HOUSTON SOCIAL VENTURE PARTNERS AWARDS FIRST GRANTS TOTALING $60,000
Genesys ITS, Inc. and YES College Preparatory Chosen as First Recipients of
HSVP Grants
HOUSTON � Houston Social Venture Partners, a Houston-based philanthropic and volunteerism organization, has awarded its premier grants to two Houston area non-profit organizations � Genesys ITS, Inc., a non-profit provider of information technology services that educates and employs �at-risk� high school students in IT services, and YES College Preparatory, a state-chartered public school that provides inner-city students with a rigorous college preparatory curriculum.
Launched in April, HSVP is composed of companies and individual investors who use a venture capital model to invest in non-profit organizations to achieve positive change in the Houston area. In particular, HSVP has chosen education and children�s issues as its current areas of focus.
�HSVP seeks out non-profit organizations that will be significantly impacted by the contribution of HSVP funds and partner skills and will benefit from a long-term relationship with us,� said Calene LeBeau, executive director of HSVP. �This relationship includes hands-on involvement by individual partners who have a range of talents and skills to offer non-profit organizations.�
Genesys will receive $50,000 along with HSVP�s business expertise to conduct a pilot program that will combine education and regular work experience at the high school level to �jump-start� the careers of at-risk students. The program is aimed at students who are at least 16 years old and consists of a 2-year curriculum related to IT services.
Students will participate in a structured technical education program and will gain hands-on work experience through employment with Genesys. Also key to the program is Genesys� strategic relationships with major IT service providers, who will subcontract jobs to Genesys. The first school to incorporate the Genesys program will be Southwest High School, a state-chartered high school.
"HSVP�s financial contribution and business expertise will help us augment our program, impact the lives of many young people and contribute greatly to our success,� said Rafael Alvarez, president of Genesys ITS.
YES College Preparatory will receive $10,000 plus business knowledge to help it establish a new campus in the Third Ward. YES currently serves 450 students in grades 6-12 and is the only state-chartered public high school in Houston that provides inner-city students with a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. Last year, 99 percent of YES students passed the state-mandated TAAS test.
�Currently, we have approximately 300 students on our waiting list � evidence that there is great need in the community for another YES in Houston that prepares inner-city students for success in college,� said Ryan Dolibois, director of development for YES. �We believe that HSVP is committed to education and we are excited to join with them as we begin plans for our second YES campus.�
To be eligible for an HSVP grant, organizations must be classified as 501(c) 3 by the Internal Revenue Service and serve the Houston community. Grants are based upon the organization�s needs, budget and goals. HSVP�s financial commitment to an organization will fund a significant portion of the selected program�s budget. More importantly, when HSVP invests in an organization, the organization will gain the business expertise and skills of HSVP�s partners � helping it make critical business decisions.
The group plans to announce its second round of grants later this year. HSVP is continuing to recruit new partners with the goal of expanding the partnership to make even greater social investments in the community.
About Houston Social Venture Partners
Houston Social Venture Partners is a nonprofit organization that seeks to develop philanthropy and volunteerism to achieve positive social change in the Houston area. Using the venture capital approach as a model, HSVP is committed to giving time, money and expertise to create partnerships with not-for-profit organizations.
Houston Social Venture Partners is part of a growing international community of SVP philanthropic partnerships which all follow the essential working mission and model of the original Social Venture Partners in Seattle founded in 1997. All SVPs� missions are to catalyze the personal and collective philanthropy of individuals through both philanthropic education and the direct application of financial and intellectual capital (time, skills, and money) in support of social entrepreneurs working for lasting social change.
For information regarding HSVP, visit the organization's Web site at
http://www.hsvp.org
or call Calene LeBeau at (713) 827-2280.