Pierre and I have officially become engaged philanthropists. We joined the Dallas chapter of Social Venture Partners - a community of social entrepreneurs. From the SVP website:

SVP links community professionals and nonprofit organizations to make a hands-on difference. Social Venture Partners was the inspiration of former Aldus Corporation President Paul Brainerd. Additional founding members include technology industry leaders Scott Oki, Ida Cole, Bill Neukom and Doug and Maggie Walker. The vision of the founders was to build a philanthropic organization using a venture capital model, where Partners actively nurture their financial investments with guidance and resources. Social Venture Partners is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to addressing social and environmental issues.... Each Partner commits to a annual capital contribution... for at least two years. As responsible investors, Partners have a genuine interest in providing whatever it takes to help bolster the success of every one of our Investees. Partner involvement ranges from hands-on work, such as setting up a website, to management support in the areas of finance, strategic planning, fund development, legal, marketing and more. Although Partners are not required to contribute time and expertise, over two-thirds do.

We are excited to assist with the many good (and pressing) causes in Dallas which are looking for business assistance as well as capital. I am already involved in a couple of the investees - one particularly that assists youth who have just aged out of foster care. They have the opportunity to receive free college tuition at the state's schools, but figuring out how to get the benefit, manage all of the housing, financial aid issues, and then successfully navigating through college when their secondary education has most usually been very disrupted, would be tough even for those from a privileged background, especially without the assistance of a parent or guardian. In addition, we attended the monthly luncheon and had the opportunity to hear Omar Jahwar, the director of Vision Regeneration, one of the DSVP's investees. Omar has found a way to be a positive voice to the gang members in the most disadvantaged areas of Dallas. Not only does he reach the leaders but he then recruits them to be leaders of the positive programs that Vision Regeneration offers. (Sound like a good guy to come speak in Sacramento so we could use some of his fabulous experience to solve our every growing problem that leaves so many of our young people dead or in jail?) His quote that still haunts me: "When good voices are silent, bad voices sound good." Omar knows how to work the streets, but he needs help in dotting the i's and crossing the t's when it comes to applying for and administering grants, setting up a board, financial accounting. That's where the volunteers from DSVP come in.

We are thrilled to be a part of it and excited to contribute whatever we can in terms of what we have learned from our long careers in the corporate world. And a great side benefit, we have begun to meet some generous, open-hearted, smart people whom, we are sure, will soon become our new friends in Dallas.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive