays included getting our food handlers and CPR/First Aid cards.
SVPP Support for Friends of the Children
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
In May 2008, SVPP invested in Friends of the Children to support their capacity building goal of increasing the number of youth served by the organization to 400 by 2011, and to support their operational excellence during this time of unprecedented growth.
More recently, in January 2009, Friends of the Children
assumed ownership of three facilities that they had previously been leasing. SVPP is helping to develop a comprehensive facilities maintenance plan for the successful management of these assets over the long term, led by Partner Noel Johnson. SVPP is also assisting Friends of the Children to explore opportunities to expand services by establishing a facility in outer Southeast Portland that serves as a resources and activity center for program participants and staff. This will allow the organization to better serve youth currently enrolled in the program who have migrated out of North and Northeast Portland. Len Schulwitz, Bruce Murray and Boyce Smith have also been integral to this team.
SVPP is also working with Friends of the Children to aggregate years worth of program data in preparation for a conversion to a new database. Partner Adam Light and Kelly Jensen, a Point B consultant and colleague of Partner Steve Brook, have spearheaded this project that will help program and management staff efficiently monitor program services and track outcome data. In doing so, Friends will be able to dedicate more time to direct service to children. They will also be able to capture demographic and service data with the new database. This will allow for more thorough internal monitoring of the quality of mentoring service and enable more rapid responses to emerging needs and trends.
In May 2008, SVPP invested in Friends of the Children to support their capacity building goal of increasing the number of youth served by the organization to 400 by 2011, and to support their operational excellence during this time of unprecedented growth.
More recently, in January 2009, Friends of the Children
assumed ownership of three facilities that they had previously been leasing. SVPP is helping to develop a comprehensive facilities maintenance plan for the successful management of these assets over the long term, led by Partner Noel Johnson. SVPP is also assisting Friends of the Children to explore opportunities to expand services by establishing a facility in outer Southeast Portland that serves as a resources and activity center for program participants and staff. This will allow the organization to better serve youth currently enrolled in the program who have migrated out of North and Northeast Portland. Len Schulwitz, Bruce Murray and Boyce Smith have also been integral to this team.SVPP is also working with Friends of the Children to aggregate years worth of program data in preparation for a conversion to a new database. Partner Adam Light and Kelly Jensen, a Point B consultant and colleague of Partner Steve Brook, have spearheaded this project that will help program and management staff efficiently monitor program services and track outcome data. In doing so, Friends will be able to dedicate more time to direct service to children. They will also be able to capture demographic and service data with the new database. This will allow for more thorough internal monitoring of the quality of mentoring service and enable more rapid responses to emerging needs and trends.
Learning from Bono and Bill Gates at the Annual Partners Meeting
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
Trevor Neilson, President of the Global Philanthropy Group will serve as the keynote speak of our Annual Partners Meeting on May 14. Trevor is the advisor to some of the world's leading philanthropists and celebrities, including Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, Shakira and President Bill Clinton. He will join us for remarks and conversation on the topic, "Turning Passion Into Promise: What Bono, Gates, Angelina and Everyone Can Do to Change the World." Trevor brings a wealth of experience leveraging valuable assets to change the lives of people in need and shift the paradigms of giving around the world.
The Annual Partners Meeting offers Partners and guests the chance to socialize and network as well as get updates or more information on our community investments. We will also reveal the latest community investment of our Capacity Building Fund, introduce our newest Board members and present the President's Award to a Partner who made an outstanding contribution in the previous year. Partners and guests will also enjoy the beautifully refurbished surroundings and art shows of the Olympic Mills Commerce Center.
For more information on this and other upcoming events, see our website events page here.
Trevor Neilson, President of the Global Philanthropy Group will serve as the keynote speak of our Annual Partners Meeting on May 14. Trevor is the advisor to some of the world's leading philanthropists and celebrities, including Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, Shakira and President Bill Clinton. He will join us for remarks and conversation on the topic, "Turning Passion Into Promise: What Bono, Gates, Angelina and Everyone Can Do to Change the World." Trevor brings a wealth of experience leveraging valuable assets to change the lives of people in need and shift the paradigms of giving around the world.
The Annual Partners Meeting offers Partners and guests the chance to socialize and network as well as get updates or more information on our community investments. We will also reveal the latest community investment of our Capacity Building Fund, introduce our newest Board members and present the President's Award to a Partner who made an outstanding contribution in the previous year. Partners and guests will also enjoy the beautifully refurbished surroundings and art shows of the Olympic Mills Commerce Center.
For more information on this and other upcoming events, see our website events page here.
New Partners: Larry Fox and Judy Kellar Fox
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
Larry and Judy joined SVPP in February. Larry comes from 27 years as Finance Controller at Intel, after teaching as a graduate student and earlier, doing trail maintenance and firefighting for the Forest Service. His B.A. is in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara, followed by an ABD and MBA from UC Berkeley. He brings his background in operational finance and leadership development to SVPP. He jumped right in to serve on the 2009 Capacity Building Investment team. He says SVPP is his first venture into philanthropy and enters with “no specific focus, just a liberal’s interest in a healthy and fair society.” His interests include history, history of ideas, backpacking, fitness and leadership mentoring. He speaks French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Judy brings her skills as a homemaker and as former volunteer coordinator of the Arts Literacy program for the Beaverton School district. She is a Certified Genealogist whose work has been published in a national professional journal and has volunteered these skills at the Beaverton Family History Center for 18 years. She is a skilled writer, and is adept at data collection, organization and analysis. Judy’s many interests include speaking French and Spanish, sewing, cooking and growing her own produce. She says she is “passionate about the relationship between diet and well being.”
Married for 38 years, Judy and Larry are proud of their sons, Jeremy, 29, and Trevor, 25; they describe them as good people who are pursuing their passions in life (environmental education and major league pitching). Larry and Judy love traveling and ballroom dancing.
