Explore the local impact of donor-advisors at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Philanthropy is a family tradition for Kelly Younger, a local social worker. Every Thanksgiving, her grandfather gave her $40 to give away before New Year’s. In 2010, Younger established a local high school scholarship for immigrants, children of immigrants, and those studying social justice. Now managed by SVCF, the fund gives up to 12 students $2,000 each for higher education every year. Last year Younger volunteered at a family detention center near the U.S.–Mexico border and was inspired to learn more about housing refugees. “SVCF’s immigration program officer was able to put me in touch with organizations that could help,” she says. Younger recently decided to support SVCF’s strategic grantmaking work on immigration. “I got to a place where I wanted to increase my giving…SVCF has a grant officer whose job is to research organizations that support immigrants and designate funds to those organizations…It’s great to be able to trust that someone else is doing that good work.” Younger hopes she can instill the same charitable instincts in her daughter that her family instilled in her.
Advocating for Immigrants
Cultivating a Network of Mentors
Sandy Chau’s vision of building a more civically engaged Asian American community began more than 50 years ago when he arrived as a foreign student at UC Berkeley and saw the challenges and obstacles that first-generation immigrants often encounter. Chau later founded Civic Leadership USA to empower and organize Asian American communities, using mentorship to create a national network of community-minded organizations and leaders. Through SVCF, Civic Leadership USA has made a substantial capacity-building grant to the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI), which works to build the next generation of Asian and Pacific Islander leaders. Their SVCF advisor, coincidentally an alumna of APALI, has worked closely with Ng to create a detailed plan for the multiyear grant. “We feel that it’s the right strategy and that we’ve found the right partner,” Ng says.