| Food Recovery: |
| Fighting hunger and waste in Silicon Valley |
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Since 2016, Joint Venture’s Food Recovery initiative has been delivering food directly to those in need. A challenge even in the best of times, the process has been complicated immensely by the pandemic. “During the health crisis we have had to count on higher levels of support, coming from old and new partners throughout the region,” explains Robin Franz Martin, executive director of the initiative.
To coordinate the operation at the regional level, Joint Venture has formed a Food Recovery Council, and the Wells Fargo Foundation has come forward with funding to help the effort quickly achieve scale.
Meanwhile, Joint Venture's A La Carte Program, now administered by Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen, has been named a co-recipient of the California Resource Recovery Association's Outstanding Food Recovery Award. |
| Learn more |
| An upside of COVID-19? |
| Clean air, less traffic, safer highways |
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In its most recent publication Joint Venture’s Institute for Regional Studies reveals an upside to shelter-in-place orders: vastly improved air quality, falling injury rates, and the absence of congestion. April's freeway miles of travel were their lowest in 17 years; vehicle delay hours fell by 94 percent; injury crashes declined by 69 percent over last year.
"The findings are intuitively obvious, but that's not the point," said Russell Hancock, president of the Institute and Joint Venture's chief executive. "We’re doing this to provide baselines for the analysis and decision making that will now follow. If the pandemic results in permanent changes to our mobility patterns and reduces greenhouse gases, then future generations will see that the tragedy of 2020 also sowed the seeds for a better world." |
| Read the report |
| Silicon Valley Talent Partnership |
| Sending skilled volunteers to the front lines |
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Like most organizations, Joint Venture’s Silicon Valley Talent Partnership (SVTP) had to pivot when the pandemic set in. With several projects frozen in the pipeline, Executive Director Floor Koudijs and Director Ashley Raggio began pairing skilled volunteers to community-based non-profits.
Joining forces with Silicon Valley Strong, the city of San Jose, and the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, SVTP took on the role of matching high-skilled volunteers to community organizations working on the front lines of the crisis.
To date, SVTP has matched 40 skilled volunteers to 17 different organizations involved in relief efforts, including the College of Adaptive Arts, Achieve Kids, The Health Trust, Self-Help for the Elderly, Silicon Valley Education Foundation, and Sunnyvale Community Services. The recruitment process has generated a growing database of more than 1,100 skilled volunteers. |
| To volunteer, or suggest projects, contact Ashley Raggio. |
| Karen Trapenberg Frick joins Institute as Distinguished Fellow |
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Karen Trapenberg Frick, an expert on transportation planning in the Bay Area and beyond, has been named a distinguished fellow at Joint Venture’s Institute for Regional Studies.
Professor Frick is the director of the University of California Transportation Center and a professor of city and regional planning at the Berkeley campus. Prior to joining the faculty she was a planner at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. She is considered a foremost expert on the San Francisco Bay Bridge, a project that was 25 years in the making.
The Institute’s distinguished fellows are thought leaders who engage with Silicon Valley’s public- and private-sector leaders through the Joint Venture framework. |
| Learn more |
| Webinar: |
| Economic Development Alliance helps restaurants with new rules |
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Joint Venture’s Economic Development Alliance (SVEDA) together with the San Mateo Economic Development Alliance (SAMCEDA) coordinated a June 17 webinar recommending best practices for restaurants easing back into service after the COVID-19 lockdown.
The event led off with a presentation by the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center offering practical advice on keeping staff and patrons safe, and how restaurants can comply and flourish under the new requirements. County public health officials and legal teams were on hand to answer detailed questions about local regulations. |
The full 90-minute webinar is available online.
Contact SVEDA for more information. |
| Article of the Month: |
“I HAVE A DREAM”
Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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| Delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial August 28, 1963 during the March on Washington, Martin Luther King’s call for equality and freedom became the defining moment of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history. |
Read Dr. King’s speech.
