News Category
President Clinton Features STLF as Model of Youth Civic Engagement
President Bill Clinton hosted the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting at the end of March in Washington, D.C. New commitments announced included our very own Students Today, Leaders Forever.
More than 1,000 students representing all 50 states and more than 300 universities gathered to examine topics such as the global economic crisis and its impact on your people, recruiting and retaining teachers, famine in Africa, cost-effective campus sustainability programs, and the youth movement for global health.
As campus representatives for the youth service organization STLF, Abe, Caroline, Shelby, and Christina commit to creating new programs that will provide additional community service opportunities for young Americans across the country. Building on the 185,000 service hours already contributed by STLF, these students will help the organization meet its goal of scaling up by 37,000 hours of service nationwide over the next year.
STLF joined SVP’s Investee list in 2008 and has now has replicated its innovative model throughout numerous campuses. Congratulations STLF!
Making A Difference: Stories of SVP’s Impact
Social Venture Partners goes beyond philanthropy. We’re out to change our community, the world we live in, and how we live in this world. Read how your involvement in SVP is taking impact to the next level.
Young People Can Change the World
Jack Baartman hadn’t joined student organizations in high school. During his freshman year in college he received an email about a Pay It Forward Tour. He thought it sounded “cheesy,” but figured it’d look good on his resume. Fast-forward four years. He’s recently completed his fourth tour and now retraces his life change back to that “cheesy” email. It was his decision to answer this email, to step out his comfort zone, and get involved in something bigger than himself. He has learned that a stranger’s struggles are his struggles, and better understands different cultures. He has seen hope on the faces of the homeless. And, most importantly, he has learned that young people can change the world. Read Jack’s full story on the STLF website.
Beating the Odds
Seventeen-year-old Lashay Thompson, a senior at Highland Park High School in St. Paul is beating the odds. She’s on track to graduate from high school and succeed in college despite enormous disadvantages. She endured abuse that resulted in her living in foster homes as a young child, lost her adoptive father in a car accident at a pre-adolescent age, lost her mother to cancer as a teenager, and dealt with personal struggles throughout her life. Yet she goes forward in a courageous way. Read about Lashay on the Twin Cities Daily Planet or watch her Breaking Through speech.
Partner Spotlight: Jill Whitnah
Jill Whitnah joined SVP in 2007, and after serving on the due diligence team she joined the board in 2008. Having completed her term, Jill has left a legacy of growth in partner numbers and expanded programming. As a board member, Jill brought her thoughtful deliberation and personal warmth to board discussions as well as serving as SVP’s “chief risk management officer,” applying the professional expertise she gained in the insurance business.
Jill started on her engaged philanthropy path early in her career when she joined a group called Community Capital Alliance, now the Fourth Generation program of the Minneapolis Foundation. Community Capital Alliance was a group of young professionals who pooled their money, researched nonprofits they wanted to support, and then gave both their time and contributions to those nonprofits. Sound familiar?
“I will personally miss her presence on the board,” said executive director Brad Brown. “I always left feeling upbeat about SVP and our work after a conversation with Jill.”
Board Chair and SVP Minnesota founder Steve Bloom had this to say about Jill, “I want to thank Jill for her outstanding contributions over the past several years. Her infectious smile and positive attitude, coupled with her extremely savvy decision making skills, made her a very important part of our growth and maturation. We are all lucky to have her as a part of SVP MN.”
The SVP Trifecta
According to the World English dictionary, a “trifecta” is any achievement involving three successful outcomes. [from tri- + ( per ) fecta, a US system of betting].
One of the most powerful aspects of the SVP model is that it is a “trifecta” because it helps our partners achieve their philanthropic goals, the nonprofit organizations in which we invest to become more effective, and the children and youth served by those nonprofits to realize their full potential.
SVP is distributing its 2011 Annual Report and in it you will find stories that illustrate the triple benefits that engaged philanthropy offers all of our stakeholders. You will read how our partners learn that by giving more, they receive more; the ways that investees strengthen their ability to deliver on their missions and serve more people; how youth dealing with problems we can only image learn to build better lives for themselves. Download the SVP MN Annual Report.
The multiplier effect of our model is also seen in more quantifiable ways. The Annual Report shows how, through a combination of direct grant making, skill-based volunteering, and leveraging other sources of contributions, that SVP was able to invest nearly $573,000 in some of Minnesota’s most innovative and effective nonprofits.
We have a great story to tell, I invite you to share it with others.
Introducing EPCON 2.0
This coming August 23rd Social Venture Partners is opening a new chapter in EPCON, our annual signature event. We have redesigned EPCON to make it even more compelling and accessible for our partners and guests. As in years past, it will feature the live pitches from the four finalists of the Mosaic Social Entrepreneurs Cup and the presentation of the Engaged Philanthropist Award. In addition to these staples of EPCON, this year’s event will:
- Be held in the late afternoon and shortened to make it more accessible for all of us with busy work schedules
- Feature more time for the networking that past attendees have told us they so value
- Celebrate SVP’s Ten Year Anniversary with highlights from our first ten years and goals for the next decade
- Announce an exciting new education innovation fund that we are convening along with The Minneapolis Foundation and other leaders in the Minnesota education reform movement
The goal of all these changes is to create a fast-paced and stimulating evening for our community of engaged philanthropists. If you would like to participate in the EPCON planning team please email EPCON lead partner Jennie Olson or call her at 651.260.9008.
Look for a Save-the-Date announcement soon with all the details. We’ll see you there for EPCON 2.0.