A Little Help, Please
RSS feed
Send this
Sherri Wolson applies nonprofit research to everyday donor and volunteer dilemmas.
The Change-Maker: 2013 Superheroes for Washington Families
What makes a person a Superhero for Washington Families? ParentMap Magazine recently awarded ten individuals this distinguished honor for their work in education, and three of these honorees are SVP Partners! In the final Part III of this series, Bill Henningsgaard takes the award of Change-Maker.
The annual dinner is over. Long live the annual dinner!
The darkness has abated, the ordeal is over. The Vietnamese Friendship Association annual dinner went off without a hitch! Still, there are some lessons that can be learned to help pull off next year's event with even more pinache.
The Humanitarian: 2013 Superheroes for Washington Families
ParentMap Magazine recently honored ten distinguished individuals as 2013 Superheroes for Washington Families, and three of those honorees are SVP Partners! In Part II of this series, we introduce Mimi Siegel, the Executive Director of Kindering and winner of the Humanitarian award.
The Advocate: 2013 Superheroes for Washington Families
What motivates a person toward selfless action? In their quest for answers, ParentMap found several outstanding individuals who have made a significant change in the lives of families and children residing in Washington State - and three of them are SVP Partners! In Part I of this series, meet the Advocate: Janice Deguchi, Executive Director of the Denise Louie Education Center.
Tip-Off Point
Although SVP Seattle has been around for fifteen years, there is so much more room to grow. Paul Shoemaker shares his vision for SVP's future, and why we're just now at the tip-off point. Game on.
200 Cities by 2025
SVP started out as Paul Brainerd's idea. Now, that idea has become a global phenomenon that has, for the past 15 years, transformed individuals and communities across the globe. The goal? That this idea will take root in 200 of the world's largest cities by 2025.
One Idea, 8,000 Miles
SVP's entrepreneurial spirit has done it again - flown across the ocean 8,000 miles away and implanted a small idea in the heart of Bangalore, India. The Managing Partner of SVP India, Arathi Laxman, explains how India, a nation of many contrasts and contradictions, has a great need for SVP's presence, and how true impact can be achieved through a collective voice.
The most crotch-kickingly craptastic grant application notice ever
As nonprofits, we live and breathe grant applications. We all know the grantmaking process. Rejections are a normal part of nonprofit life and generally can be taken with a grain of salt or some mimosas. But, sometimes, in the course of one application, we do get a surprise (and not a good one at that).
Under the Hood
Powerful Schools, one of our first Investees to be reinvested in by SVP, has grown exponentially in the last five years. From providing their programs to 1,000 students, they have grown to helping 4,000 students in over 18 schools and after-school programs. Here, Executive Director Tre' Maxie talks about the importance of going "under the hood" at SVP's 15th Anniversary.
Behind the Camera at the Denise Louie Education Center
"If you see a gun, don't touch it, even to throw it in the garbage. Run and tell an adult in your house. It's their job to keep you safe." Looking through my camera at the circle of rapt 4-year-olds at Denise Louie Education Center (DLEC) on Beacon Hill, I realized yet again how much we ask of our preschools.
Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week!
Whether you served on an SVP committee, volunteered to help strengthen a nonprofit, took part in a project with the Family Service Group, gave time to our Social Innovation Fast Pitch, or made all of this possible with your annual contribution – THANK YOU.
8 Facts You Didn't Know About Earth Day
Founded in 1970 as a day of education about environmental issues, Earth Day is now a globally celebrated holiday that is sometimes extended into Earth Week, a full seven days of events focused on green awareness. Learn more about how Earth Day began, and what's happening today on a global scale!
Summer Search Proven to Increase College Readiness for Low-Income Students
SVP Investee, Summer Search recently announced a study that proves its character-based education program is putting low-income youth on track for college. The study found that 89 percent of Seattle public school students who enrolled in Summer Search for one year were ready for college, compared to 64 percent of their peers.
Welcome New SVP Investee Futurewise!
SVP’s Environment Collective Action Team is pleased to welcome Futurewise as their first Investee! With a grant of $40,000 and capacity building volunteer support, SVP will assist Futurewise to deepen their engagement and leadership in collective action. Specifically, they will focus on Futurewise’s work with Growing Transit Communities, an initiative that engages public and private funders, city and regional government, as well as nonprofits.
How awesome is having a baby?
My little son arrived on Tuesday, after 13 hours of hard labor that were almost as difficult as some grant application processes. We’re naming him Viet William Prinzing Le. We got lots of good suggestions for names, but the auctioning off the baby’s naming rights mentioned earlier…well, that was actually an April Fool’s joke... !
If a picture is worth a thousand words...
Then this video is the jackpot. It's impossible not to smile while watching it! With music and videos clips, Dynamic Partners introduces us to the amazing kids and families they get to work with – celebrating what is, and committing to what can be!
Support a great nonprofit while naming a baby
Supporting VFA's annual dinner this coming April 20th can provide you with a chance to become immortalized. Faced with the need for more funds and the difficulty in naming his baby, Executive Director, Vu Le and his wife will be auctioning off the naming rights to their son - certain restrictions apply, of course.
Why We Need More Women in the Boardroom
SVP Partner Susan Bloch is an international business coach who has worked with business leaders in a variety of industries for over 25 years. The most noticeable parallel between all of them? The lack of women who sit on the boards of these companies. This is her argument for remedying this "blind spot."
Tips for not sucking when you’re on a panel
This week, I was asked to speak on a panel to a bunch of social work students on working with refugee and immigrant clients. Panels are like the lunch buffet of information sharing. It is a group of people with knowledge of a certain topic, asked to speak together with the hope that at least one of them will say something interesting. It is a great idea for our attention-deficient culture, but it is often poorly executed, oftentimes due to the panelists themselves.
Game On
Every once in a while, someone will criticize SVP or me for not having a little more fun or taking the time to celebrate along the way. They are right, and if you were there Saturday night, are you satisfied for a while now?! :-) We celebrated our 15th anniversary, filling MOHAI. It was a lot of fun, and two things stood out for me.
