Step Up Silicon Valley

WHO WE ARE Almaz Negash, Sr. Managing Director Angela Silveira, Program Coordinator Len Hanlock, Technology Project Manager Joseph Koduvathara, Technology Project Assistant Elizabeth Lilly, Community Action Poverty Simulation Facilitator Christopher Miller, Community Action Poverty Simulation Facilitator ABOUT STEP UP Step Up Silicon Valley is a social innovation network that ignites ideas and turns them into action. We are a platform that sparks discussion among community members who then ideate and incubate new and untested models and solutions that disrupt ineffective systems to helping individuals move out of poverty. Open to innovation and collaboration among community stakeholders, Step Up Silicon Valley places Catholic Charities at the forefront of social innovation as one of six anti-poverty laboratories in the nation. OUR MISSION We seek to transform community awareness and generate the political will to create systems change that enables individuals and families to step up out of poverty in Santa Clara County. OUR VISION Our goal is to reduce poverty and to increase economic opportunity in Santa Clara County. We are committed to creating a community that is thriving and self-sufficient; where everyone has access to affordable health care, sufficient nutritious food, decent affordable housing, meaningful educational and career opportunities, and reliable income that meets their basic financial needs. TEAMS COMPRISING THE STEP UP NETWORK 1,000 Out of Poverty Team Outcomes Leadership Team Step Up Partners Step Up Funders THE BACKBONE ORGANIZATION – CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY In response to the growing social and moral crisis of poverty, Catholic Charities USA launched a national campaign in January 2007 to reduce poverty in the U.S. by 50% by the year 2020. Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County launched the local chapter of this campaign by convening a meeting of representatives of local Santa Clara non-profits, social service agencies, businesses, faith-based organizations, and government. As a result, we created Step Up Silicon Valley: The Movement to Cut Poverty in Santa Clara County. The Step Up SV movement continues, thanks to the support of its founder/backbone organization, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County and seed funding from Applied Materials Foundation, Cisco Foundation and various other funders.