SVP Portland also took a step that many funding organizations typically shy away from: They stepped into the political arena, investing in advocacy work and ballot-backing to raise awareness and funds for a call for universal early education. We shifted that language because we’re truly about partnership - and we are nothing without the work of community-based organizations and community-driven initiatives.” “This investment isn’t one-way,” Johnson says. These terms offer a clearer and much more collaborative description for SVP Portland’s methods. The organization began investing in collaboratives and systems change efforts while viewing their partnership opportunities as “transformational, rather than transactional.” This new outlook also involved a change in terminology - circle members became “Investor Partners” and grantees became “Community Partners,” as both bring unique strengths and assets. “We needed to think about the environment that these nonprofits were operating within.”Įnter a perspective shift that has come to define SVP Portland from the inside out. “It was sort of like having a healthy whale swimming in a toxic ocean,” Johnson explained. At first, the organization invested mainly in nonprofit organizations and education programs themselves, but Johnson and her team quickly realized that, without fixing the overall education system, this method of allocating funds wouldn’t have anywhere near the impact they wanted. Part of this reexamination also involved an analysis of SVP Portland’s funding methods. Since then, SVP Portland’s goal has been “ensuring equitable access to high-quality and culturally relevant learning experiences” for children in Portland - namely, establishing universal, equitable preschool access for kids in counties facing barriers to educational resources. In 2012, SVP Portland decided to commit 10 years to investing in early education. “We asked, are we okay with that? Individual organizations are growing, scaling up, and having greater impact, but outcomes overall were getting worse, and this was a real problem in our community.” “We felt like we were failing one success at a time,” says Johnson. Despite its best efforts, Portland’s educational facilities, graduation rates, and health and economic issues for school-age children continued to decline. After 10 years of this wide-ranged approach to investing, SVP Portland realized it needed to reexamine this commitment. When SVP Portland first opened operations 20 years ago, it funded a wide range of organizations and issues-based work in the family and children sphere. Just like the giving circle model, the goal of venture philanthropy is to create social impact (rather than capital growth) by investing in nonprofit organizations and community causes. “We are a partnership of over 130 professionals who collectively invest not only our dollars, but our time, our expertise, our networks, and our influence,” says Johnson.Īs an affiliate of Social Venture Partners International, SVP Portland practices “venture philanthropy,” a model that looks a lot like capital investment but focused on grassroots leadership rather than capital-focused organizations. Founded in 2001, SVP Portland just celebrated its 20th anniversary with another examination of its funding practices. Lauren Johnson is Executive Director of SVP Portland, one of 43 affiliates under the global Social Venture Partners network.
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For one Portland-based organization, these shifts in perspective have driven consistent and drastic change - and shown, time and again, how the power of the collective can transform a community. “His decisive leadership, his personal style, and his depth of experience across the entire Daimler organization exemplify the skills and values required for exceptional leadership.It’s understandable to come out of 20 years of funding cycles with a new perspective on grantmaking. “Richard’s oversight of Daimler Truck Financial USA through the last economic downturn forged strong ties with Daimler Trucks North America’s customers and dealer network,” said Daum. Additionally, prior to his current assignment in Asia, Richard was the vice president of Daimler Truck Financial USA with specific responsibility to support Daimler Trucks North America’s sales and dealer network. Richard brings over 20 years of management experience to the senior vice president of sales and marketing position at Daimler Trucks North America. His highly successful, diverse tenure with the company has included positions in Project Management, Marketing and Financial Services that have spanned the globe, including positions based in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, the United States and Asia-Pacific regions.
Howard was formerly Member of the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services AG responsible for the Africa & Asia/Pacific region.
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