DECEMBER 2003

With the holidays approaching and the year coming to a close, it’s a fitting time to take stock of what we have achieved and to look ahead to the future. 2003 was a year of great growth, new partnerships, and grace under pressure. Despite an extremely difficult funding environment, each of our investment partners has forged ahead and made significant gains for their organizations. There is much to be proud of and I’d like to highlight some of the progress that our partners have made.

• Asian American LEAD (AALEAD): In its first year of partnership with VPP and co-investor the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF), AALEAD made solid strides in building its capacity. The addition of a deputy director has strengthened its senior management team, and additional supporting resources will be added in the coming months. On the financing front, AALEAD launched a capital campaign with a goal of $2.5 million. In recognition of its extraordinary work, the organization was recently awarded $500,000 as an honoree of The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2004 Families Count: The National Honors Program. With the expert help of EMCF, AALEAD has begun to refine its theory of change and develop a system of outcome measurement.
• Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center: Calvary’s first year as a VPP investment partner has focused on strategic planning, with a detailed plan for expansion expected by the end of 2003. Calvary was also honored by The Annie E. Casey Foundation as a winner of the 2004 Families Count award in recognition of their excellence in strengthening low-income families to benefit children. Calvary’s dream to create an early education bilingual school for children age three through fifth grade moved closer to reality in 2003 when its public charter was approved. The charter school opening is planned for fall of 2004 with 112 preschool and kindergarten slots.
• Center for Multicultural Human Services (CMHS): Now in the VPP portfolio for its second year, CMHS has made great progress in building the capacity of its organization in order to benefit more children. Leadership and management have been strengthened by the addition of several key hires—chief administrative officer, director of programs, and additional financial staff—as well as subsequent organizational and structural change. Six new members joined the board. The organization has also made great strides to implement a new comprehensive information management system to improve CMHS’s financial reporting, client evaluation, and information management. The new systems will drastically change the way the organization measures and evaluates its results. And finally, the CMHS production, Children of War, raised visibility of the organization and brought the issues faced by the communities it serves to new and broader audiences.
• Child and Family Network Centers (CFNC): Now in its second year of partnership with VPP, CFNC is beginning to execute the strategic initiatives defined in planning. CFNC continued to increase its impact by expanding its preschool programs to a full day. It has also taken steps toward building its management team and improving its effectiveness with the addition of a development director and two key support positions. 2003 has also brought a restructuring of the board and the addition of nine new board members.
• Heads Up: After two-and-one-half years as a VPP investment partner, Heads Up continues to expand its sites, opening in two new schools this fall, serving an additional 280 children. The organization expanded its management team with the integration of a chief administration officer, directors of development and programs, and key program staff. Heads Up’s board became stronger with the addition of key officers, and management is implementing a new information system for tracking program details and outcomes. On the financing front, Heads Up secured a $907,000 per year grant for three years starting in 2004 from AmeriCorps.
• Latin American Youth Center (LAYC): The newest VPP investment partner, LAYC, has been focusing on business planning, where it is integrating changes that reflect lessons learned by VPP in early planning efforts, such as including a greater focus on outcomes definition much earlier in the process and investing more effort to more fully develop the strategies to finance the organization’s plans.
• See Forever Foundation (SFF): After 18 months as a VPP investment partner, See Forever greatly expanded its capacity through the addition of key management positions—a chief operating officer, fund development director, and new principal for its second school site. SFF was awarded significant grants from two national foundations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Foundation, and was selected the winner of the 2004 CharityWorks award of approximately $500,000. In addition, the SFF board saw the addition of seven new directors, including two VPP investors.

While the holiday season is a time for reflection, it is also a time to give thanks.

We are especially grateful to have the opportunity to work with our investment partners—outstanding community-based nonprofits that are having a significant and positive impact on the lives of the children and the adults they serve. The leaders of these organizations are investing their time, focusing their efforts, making difficult decisions, and taking the steps necessary to strengthen and scale their organizations. Because of the great work of VPP’s investment partners, the lives of more children are improving. And even more important, the leaders of these organizations are strengthening and building their organizations for the long-term, to serve many more children, with better programs and services.

We’d also like to express our gratitude to everyone in our growing network who helps make our work possible and contributes to the efforts of our investment partners:

… The community-based nonprofits outside of our investment portfolio who have given us their time and shared information and assistance;
… Our strategic advisors, who help us make contributions to the field, work directly with our investment partners to strengthen and scale their organizations, provide insights on and connections to the nonprofit and philanthropic communities, and give us legislative and public policy guidance;
…Our strong foundation supporters who have worked with us and encouraged our work and the work of the investment partners;
… Our investors, for their patience and their remarkable commitment to VPP; …Our board for their engagement, guidance, and stewardship; and our executive committee, which provides strong governance, challenging insights, and unwavering support to VPP’s mission;
… Our core team—the partners, special advisors, and those involved with operations, developing our processes, and capturing and disseminating our lessons learned—for their commitment to and passion for the missions of our community-based partners;
… And, to all of those involved with VPP for their dedication to helping influence lasting change by increasing access to capital, talent, and other resources that will, in turn, help the leaders of organizations doing the most to improve the lives of children to strengthen, grow, and sustain their organization’s scale and impact.

It has taken a long time to get to this point. Although we still have a long way to go and much to prove before we dare claim success, the fruits of that success are clearly evident. At the core of this progress is the network of partnerships and relationships that VPP has forged and continues to develop, the value of which will only grow, benefiting all involved in this evolving “VPP community.” The years ahead may prove to be some of the most daunting and challenging times for our investment partners and us. But our collective talent, our commitment and passion to make the world a better place for children and families, the growing leverage of the partnerships we are forging, and the remarkable accomplishments we have already achieved together over the past few years prepare us to face whatever difficulties lie ahead.

That’s a lot to be proud of and thankful for. We are truly blessed to have this opportunity to support those who are helping make a difference for the children and families of this region.

My best wishes for a safe, healthy, and joyous holiday season,

--Mario Morino