Read more about the speech. |
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June 23, 2020 - (Technuter) - COVID-19 Made Internet Access, Broadband and Hotspots an Educational Necessity: “Before COVID-19 led to social distancing and shelter-in-place orders, students who needed access to broadband could use school computer labs, public libraries, on-campus Wi-Fi, public Wi-Fi, and other networks ,” explains David Witkowski.” More
June 22, 2020 - (Voice of America) - For Silicon Valley, a Worker Pipeline Cut Off: While tech companies have had layoffs during the pandemic, the labor market is still tight, said Russell Hancock, the chief executive and president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit organization that studies the region. More
June 21, 2020 - (KCBS Radio) - Sky's The Limit For Zoom In New Remote Reality, Analysts Believe: "You know, I’m not worried about that," Joint Ventures Silicon Valley President/CEO Russell Hancock said. "I think what the pandemic has shown is that these services are now indispensable. More
June 19, 2020 - (Bloomberg) - These U.S. Cities Are Likely to Recover Faster From Lockdown: “We’re high-performing, and you throw a pandemic at us and we still perform,” said Russell Hancock, chief executive officer of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit that analyzes the region’s economy. More
June 19, 2020 - (Silicon Valley Business Journal) - Do you like the latest unemployment numbers? Add some salt to them: But the numbers should be taken with a large grain of salt, said Rachel Massaro, research director at the Institute for Regional Studies, a part of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. . More
June 18, 2020 - (Silicon Valley Business Journal) - Supreme Court's DACA decision protects Silicon Valley's 'secret sauce' – immigration: “Let's never forget that Silicon Valley wasn't actually built by Californians, or even Americans,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. More
June 17, 2020 - (SFGATE) - Annual Deaths Rising In Homeless Population: The Santa Clara County deaths, which often occur unremembered and unmourned, take place in a county where the gap between rich and poor is at an historic high, according to Joint Venture Silicon Valley. More
June 17, 2020 - (Silicon Valley Business Journal) - Homebodies R Us. This county's residents are less likely to travel than any in the Bay Area in the age of Covid. - Alameda, San Mateo and San Francisco, in that order, have the greatest combined commute flows in and out of Santa Clara County, according to the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. More
June 12, 2020 - (Urgent Communications) - COVID-19 measures underscore broadband needs across many critical sectors, speakers say: David Witkowski, executive director of the wireless-communications initiative for Joint Venture Silicon Valley, said...25% of households do not have access to the Internet. More
June 11, 2020 - (Silicon Valley Business Journal) - 10 MILES. TWO STOPS. ONE GOAL: Right now, about 80,000 weekday commuters from Alameda County enter Santa Clara County, according to data compiled by Jon Haveman of the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies.More
June 9, 2020 - (The Silicon Valley Voice) - Mayor’s Roundtable: Staying On Track When Pandemic And Protest Lands In Your Lap - Joint Venture Silicon Valley CEO Russell Hancock had a virtual roundtable with Cupertino Mayor Steven Scharf, Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein... More
June 9, 2020 - (IEEE Transmitter) - COVID-19 Made Internet Access, Broadband and Hotspots an Educational Necessity: This complements his work at Joint Venture Silicon Valley, where he leads programs that help ensure the region’s residents have adequate access to telecommunications... More
June 8, 2020 - (SFGATE) - Santa Clara Co.: Silicon Valley Economic Slowdown Brings Positive News For Environment, Safety: ...according to the research arm of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit that provides data analysis and leads projects and initiatives related to the Bay Area, from San Francisco to San Jose and Fremont. More
June 8, 2020 - (The Press) - Team San Jose mourns the loss of Karolyn Kirchgesler, President and CEO: She served as a board member of the Silicon Valley Organization, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, San Jose Sports Authority, and was Vice Chair of the San Jose Police Foundation. More
June 5, 2020 - (Indica News) - Harbir Kaur Bhatia to run for Santa Clara City Council: She is a Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce Board Member, Santa Clara cultural commissioner, deputy board member of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. More
