Since we launched in 2012 with support from Bank of America, the Social Innovation Fund, John and Susan Simon, and The Harrick Family Foundation, GreenLight Bay Area has been working alongside countless community partners and champions to meet the most urgent, unmet needs of low-income children and families across the Bay. As we start our fifth year of work, we want to take a moment to reflect on all that we have achieved with our community of supporters and look towards the future of GreenLight Bay Area.
What has GreenLight been up to since launch? We have…
- Completed 4 selection cycles, including deep needs assessments, local landscape analyses, and organizational diligence. Since 2012, we’ve diligenced over 160 organizations nationwide, conducted 12 site visits and 40 management calls, and invited 8 organizations to pitch to our Selection Advisory Council.
- Convened a cross-sector, cross-Bay Selection Advisory Council of over 30 members to lend their personal insight and expertise to our investment-making.
- Engaged an incredible group of event sponsors to support our launch events, a central part of the 5-step GreenLight Method that ensures sustainability and local scale.
- Imported 4 innovative, evidenced-based nonprofits into the Bay Area: Genesys Works, uAspire, Springboard Collaborative, and Blueprint Math Fellows.
- Invested over $3.6 million in our portfolio organizations, in addition to holding local board seats for each and assisting in local hiring, fundraising, and strategy.
- Reached over 8,000 children and families in 4 Bay Area counties through our portfolio, and are on track to reach nearly 50,000 children and families by 2020 with these 4 organizations alone.
- Leveraged our dollars to help raise over $5 million for our portfolio organizations from an impressive group of co-investors including Google.org, Salesforce, The Warriors Foundation, The Peery Foundation, Sobrato Family Foundation, and Tipping Point Community.
- Witnessed our portfolio organizations grow to collectively employ over 48 people and work with 21 local board members.
We’re proud of the impact of our 5 years in the Bay Area, and we hope you are too. Most of all, we’re proud of the ways that our work has helped to transform the lives of some of our area’s most vulnerable residents. Of course, none of this impact would have been possible without our community of friends, partners, and supporters. This year will be a year of reflection, celebration, and imagining our next five years together. We look forward to connecting with local leaders across sectors throughout the year, and engaging even more of you in our work.
