Most of the world sees San José, Calif. as the capital of Silicon Valley, a creative tech hub drawing extraordinary talent to some of the world’s largest media companies like Google, Facebook and more.

Yet the country’s 10th largest city faces significant challenges, including gaping economic disparity and a significant digital divide. Richard Florida, a leading intellectual on economic competitiveness, writes that wage inequality in San José, Calif. is the second largest in the country.

We recently asked several of the community’s leaders from philanthropy, government and the arts what they see as their city’s greatest assets and biggest challenges.

Here’s what they had to say:

Erica K. Wood, vice president of community leadership and grantmaking at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation:

E.W.: San José and Silicon Valley are rich in diversity – its residents represent an incredible range of cultural traditions and languages, and we enjoy an environment that encompasses beautiful open spaces, farmland and vibrant urban neighborhoods. The innovations generated by our universities and businesses – from global corporations to one-person startups – often make Silicon Valley residents feel as if the solutions to the world’s toughest problems must surely be within reach.

And yet there are still enormous issues that divide us. Serious and growing economic disparity between rich and poor, unequal access to digital technology and education, lack of affordable housing and inadequate transportation systems are among them. Striving to narrow the gap between those who have and those in need is what makes our work at the community foundation rewarding.

Connie Martinez, managing director and CEO of 1stACT Silicon Valley (which seeks to make downtown San José a more viable, fun and friendly place to live) and Executive Director of the Arts Council of Silicon Valley:

The deadline is approaching soon for the Knight Community Information Challenge, offering matching funds to community and place-based foundations supporting news and information projects. So we thought we’d round up information that may help you brainstorm ideas and formulate your application before June 1.

First, we have a few posts on how community foundations are:

• Discovering that good information promotes social change;

• Opening up data to local residents, and

• Experimenting with mobile projects.

We also have a slide presentation and post on the challenge's new focus for 2013,  and case studies that look at how four community foundations took their projects from idea to reality. Earlier this month, we hosted a webinar to answer questions, and posted the recording.

The challenge this year is putting a priority on Open Government projects that help improve the way citizens and governments interact. Today, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, the Knight Digital Media Center is hosting a session on Open Government, Open Data and Civic Participation: Five Projects Any Community Can Try. There’s still space left, so feel free to join in the conversation.

And as always, there are plenty of other resources (and a link to the application, hint hint) at informationneeds.org.

2013 BMe Leadership Award Winners from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Several groups of black males were spotted today near you, helping to build, protect and educate the community. The groups were spotted in Detroit, Philadelphia and Baltimore and ranged in ages from 19 to over 60.  The only thing the men apparently had in common was a personal commitment to the well-being of other people's children, strangers and neighbors.

A total of 50 men were spotted by BMe: "The network of inspired black men and their friends" and awarded a total of $600,000 in small grants paid for by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Open Society Foundation's Campaign for Black Male Achievement. The men weren't awarded the grants just for what they do, but for who they are and what they represent.

They represent our chance to live in communities where people look out for each other, turn their talents into income, vacant lots into playgrounds, hopelessness into confidence, and death into new life.

These 50 BMe Leaders are among 400 other BMe Brothers who applied for funding and are also making a difference. Those 400 hundred are part of over 3,000 black men who have posted video testimonials of things that they consistently do to make a difference. All of whom do so simply because they can and because they care.

Now that BMe exists, we invite anyone of any race or gender to connect to local men like these on the interests that we share in common. Whether its youth development, entrepreneurship, health, education, homelessness, the environment and more we can each do our part and do even more together.