June 4, 2020 - (San Jose Spotlight) - Silicon Valley economic slowdown brings positive news for environment, safety: Significant decreases in travel by car should prove advantageous for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Silicon Valley, about half of which are caused by transportation, according to the research arm of Joint Venture Silicon Valley... More
June 4, 2020 - (New York Times) - 2,000 Free Meals a Night, Seasoned by Silicon Valley Chefs: Ditto and bravo, said Russell Hancock, president and chief executive of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a think-tank whose research shows the vastness of the region’s income gap. More
June 3, 2020 - (KGO-TV) - What will traffic look like after COVID-19? Bay Area officials weigh in - New data from Joint Venture's Institute for Regional Studies says Silicon Valley traffic is down 94 percent. Crashes are down 63 percent. More
June 3, 2020 - (WNN) - Coronavirus economy: Bay Area vehicle trips plunge in April, jump in May - people have been driving much less during a spring dominated by the personal and economic impact of the coronavirus, according to a report released Tuesday by the Institute for Regional Studies and Joint Venture Silicon Valley. More
June 3, 2020 - (Mercury News) - Coronavirus economy: Bay Area vehicle trips plunge in April, jump in May - “We certainly don’t intend to minimize the tragedy of the pandemic,” said Rachel Massaro, director of research for the Institute for Regional Studies. More
June 3, 2020 - (NBC) - Free stimulus checks every month? Tech execs think so, but there might be a catch: “Our current environment opens up the policy horizon for a whole set of ideas that might have been niche,” said Margaret O’Mara... More
June 2, 2020 - (Mercury News) - Opinion: By working together, we can build a better Silicon Valley - Still, according to a recent Silicon Valley Indicators report put out by Joint Venture, 30% of Silicon Valley households are living in poverty and below self-sufficiency standards. More
May 31, 2020 - (Bisnow) - New CDC Guidelines Would Remake Office Space: “You will not see the drum beat and hue and cry and rush to get back to the office," Joint Venture Silicon Valley CEO Russell Hancock told the New York Times. More
May 31, 2020 - (NPR) - Tech Startups, Shut Out From Federal Stimulus Loans, Seek Aid From Congress: Rachel Massaro runs the research arm of the nonprofit Joint Venture Silicon Valley. More
May 29, 2020 - (Hartford Courant) - Temperature checks and desk shields: CDC suggests big changes to offices - Citing examples like Twitter, which has said it may never return to corporate office space, Hancock said that he has heard similar things from both Silicon Valley companies and those outside the region. More
May 28, 2020 - (New York Times) - C.D.C. Recommends Sweeping Changes to American Offices: “Companies, surprisingly, don’t want to go back to work,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit think tank that studies the region. More
May 27, 2020 - (Palo Alto Online) - Interactive: A by-the-numbers look at the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on daily life - ...at least 8,560 service employees at risk of losing their jobs in coming months, according to an April consumer spending report from the Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies. More
May 26, 2020 - (KQED) - Bay Area Housing: Will Remote Work and COVID-19 Affect SF Rent? Despite the recent outflow of high-salaried, telecommuting workers from the Bay Area, local housing economist Issi Romem is quick to deflate the idea that the San Francisco residential rental market is likely to soften. More
May 22, 2020 - (LA Times) - California’s unemployment rate leaps to 15.5% as 2.3 million jobs vanish: “We’ve just never seen numbers like this before,” said Rachel Massaro, research director at the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. More
May 22, 2020 - (San Jose Spotlight) - Amid ‘unprecedented’ unemployment numbers, Silicon Valley feels blow slightly softer: ...hiring is down by more than25 percent in the region, according to data by Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies. More
May 22, 2020 - (San Jose Spotlight) - Small businesses feel the brunt of shutdown in Silicon Valley and beyond: But data from Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies shows that the Bay Area’s restaurant sales dropped by 25 percent in late April compared to the same period in 2019. More |
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