Community Building

Founded in 1988, American Leadership Forum-Silicon Valley is a regional network of diverse senior-level leaders across private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Graduates of ALF's one-year fellows program have created a network to use collaborative leadership skills to identify and deal with complex regional issues.

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP) believes that all young people have the innate skills and talents to live fulfilling lives with a good education and fair paying jobs. For 62 years, BGCP has been a critical resource and trusted organization for youth in the under-resourced communities of East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park and North Fair Oaks in Redwood City. At BGCP, students first form positive relationships with caring adults, role models who help students believe in themselves and set goals for their future. They then deliver year-round academic enrichment, social-emotional learning and other programs that provide 2,400 K-16 students each year with the resources and opportunities needed to empower youth to overcome systemic inequities and reach their full potential. 

Cancer Support Community, the San Francisco Area chapter,  whose mission is to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered with knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community. Founded in 1990, Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area supports people in the community facing cancer, to become healthier, live longer, and live better. For over 30 years, the non-profit has provided free comprehensive integrative care - including counseling, support groups, nutrition, exercise, and patient education programs - for people with cancer and their families or caregivers.  

The Center for Farmworker Families promotes awareness about the difficult life circumstances of binational, farmworker families, while working to improve their lives in the United States and Mexico. The center offers programs to help families with educational advancement, financial independence, and nutritional well-being. The center also advocates for changes in federal and state legal structures that govern farm work.

Community Bridges envisions a thriving community where every person has the opportunity to unleash their full potential. CB, the largest social services in Santa Cruz County, has been a catalyst for a brighter future by providing vital resources of local children, families, and seniors. Established in 1977, the non-profit has impacted the lives of more than 17,000 people. They deliver 10 different programs that focus on equitable access to resources, and advocate for health and dignity across every stage of life.

Community Foundation Santa Cruz County is a center for giving where people contribute to their passion for today's issues, support their community's future, and benefit causes beyond Santa Cruz County. Since 1982, the foundation and its donors have distributed more than $120 million in grants to nonprofits to meet local needs. At its core, the foundation aims to bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things — working to help all Santa Cruz County thrive, now and in the future.

 

Founded in 2014, Digital NEST unlocks the full potential of underrepresented youth: 14-24 years of age, in forgotten agricultural communities across California. The NEST, supporting more than 25,000 students, provides these young community members with an invaluable insight into the tech sector. The nonprofit connects these members to a skill-building community that molds and transforms them into professionals; leading successful careers, developing innovative solutions, and building prosperous communities. The NEST is working to level the playing field and bridging the digital divide by empowering youth, creating equal opportunity, and changing the face of the 21st Century workforce.

Founded in 2017, Esperanza Community Farms grows organic produce vegetables on a community farm located in Watsonville, California and ensures low-income, farm-working families have access to culturally preferred & kid-friendly produce with an average of 10 types of produce per basket. Going beyond just supplying food, the nonprofit is aiming to change the food system by engaging core volunteers and members in this conversation, partnering with other food justice organizations for action, and by intentionally interrupting system-level problems in the local food system. Esperanza Community Farms believes that sustainable transformative change can only happen when those with less formal power, including immigrants, farmworker and indigenous families, have a seat at the decision-making tables. 

Flourish Agenda trains schools, agencies, civic groups, and youth organizations on how to build healing-centered strategies in their organizations and systems. The nonprofit provides curricula, workshops, summits, camps, and consulting to support the social emotional well-being in young people of color.

Founded in 2007, FoodWhat?! is a youth empowerment and food justice organization. At FoodWhat?!, youth engage in relationships with land, food, and each other in ways that are grounded in love and rooted in justice. The nonprofit provides meaningful space where youth define and cultivate their empowerment, liberation, and well-being. Youth from Watsonville to Santa Cruz join the FoodWhat?! Crew through their Spring Internship, Summer Job Training and Fall Project Management programs. As a FoodWhat?! Crew, they grow, cook, eat, and distribute fresh, healthy food while also addressing local food justice issues. FoodWhat?! youth use organic farming, nourishing food, and loving community as vehicles to grow on their own terms and in lasting ways.

Latinas Contra Cancer was founded in 2003 to address inequities within the healthcare system for the Latinx community battling cancer. In addition to its patient navigation and advocacy work, LCC provides culturally and linguistically competent Health Education, Survivor Support, and Research. The nonprofit strives to eliminate health inequities while working to improve the quality of and access to healthcare systems. They achieve this both through direct service and enhancing the capacity of Latino communities to better understand cancer issues and to advocate for themselves more effectively within the health care system.

Rancho Cielo is a comprehensive learning and social services center located in Salinas, CA.  Established in 2000, Rancho Cielo is a safe place for students who can thrive in other type of school settings. Each day, 125-150 students aged 16-24, work towards obtaining a WASC-accredited high school diploma and vocational certificates in agriculture, culinary, or construction. The nonprofit invests in youth facing challenges by providing them with education, training and counseling. Rancho Cielo's goal is for program participants to leave the campus as productive community members and successful contributors to the workforce.

 

Silicon Valley Community Foundation advances innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. SVCF partners with families, individuals and corporations to manage and facilitate their philanthropy. The foundation connects donors' interests to the most pressing needs, whether in Silicon Valley or around the globe. SVCF shapes critical public policy issues, partners with nonprofit groups and institutions advancing the best ideas and directs resources swiftly and strategically toward unforeseen needs.

 

The Women's Cancer Resource Center (WCRC) works to advance equity in cancer support, focusing on those who often have little to no access to cancer resource services. WCRC staff has long observed that cancer often is not the greatest concern for many of their under-served clients, who face a myriad of other life challenges. Limited access to health care, inadequate health services, financial resources, language and cultural barriers, racism, and mistrust of medical systems contribute to late diagnosis and earlier death. WCRC provides a comprehensive set of practical and psychosocial support services, including community-based cancer patient navigation, peer support, information and referral, and wellness programs, to mitigate these problems.