Lea King is executive director of the San Jose, Calif.,-based Silicon Valley Talent Partnership, which manages collaborations between private-sector volunteers and public agencies to improve resident services. San Jose is one of 26 Knight communities.   Related Link

“Silicon Valley Talent Partnership expands to connect local talent with local government with $1 million from Knight Foundation” – Aug. 7, 2014 press release

Silicon Valley is a unique place where people from all over the world come to study, work and build their families and homes. Though I have lived and worked in Taiwan, Spain, Hong Kong, China and Bangalore, India, Silicon Valley remains one of the most diverse and friendly places that my kids and I call home. There is such an amazing concentration of talent here found in the people, who pride themselves on collaboration and competition, and it’s where I work to enable a “stronger community working together,” the mission of the Silicon Valley Talent Partnership.   

The Silicon Valley Talent Partnership is a civic innovation public-private-partnership organization that enables pro bono talent from the private and nonprofit worlds to help city governments improve and enhance service delivery. It is a unique partnership that enables people to contribute their talent to make a tangible impact in their neighborhoods, parks, libraries and communities.

For Silicon Valley-based companies, there is no better employee development opportunity than ours, in which people get to adopt engaging and challenging projects and collaborate with peers from other companies to build a stronger community. Our concept is exciting, innovative and effective, with successes ranging from a marketing / branding study for the city of Santa Clara to the successful launch of the San Jose Library Summer Reading App.   

Silicon Valley Talent Partnership: Stronger community, working together

We have realized the local appetite for accelerating positive civic impact.  Without a doubt, in Silicon Valley we know there’s always a new way to do something and with the $1 million multiyear grant from Knight Foundation we will have even greater opportunity to create partnerships in more cities across Silicon Valley.  What makes Silicon Valley Talent Partnership different is that we connect the need with the support of skilled volunteers, and we do it in a way that leaves both partners satisfied and looking for more project opportunities.  Through our projects, volunteer teams are able to collaborate, bond and fulfill an important need for their community, while the community receives a much-needed service.  

One of our volunteers said it best: “Volunteering on a project is like when you mentor someone; sometimes the person benefitting more is the mentor.” There is joint learning on both sides, and, as another volunteer said, “ [Volunteering] can be addictive!” How cool is it to be able to use your natural talent and expertise to solve a problem in your very own city?

For the municipal government, being able to count on a professional organization to understand its challenges, to co-create and define the project scope and to procure pro bono talent to team with the agency staff to solve a community problem is truly a win-win.

As we continue our work and the important partnership with Knight Foundation we will expand this civic entrepreneur business model regionally and create partnership opportunities for individuals, companies, nonprofits and the public sector to build better cities and stronger communities.