Community Building

Since 1994, Acknowledge Alliance has used the power of fostering resilience to help build positive connections between teachers and students, to open the doors to learning and well-being. Acknowledge Alliance started with the belief, that when a child has a caring adult in their life who holds high expectations and believes in them, they can succeed despite adversities. The nonprofit serves K-12 schools in the San Francisco/Bay Area, integrating resilience into all levels of learning by: mentoring educators, counseling at-risk youth, and teaching social emotional learning lessons for the whole classroom. Through counseling and support, youth develop the coping skills needed to overcome obstacles and strive towards graduation. 

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.

Community Forward SF serves the homeless population of San Francisco by offering crucial programs that ensure effective services designed for each individual. These offerings include shelters, community-focused supportive housing, mental health services, case management, substance abuse treatment and domestic violence support.

Founded 1972,  Community Solutions has grown in both depth and breadth of services in response to the growing and changing needs of the community. The nonprofit provides a comprehensive spectrum of prevention, intervention, treatment, and residential services to the communities of Santa Clara and San Benito Counties. The nonprofit services focus on supporting children, families, and individuals to overcome the challenges posed by mental health issues, substance abuse, trauma, severe family dysfunction, sexual and domestic violence, and human trafficking.

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. 

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.

Founded in 2000, Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) is an award-winning nonprofit serving Bay Area youth impacted by the justice system. FLY serves more than 2,000 youth throughout the Bay Area each year and offers programs in five Bay Area Counties for young people 11-25.

 

Our programs connect young people with positive mentors and role models, promote their understanding of the law and their rights, and support them to become leaders among their peers and in their communities. We also participate in local and state level advocacy work to change policies and practices that sustain the pipeline to prison. Together with our young people, we also help our justice systems become more just, humane, and equitable. As a result, FLY increases safety and decreases the costs and consequences of crime. 

 

Since 1989, Homeless Prenatal Project (HPP) has been dedicated to address an unmet public health need: prenatal care for unhoused pregnant women. Quality care for mothers and their babies would afford these families solid foundations critical to a strong, stable future. In response, HPP created a comprehensive Family Resource Center which provides a full range of services for low-income and homeless, pregnant women and families. 

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.

Mindful Life Project  is an educational nonprofit that supports the mental and emotional wellbeing of students, teachers, school leaders and families; through mindfulness based social emotional learning programming. MLP creates a strong foundation of wellbeing for the individual.  This leads to healthy school cultures, where all students feel safe, welcomed, valued, and can thrive socially and academically. MLP believes that mindfulness in direct service with and for community is the pathway for systems change.

Since 1983, Pájaro Valley Shelter Services (PVSS)  has addressed the needs of families, primarily single mothers, affected by homelessness in the greater Watsonville area. PVSS offers a full spectrum of housing and support programs; helping families with a path to stable, self-sufficient futures through short and longer-term housing and supportive services. The PVSS model centers on supporting families by building a foundation that addresses three pillars: Emotional Stability, Financial Stability, and Housing Stability. Each pillar consists of programs which address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Family Strengthening; Coordinated Economic Development and the Hope and Home Tenant Education Program.

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.

Students Rising Above (SRA) is a college access, college persistence, and career success organization that empowers students facing systemic barriers to define and find success through education, career, and in life.  SRA's programming consists of four main pillars: the flagship Rising Stars program, the Students Online Achieving Results (SOAR) program, the online SRA Hub, and the recently launched Alumni Association. SRA envisions a world in which every person can achieve economic and social equity. Taking a multifaceted approach in delivering these pillars, SRA bridges formal educational gaps, equips students with the resources and support that are critical for success, and empowers them to dynamically transform the trajectory of their lives.

 

Founded in 1996, The Health Trust is on a mission to build health equity in Silicon Valley. The Health Trust offers high quality, culturally competent services that meet the health needs of populations most impacted by health disparities. They believe that everyone in the community should have the opportunity to be healthy, regardless of income, race, immigration status, language, age, or zip code.

Through its Canines Teaching Compassion (CTC) program, UnChained pairs dogs in need of training and adoption with students in need of self-esteem, compassion, and empathy. Students train dogs in basic skills, and good manners, helping place the dogs into adoptive homes while the youth develop values of patience, respect and responsibility for themselves and others, through the trust and relationship building with their program dogs. Licensed therapists in the classroom add an important dimension to the work by ensuring every aspect of the student's mental health needs are met.

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.