Social Venture Partners International Conference

I just attended a very inspirational SVP International Conference in Seattle this weekend. I was joined by hundreds of other SVP Partners from around the world. SVP has affiliates in 25 cites in 3 countries, USA, Canada, and Japan. Fellow Partners Alan Sorkin, Richard Bockoff, Eric Busboom, Sherri Neasham, and Bill Hahn attended along with Peggy Kidd and Lisa Leete. I am absolutely going to next year’s conference in Cleveland on Oct 3-4, 2008.

Just to give you a bit of background, SVP was founded 10 years ago. There are 1800 Partners worldwide who have given $23 million in donations and this is just the pure cash donation via SVP. The in-kind donations far exceed this and of course the donations from these Partners outside SVP dwarf the $23 million. We are truly part of a very special movement that is changing the face of philanthropy.

There were very interesting learning opportunities on such things as “Values-Driven Investing”, “Advocacy and Public Policy”, “Building a Personal, Philanthropic and Family Legacy”, “Effective Volunteering in a Diverse World” and “Investing in Microfinance”. I also attended a very interesting session called the “Heart of Philanthropy” with two fellow unnamed San Diego Partners (what goes on the road, stays on the road). It was a fascinating soulful look at philanthropy. I will leave you with a poem that we read and discussed in that session.

A BED FOR THE NIGHT by Bertold Brecht

I hear that in New York
At the corner of 26th Street and Broadway
A man stands every evening during the winter months
And gets beds for the homeless there
By appealing to passer-by.

It won’t change the world
It won’t improve relations among men
It will not shorten the age of exploitation
But a few men have a bed for the night
For a night the wind is kept from them
The snow meant for them falls on the roadway.

Don’t put down the book on reading this, man.

A few people have a bed for the night
For a night the wind is kept from them
The snow meant for them falls on the roadway
But it won’t change the world
It won’t improve relations among men
It will not shorten the age of exploitation.