Larry and Judy joined SVPP in February. Larry comes from 27 years as Finance Controller at Intel, after teaching as a graduate student and earlier, doing trail maintenance and firefighting for the Forest Service. His B.A. is in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara, followed by an ABD and MBA from UC Berkeley. He brings his background in operational finance and leadership development to SVPP. He jumped right in to serve on the 2009 Capacity Building Investment team. He says SVPP is his first venture into philanthropy and enters with “no specific focus, just a liberal’s interest in a healthy and fair society.” His interests include history, history of ideas, backpacking, fitness and leadership mentoring. He speaks French, Portuguese and Spanish.Judy brings her skills as a homemaker and as former volunteer coordinator of the Arts Literacy program for the Beaverton School district. She is a Certified Genealogist whose work has been published in a national professional journal and has volunteered these skills at the Beaverton Family History Center for 18 years. She is a skilled writer, and is adept at data collection, organization and analysis. Judy’s many interests include speaking French and Spanish, sewing, cooking and growing her own produce. She says she is “passionate about the relationship between diet and well being.”
Married for 38 years, Judy and Larry are proud of their sons, Jeremy, 29, and Trevor, 25; they describe them as good people who are pursuing their passions in life (environmental education and major league pitching). Larry and Judy love traveling and ballroom dancing.
New Partners: Len and Janine Schulwitz
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
Len and Janine are pleased to join SVPP as Partners. Janine is a Portland native; Len was raised in Southern California. They met in Boston while at Harvard Business School where both earned MBAs.
Len was recently elected to the board of OnPoint Community Credit Union. For SVPP, Len has been working on projects for Friends of the Children, Child Care Improvement Project, Capacity Building Fund and CASH Oregon. Len’s CPA credentials come in handy when he volunteers his time to CASH/AARP Tax-Aide, preparing tax returns for low-income and elderly clients. Len serves as board member and Treasurer of the Harvard Club of Oregon and Southwest Washington. In addition, he serves weekly at Medical Teams International.
Janine currently serves voluntarily as board member and Treasurer of Portland Rescue Mission, an organization that serves Portland’s homeless and hungry. She also serves as board member, Vice President and President-Elect of the Harvard Club of Oregon and Southwest Washington. Janine is also a volunteer for Soldiers’ Angels; she writes weekly to soldiers in harm’s way.
Len and Janine each worked 25 years at high tech firms – Len at Intel where he served as Marketing Director and Janine at Tektronix where she held management positions in marketing, sales and manufacturing.
The Schulwitzes have four children – Len, Jr., 23; Ashleigh, 22; Matthew, 20; and Christopher, 18 – and two beagles, Zoe and Chloe. Fun times with the family include snow skiing, boating, waterskiing and world travel. Len enjoys watercolor painting and genealogy. Janine loves photography. They also enjoy their Gourmet Club and church activities.
Len and Janine are pleased to join SVPP as Partners. Janine is a Portland native; Len was raised in Southern California. They met in Boston while at Harvard Business School where both earned MBAs.Len was recently elected to the board of OnPoint Community Credit Union. For SVPP, Len has been working on projects for Friends of the Children, Child Care Improvement Project, Capacity Building Fund and CASH Oregon. Len’s CPA credentials come in handy when he volunteers his time to CASH/AARP Tax-Aide, preparing tax returns for low-income and elderly clients. Len serves as board member and Treasurer of the Harvard Club of Oregon and Southwest Washington. In addition, he serves weekly at Medical Teams International.
Janine currently serves voluntarily as board member and Treasurer of Portland Rescue Mission, an organization that serves Portland’s homeless and hungry. She also serves as board member, Vice President and President-Elect of the Harvard Club of Oregon and Southwest Washington. Janine is also a volunteer for Soldiers’ Angels; she writes weekly to soldiers in harm’s way.
Len and Janine each worked 25 years at high tech firms – Len at Intel where he served as Marketing Director and Janine at Tektronix where she held management positions in marketing, sales and manufacturing.
The Schulwitzes have four children – Len, Jr., 23; Ashleigh, 22; Matthew, 20; and Christopher, 18 – and two beagles, Zoe and Chloe. Fun times with the family include snow skiing, boating, waterskiing and world travel. Len enjoys watercolor painting and genealogy. Janine loves photography. They also enjoy their Gourmet Club and church activities.
New Partners: Kris Moore and Ryan Wilcoxen
(from the April 2009 Newsletter)
Kris and Ryan joined SVPP in March, after learning about us through Partner Sue McGrath.
Kris and Ryan joined SVPP in March, after learning about us through Partner Sue McGrath.
Kris Moore is a native Portlander with a lifelong love for volunteering. He graduated from the University of Oregon, worked with Outdoor School for four years, graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary, worked with small urban churches for four years, and has focused on teaching middle school and developing grassroots non-profit organizations since then. Currently, Kris is Development Director at Fruit & Flower Child Care Center. His interests include cooking dinners with improvised menus, reading, sea kayaking, sending postcards, solving crossword puzzles and spending time with friends and family. He and Ryan Wilcoxen have been partners for 3½ years and live in Northwest Portland.
Ryan Wilcoxen grew up outside of Denver, Colorado and moved to Portland nine years ago. He graduated from Reed College with a B.A. in Anthropology. Since graduating, he has worked as a sailmaker and a distiller. He currently works for Clear Creek Distillery, managing the company's bottling operations. Outside of work, Ryan enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, hiking, kayaking and spending time with friends and family. Ryan recently returned from an eye-opening Cultural Exchange to Philippines with the Rotary Club. He says he is also fortunate to share his time and hobbies with his partner Kris Moore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
