SDSVP Logo Wear

Show off your San Diego Social Venture Partners pride! You may have seen Partner and Board Chair, Mark Facklersporting a spiffy SDSVP logo shirt at a recent meeting.

If you'd like to order a shirt or other fun items, you can make apurchase online. 10% of all purchases on this store site are given to SDSVP to help promote our mission. GO SDSVP!!

Alan Sorkin honored for making a positive impact in the community

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give” Winston Churchill

The Center for Wealth & Legacy "Inspiration Award" is an opportunity to do two things: recognize those unique individuals in our business community who are positively impacting their world and also to advance a unique message of hope and optimism bubbling up every day, every week, every year out of the entrepreneurial business community. This is the epitome of SDSVP Partner and SVPI Board Chair, Alan Sorkin who was selected as a 2010 Inspiration Award honoree! Click here to read more.

Annual Report 2010

The SDSVP Annual Report 2010 is hot off the press! Pick up your copy at the next meeting or click here for an electronic version. A special thank you to those who donated their time and energy to help create a fabulous report:

Parallax Visual Communication
Angela Hill, Incitrio
John Burnett
Jenni Busboom
Francine Gonzalez
Cathleen Wolf, Communicate Write

The Partner 4-1-1

• Congrats to Emmy Sobieski and Joe Longo on their recent engagement.

• Congrats toNahieli and Reed Caldwellon the birth of their baby girl, Sienna.

• Richard Bockoff and David Lynn are now on the board of Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs and Kimberly Cantlon is fostering a service dog in training and helping with fundraising and curriculum development.

Keeping the “Social” in Social Venture Partners

On a warm evening in September, Partners and guests gathered at the home of Leigh and David Johnson for a delicious night of sushi and sake. The beautiful beach sunset was the perfect backdrop to celebrate the end of summer. The famous SDSVP Dessert Showcase featured amazing creations by Louarn Sorkin and Lenore Hawkins. Party attendees heard from Jose Cruz, Executive Director of Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) and JoAnne Berg, Chair of the SDSVP Business Operations Resource Team. BLCI is one of the nonprofits outside of our investment portfolio that receive assistance from SDSVP. With our help in human resources, board development and fund development, BLCI is positioning itself to be sustainable and continues to expand and grow.

Click Here to view photos

Click here to see video of JoAnne Berg and Jose Cruz

Q&A with Reality Changers

“We believe that SDSVP's where the power of business meets the passion of giving also defines the students of Reality Changers. These students, despite being low income, inner-city students, mean business and share your passion for giving, despite their humble circumstances and disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Christopher Yanov, Founder and Executive Director, Reality Changers

At First Friday in September, SDSVP Investee, Reality Changers spoke to Partners and guests about their great work in the community and new partnership with SDSVP. Christopher Yanov, Founder and Executive Director of Reality Changers shared how his organization is radically changing the lives of at-risk, inner city high schoolers into first generation college students:

First there's Jesse, a Reality Changers graduate whose family’s annual income was $7,000/year; upon high school graduation, he earned a $215,000 full ride scholarship to Harvard University where he is now starting his second year. We also learned about Arlene who sold flowers on the side of the road until the day she left for Chicago on a $200,000 scholarship to Northwestern University. And then there’s Ashley who grew up in one of San Diego's most dangerous neighborhoods where there has been 10 gang related homicides in the last 5 years; she got a $203,000 scholarship to Duke University. Impressive, right?

Last month, Reality Changers was in the news for a new agreement with San Diego State University - any student who meets the program requirements and makes good grades is guaranteed admission to SDSU. Their next goal...UCSD.

As you can see, Reality Changers is about results…ultimately changing the reality of teenagers in San Diego.

As a follow up to First Friday, we asked Chris some additional questions about working with Social Venture Partners:

How did you hear about SDSVP?

Reality Changers first heard about SDSVP through its success with past investees such as Second Chance and Junior Achievement.

Why did your organization want to work with SDSVP?

Reality Changers is one of the nation's leaders when it comes to running programs for first generation college students. However, as our programs grow, we must learn how to run a multi-million dollar organization takes much different skill sets - and that's why partnering with SDSVP will be so beneficial.

Has the experience so far met your expectations?

SDSVP warned us that we would be overwhelmed with planning meetings, but they have already challenged us to look at our clients and our markets in new ways and we are looking forward to the results that partnering with SDSVP will soon produce.

What areas are we assisting you in and how have we helped you?

SDSVP is not giving us the answers to big-picture and small-picture questions; in fact, they are helping us figure out just what those questions should be. More specifically, SDSVP is helping Reality Changers create a 3-year and 5-year plan that can be functional for the organization on an everyday basis.

What are your expectations for future years of partnership with SDSVP?

Reality Changers hopes that SDSVP will teach us how to reach more markets - from inner-city students to program partners to program funders who want to see more low-income youth become first generation college.

Meet New SDSVP Membership Director, Jacqueline Silverman!

By Lori Thiel

This month SDSVP welcomes new Membership Director Jacqueline Silverman, who brings with her 25 years of non-profit management and fund development experience from her work in New York, Chicago, Palm Beach and San Diego. She’s an accomplished marketing strategist and creative event planner who has raised money for notable organizations, including the San Diego Opera, San Diego Performing Arts League, and the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture. She took a few minutes while settling into her new SDSVP office to answer some questions:

1. How did you come to be involved with SDSVP?

A colleague who knew SDSVP was looking for a Membership Director thought I'd be a good match for the position. Happily, Peggy and the selection committee thought so too.

2. What's the best thing about being involved with SDSVP?

Right now, the best thing about my involvement is the WOW reaction I get from family, friends and colleagues when I share the news of my appointment as Membership Director.

My primary role at SDSVP is to increase our membership, so look out. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be calling upon many of you for your help to learn what makes the Partner experience great, what makes a great Partner, and who you know that fits the bill.

3. What is your favorite place in the world and why?

I'm a Francophile and love tropical beaches, but in thinking about my world travels [my favorite place is] home in San Diego in the "tree house" that my husband and I remodeled together in University Heights.

4. Please tell us about your family.

My husband is Steve Silverman, a land use planning consultant. We met at a Gospel concert I was producing and got married a year later. We frequently visit with family in San Diego, Palm Beach, DC, NYC, Boston, Dallas, Denver, and Seattle.

5. Please tell us about your favorite pet.

Daisy, my parents' Shih Tzu, set the bar.

6. How do you spend your days off?

There are day trips with Steve to farmer's markets, galleries, craft shows. We go to a lot of theatre, from SUSHI to the Opera. We frequently host dinner parties. (Steve does the cooking). I love workouts and long swims at the Y.

7. Please tell us about a personal project you can't wait to finish.

Catching up on our family scrap books.

8. What is your most prized possession and why?

My wedding ring. I waited a long time.

9. Please tell us the most useful thing you ever learned.

I’ve learned many useful things like good posture (from my grandmother) and Just Do It (from really good branding).

10. What is your most impressive useless talent?

Playing the bassoon. It's not actually useless, but a guitar would be more fun at parties.

11. What did you read at the beach this summer?

Steig Larsson's "The Girl..." trilogy, of course.

12. What gets played most on your ipod or mp3 player?

What my husband calls my music (e.g., Buddha Bar, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny).

13. Complete this sentence: Nobody in SDSVP knows that I...

…was the band director at a Chicago middle school right after I graduated college. As far as I'm concerned, football games are still all about the half-time show.

Welcome to SDSVP, Jacqueline!