Silicon Valley Education Foundation
Encyclopedia
Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF), a non-profit organization, has been serving students and teachers since 1999. SVEF is located in San Jose
, California, USA. In February, 2008, two education foundations – the San Jose Education Foundation and the Santa Clara County Education Foundation, merged to become Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
The merged education foundation serves the needs of the county’s 33 K-12 public school districts and one adult education
district by delivering school readiness and academic achievement programs to students, as well as programs that encourage teaching innovation. SVEF raises money publicly to deliver programs, largely among foundations and Silicon Valley
businesses and other corporations it partners with, such as Cisco, IBM, Flextronics, SAP and National Semiconductor. Other partnerships with organizations that share the same educational mission include San Jose’s Tech Museum, The Children’s Discovery Museum, The Krause Center for Innovation and Silicon Valley Leadership Group. SVEF acts as a clearinghouse for businesses and individuals interested in giving to public schools. SVEF itself is not a grant maker of general grants to the community, but offers grants of $500 to teachers for innovative classroom projects.
SVEF has 37 employees. It’s president and CEO is Muhammed Chaudhry. There are 14 board members, whose backgrounds range from educators and community leaders to heads of Silicon Valley corporations.
; Muhammed Chaudhry, president & CEO, SVEF; Bruce Chizen
, former CEO, Adobe
; Van T. Dang, vice pres., Cisco Systems
; Don Dawson, board member, California Teachers Assn.; Michael Kirst, professor, Stanford University
; David Neale, president, The Core Companies; Faysal Sohail
, managing director, CMEA Ventures; Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, president, Sobrato Family Foundation; Cora Tomalinas, community activist, FIRST 5; Charles “Chuck” Weis, superintendent, Santa Clara County Schools; Paul Humphries, exec. vice president, Flextronics
International.
– the academic chasm that separates black and Latino students from white and Asian peers. The achievement gap is one of the most significant challenges facing schools today. SVEF in 2008 launched the centerpiece of its achievement initiative (the STEM Initiative) – a summer algebra enhancement program called “Stepping Up to Algebra” to prepare middle school students for tomorrow’s economy and its highly-skilled jobs in engineering
and technology
. The program focuses on middle school students, offering them new strategies to master algebra
so they can pass Algebra I before entering high school. About 450 students participated in 2008 and showed a proficiency increase of more than 20% after taking the class. The program rolls out again for summer 2009.
SVEF also developed an open-source software tool for teachers called “Lessonopoly.” It allows teachers to load lesson plans and other academic materials on the Lessonopoly site to share and collaborate with other educators.
SVEF offers Teacher Innovation Grants of $500 to Santa Clara County teachers who submit unique classroom projects. Another program, called “Teach Here, Live Here,” offers teachers rental assistance so they can afford to live in high-cost Silicon Valley.
SVEF offers school readiness programs to low-income families with pre-school age children that include vital health and developmental outreach and education to prepare children for school entry. SVEF does this under California’s First 5 program.
SVEF presents monthly interactive Education Forums that bring together top business, education and civic leaders to discuss vital education topics.
Links to SVEF
Log on to www.svefoundation.org
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, California, USA. In February, 2008, two education foundations – the San Jose Education Foundation and the Santa Clara County Education Foundation, merged to become Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
The merged education foundation serves the needs of the county’s 33 K-12 public school districts and one adult education
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
district by delivering school readiness and academic achievement programs to students, as well as programs that encourage teaching innovation. SVEF raises money publicly to deliver programs, largely among foundations and Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
businesses and other corporations it partners with, such as Cisco, IBM, Flextronics, SAP and National Semiconductor. Other partnerships with organizations that share the same educational mission include San Jose’s Tech Museum, The Children’s Discovery Museum, The Krause Center for Innovation and Silicon Valley Leadership Group. SVEF acts as a clearinghouse for businesses and individuals interested in giving to public schools. SVEF itself is not a grant maker of general grants to the community, but offers grants of $500 to teachers for innovative classroom projects.
SVEF has 37 employees. It’s president and CEO is Muhammed Chaudhry. There are 14 board members, whose backgrounds range from educators and community leaders to heads of Silicon Valley corporations.
Board Members
Ray Bingham, partner, General AtlanticGeneral Atlantic
General Atlantic is a private equity investment firm. The firm invests through growth capital injections, control buyouts, industry consolidations, build-ups, recapitalizations, and PIPEs...
; Muhammed Chaudhry, president & CEO, SVEF; Bruce Chizen
Bruce Chizen
Bruce R. Chizen was the chief executive officer of Adobe Systems, based in San Jose, California. Chizen lives in Los Altos, California with his wife and children.- Career :...
, former CEO, Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
; Van T. Dang, vice pres., Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
; Don Dawson, board member, California Teachers Assn.; Michael Kirst, professor, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
; David Neale, president, The Core Companies; Faysal Sohail
Faysal Sohail
Faysal A. Sohail is an American venture capitalist and General Partner at CMEA Capital in San Francisco. Sohail was a co-founder of Silicon Architects and on the founding team of Actel Corporation, two influential companies in the computer chip industry...
, managing director, CMEA Ventures; Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, president, Sobrato Family Foundation; Cora Tomalinas, community activist, FIRST 5; Charles “Chuck” Weis, superintendent, Santa Clara County Schools; Paul Humphries, exec. vice president, Flextronics
Flextronics
Flextronics International Ltd. is an electronics manufacturing services provider that offers services to original equipment manufacturers . It also provides supporting supply chain services, including packaging and transportation throughout the world, as well as design and after-sales...
International.
Mission
SVEF’s mission is to advocate for the needs of children in all 33 school districts across Silicon Valley. The foundation is the only organization dedicated solely to improving pre-kindergarten to 12th grade public education in Silicon Valley through delivery of programs that assist children with school readiness from before they enter school to enrichment programs throughout the K-12 experience. SVEF presents these programs through partnerships with the business, civic and education communities that offer their sponsorship. The goal is to inspire tomorrow’s innovators by bringing resources and expertise to schools. SVEF focuses on the needs of its constituents: students, families, teachers, community and education leaders. It listens to their needs and seek answers to their challenges through innovative solutions. SVEF brings a Silicon Valley business approach to improving education, which focuses on achieving results.Key Programs
SVEF’s key focus is creating and delivering academic programs that address closing the achievement gap in math and scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
– the academic chasm that separates black and Latino students from white and Asian peers. The achievement gap is one of the most significant challenges facing schools today. SVEF in 2008 launched the centerpiece of its achievement initiative (the STEM Initiative) – a summer algebra enhancement program called “Stepping Up to Algebra” to prepare middle school students for tomorrow’s economy and its highly-skilled jobs in engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. The program focuses on middle school students, offering them new strategies to master algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
so they can pass Algebra I before entering high school. About 450 students participated in 2008 and showed a proficiency increase of more than 20% after taking the class. The program rolls out again for summer 2009.
SVEF also developed an open-source software tool for teachers called “Lessonopoly.” It allows teachers to load lesson plans and other academic materials on the Lessonopoly site to share and collaborate with other educators.
SVEF offers Teacher Innovation Grants of $500 to Santa Clara County teachers who submit unique classroom projects. Another program, called “Teach Here, Live Here,” offers teachers rental assistance so they can afford to live in high-cost Silicon Valley.
SVEF offers school readiness programs to low-income families with pre-school age children that include vital health and developmental outreach and education to prepare children for school entry. SVEF does this under California’s First 5 program.
SVEF presents monthly interactive Education Forums that bring together top business, education and civic leaders to discuss vital education topics.
Links to SVEF
Log on to www.svefoundation.org