Posted on January 4, 2013

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Awards Education Grants Totaling More Than $1.3 Million

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation has announced grants totaling nearly $1.3 million to local nonprofits working to provide English classes for immigrants and refugees and math programs to middle school students.

The foundation, which recently received a $500 million gift from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, awarded $675,256 in grants to thirteen organizations working to provide English language classes and vocational English programs for immigrants and refugees in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Grant recipients include the Building Skills Partnership, which was awarded $60,000 to continue a program that teaches building maintenance employees vocational English and to expand its advocacy efforts around the training needs of low-wage immigrant services workers. "Learning English is one of the most important steps," said SVCF grantmaking director Manuel J. Santamaria. "It helps people get better-paying jobs, helps them better prepare their children for school, and helps them build the confidence to interact with civic institutions and engage in their communities."

SVCF also awarded grants totaling $661,000 to sixteen organizations working to provide afterschool and summer math programs to students of color and low-income students. Grant recipients include Building Educated Leaders for Life, which received $60,000 to provide a five-week summer academic program featuring a research-based, data-driven math curriculum to three hundred students in east San Jose. "We need to ensure that investing in out-of-school programs is a priority in our community," said Gina Dalma, program officer for education grantmaking at SVCF. "These programs provide critical support to increase our students' academic performance and their opportunities to succeed in college and the workforce."

For complete lists of the adult English language acquisition and out-of-school education grant recipients, visit the SVCF Web site.