Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network is a network of businesses, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and individuals who advocate for left-of-center approaches to technology, economic development, climate, and education polices. ¹

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network seeks to cut fossil fuel use in half by 2030 and eliminate its use by 2040. ² The network supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement and the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial justice. ³

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network is supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Frieda C. Fox Family Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Koret Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Sobrato Foundation, and others. ⁴

History and Leadership

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network was founded in 1993 in response to increased challenges and competition to the American semiconductor industry from abroad and outside of Silicon Valley. ⁵ In 2009, the group stood up its Climate Prosperity Initiative to engage on environmentalist issues. ⁶

Russell Hancock has been the president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network since 2003. Hancock also founded the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. ⁷

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network’s advisory board includes Obama administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. ⁸ The network’s board of directors also includes representatives from Meta, the left-of-center Silicon Valley Community Foundation, LinkedIn, Google, Bank of America, and Stanford University. ⁹

Activities and Funding

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network is an entrepreneurial and networking organization that supports left-of-center policy positions in Silicon Valley. The organization publishes reports ¹⁰ and engages with regional, local, private agencies, municipalities, and other government agencies to advocate for left-of-center climate priorities. ¹¹

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement and the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial justice. ³ The network is an affiliate of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance ⁴ and is listed as a part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Technology Initiative. ¹²

Initiatives

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network also operates policy initiatives focusing on reducing global hunger, a changing climate, community broadband, and wireless communications to improve networks in Silicon Valley. ¹³

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network’s Beyond Gasoline Initiative has a goal of ending the use of gasoline in California by 2040. In the interim, the joint venture with anti-gasoline Coltura seeks to halve the use of traditional energy use by 2030 and speed the transition to nontraditional and weather-dependent energy. Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network also believes that gasoline use disproportionately impacts minority groups before others. ²

The network also runs the Climate Prosperity, Sustainable Buildings, Climate-Safe California, and Climate Task Force initiatives. ^{11 12} It is listed as a part of the Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Technology Initiatives, where it seeks to accelerate the development of nontraditional energy technologies. ¹⁴

The network’s other initiatives include the Food Recovery Initiative, Community and Wireless Communications Civic Technologies Initiative, the Joint Venture General Fund, and the Institute for Regional Studies. ¹⁵

The Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies is the research arm of Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network It conducts public opinion surveys in Silicon Valley and does research in support of Joint Venture’s program areas. ¹⁶ In 2020, Joint Venture Silicon Valley spent $300,679 to operate the Institute for Regional Studies. It also spent $210,160 to operate its Civil Technology Initiative. ¹⁷

Joint Venture Silicon Valley also works collaboratively with Adobe, Amazon Smile, the Bay Area Council, California Emerging Technology Fund, The Climate Center, Global City Teams Challenge, Hackers/Founders, Reseat, Watermark, and Zoom. ¹⁸

Funding

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network receives funding from individual contributions, grants, and investments. ¹⁵ In 2020, Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network reported revenue of $2,182,459 and expenses of $1,800,402. In 2019, the organization reported revenue of $2,046,045 and expenses of $2,604,045. ¹⁹ The organization has received support from at least 150 corporations, 40 cities, and numerous foundations since its founding. ^{20 21}

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network is supported by the Bay Area Council Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Frieda C. Fox Family Foundation, the Health Trust, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Knight Foundation, Koret Foundation, Morgan Family Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Sobrato Foundation, VMC Foundation, the Wilson Sonsini Foundation, and others. ⁴

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network’s private sector supporters include Accenture, American Leadership Forum, AT&T, Bank of America, Comcast, Deloitte, eBay, EY, Google, Kaiser Permanente, KPMG, LinkedIn, Meta, McKinsey&Company, Microsoft, PayPal, Stanford University, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and others. ²²

In 2017, Joint Venture Silicon Valley network received $60,000 from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ²³ In 2013, the organization also received $125,000 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ²⁴ and $125,000 from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. ²⁵

1. “About Joint Venture.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://jointventure.org/about-us/about-joint-venture.
2. “Beyond Gasoline.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20220614054005/https://jointventure.org/initiatives/climate-change/beyond-gasoline.
3. Gandara, Jose Luis. “Stand up loudly and boldly.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. July 14, 2020. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://jointventure.org/blog/2026-stand-up-loudly-and-boldly.
4. “Our Foundation Investors.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://jointventure.org/our-investors/foundation-investors.
5. “About Joint Venture.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://jointventure.org/about-us/about-joint-venture.
6. “$300,000 Applied Materials grant supports regional program to connect climate protection with economic growth.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. February 20, 2009. Accessed April 23, 2023. https://jointventure.org/news-and-media/news-releases/30-joint-venture-launches-silicon-valley-climate-prosperity-initiative.
7. “Russell Hancock.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://jointventure.org/russell-hancock
8. “Senior Advisory Council.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://jointventure.org/about-us/senior-advisory-council.
9. “Joint Venture Board of Directors.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://jointventure.org/about-us/board-of-directors.
10. “A New Foundation for Collaborative Workforce Development in Silicon Valley.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network. June 2010. Accessed April 22, 2023. https://www.ccsce.com/PDF/New-Foundation-for-Collaborative-Workforce-Development.pdf.
11. “Climate Change.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://jointventure.org/initiatives/climate-change.
12. “Technology Advancement Funding Opportunities.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/cati/technology-advancement-funding-opportunities.
13. “Joint Venture Silicon Valley.” LinkedIn Page. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/company/joint-venture-silicon-valley-network/.
14. “ Technology Advancement Funding Opportunities.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/cati/technology-advancement-funding-opportunities.
15. “Support Us.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://jointventure.org/support-us.
16. “Institute for Regional Studies.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://jointventure.org/institute/about-the-institute.
17. “Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2020. Part III. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/770389802/202123439349301042/full.
18. “Our Partners.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://jointventure.org/our-investors/partners.
19.  “Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2020. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/770389802/202123439349301042/full.
20. Grant Application.” Town of Los Altos Hills California FY 2013-14 Application Form. 2013. Accessed April 22, 2023. http://losaltoshills.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=161&meta_id=22244.
21. “Our Public Investors.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Accessed April 21, 2023. https://jointventure.org/our-investors/public-sector-investors.
22. “Our Private Sector Investors.” Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network. Accessed April 22, 2023. https://jointventure.org/our-investors/private-sector-investors.
23. “Silicon Valley Community Foundation.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2017. Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205205488/201843199349319564/IRS990ScheduleI.
24. “Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. November 12, 2013. Accessed April 22, 2023. https://hewlett.org/grants/joint-venture-silicon-valley-network-for-support-of-the-silicon-valley-institute-for-regional-studies/.
25. “David and Lucile Packard Foundation.” Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2013. Part XV. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942278431/201433189349101028/full.