Discovery Team hits the ground running

Wine and cheese aren’t the only reason SVP is drawing a crowd at this summer’s Discovery Team. The group is passionate about the task of researching how to help kids and their communities see value and connection to school.

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Hope you can join us for the next meeting! RSVP through Evite or email mandy@sdsvp.org.

Discovery Team Meeting
Wednesday, Aug 10
Location: AMN Healthcare
12400 High Bluff Drive
San Diego 92130
4:00-6:00 PM

First Year Investee: REBOOT™: San Diego’s Military Reintegration Program

REBOOT™ is a three-week workshop, provided by the National Veterans Transition Services, Inc., that helps veterans ease back into civilian life after military service. Recently, the not-for-profit has partnered with Social Venture Partners.

Launched by Retired Rear Admiral Ronne Froman and Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Maurice Wilson in July 2010, REBOOT was created after its founders became aware of the increasing number of former service members not adjusting to the “real world.” The concept is that if you have to go through boot camp to be acculturated for the military, there should be a similar program when you leave the service as well.

To date, nearly 300 San Diego service men and women have benefited from this program just within its first year of testing. REBOOT’s regional plan is to re-train about 2,500 veterans in 18 months.

Statistics show that ex-military suffer from high jobless rates, as well as higher rates of homelessness, substance abuse and many other reintegration challenges. REBOOT gives San Diego’s veterans the tools to combat these challenges and to succeed. REBOOT is the only reintegration program of its kind that helps veterans’ re-adaption to a life of independence post service.

Due to a generous contribution from the Gary and Mary West Foundation and others, REBOOT has been able to run one workshop per month with 18 students. REBOOT would like to increase the number of workshops available to four each month and eventually, operate at 12 workshops each month. Each workshop is $2,500 per student. REBOOT workshops are available free of charge for employed veterans and active duty personnel of all wars, as well as their spouses.

With the conflict in Iraq winding down and the military poised to leave Afghanistan, the numbers leaving the military service will only increase. Please consider donating to REBOOT to help San Diego’s veterans rejoin our community as successfully as possible.

Paul Shoemaker named to the Top 50 Power and Influence List

Paul Shoemaker, Founding President of Social Venture Partners International, and Executive Connector of SVP Seattle, was named to NonProfit Times’ Top 50 Power and Influence List for the blending of philanthropy development and capacity building.

Congrats, Paul!

After the Tsunami: Progress from SVP Tokyo

“It’s clear that the Japanese people are still shocked,” says Bob Ness, SVP Seattle partner, about the daunting task ahead for Japan’s disaster recovery. Bob and his wife Maryann recently visited Japan and did not find many Japanese willing to talk deeply about the tsunami disaster.

SVP Tokyo founder and Chair, Hide Inoue and his wife, Yuki visited the Fukushima area not long before they met with Bob and Maryann. Hide said that they were completely unprepared for the level of devastation, and their own emotional response to the losses that people experienced there.

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Unleashing Potential…One SVP at a Time

Austin, Houston, Raleigh, Chicago and Atlanta, wouldn’t you like to see an SVP there? As a collective of SVPs, we number 25 currently with 2,100+ Partners. Together we’ve contributed close to $41M to over 500 nonprofits. That’s something to feel good about. Is that enough? What would it take to double those numbers? Just how many struggling kids, vulnerable families and environmental solutions could we reach with a bigger net? We see the potential, we have the tools, and there is no better time than right now to ramp up our efforts.

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