Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2

Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund was founded in 1988 by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, who worked as the organization’s chair until 2008. She is the wife of venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, the founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Background

Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund was created in 1998 by Laura Arrillaga (now Laura Arrilaga-Andreessen) to provide Silicon Valley tech moguls the opportunity to engage in philanthropic giving and learn about various philanthropic initiatives. It also aimed to scale local nonprofits by connecting them with greater grant amounts than they typically received. SV2 was formed in partnership with Community Foundation Silicon Valley (CFSV). ¹

SV2 is a donor-advised fund that receives guidance from CFSV staff members. Together, SV2 and CFSV created a partnership network of 160 volunteers contributing to its donor-advised fund work by 2005. By that time, SV2 had disbursed $2 million to 13 local organizations and developed two strategic planning systems for grantmaking. ¹

As of 2024, SV2 disbursed over 95 grants to nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area totaling more than $5.8 million. ²

Financials

In 2022, the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund reported revenue of $1,752,898, expenses of $2,135,470, and net assets of $1,352,898. ³

Funding

Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund has received funding from family foundations like Chandha Family Foundation, Fallon Family Foundation, Kamath Family Foundation, Kung Guerra Foundation, Marc and Laura Andreessen Foundation, Maud and Burton Goldfield Family Foundation, Pearl Colman Foundation, Tomlinson Family Foundation, and others. ^{4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11}

It has also received funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, among others. ^{12 13}

Grantmaking

In 2022, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund made grants to Brightline Defense Project ($80,000), Climate Resilient Communities ($80,000), ImpactAssets ($300,000), and Redwood City Together ($505,000). ¹⁴

When announcing its partnership with Redwood City Together, SV2 issued a press release to highlight its planned initiatives, including monthly food distributions, a “Latinx Youth Conference,” a “Community Impact and Celebration Night” that would subsidize preschools for low-income families and create “living-wage job opportunities,” and initiatives to work closely with Redwood City’s partners to “improve education, wellness, and equity.” ¹⁵

Redwood City’s core partners include El Concilio, Family Connections, the YMCA, Pal Center (a SV2 grantee partner), Upward Scholars (a SV2 grantee partner), and the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Leadership (IDEAL) Redwood City. Redwood City Together was publicly celebrated by California state Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), who included it in the state budget granting $200,000 to its Purposeful, Action, Creation and Engagement (PACE) Program. ¹⁵

Leadership

As of 2024, Kwok Lau was the organization’s board chair and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen was the board chair emeritus. ¹⁶

Lau joined SV2 in 2012 to participate in the Education and Pathways to Opportunity initiative. She was a “partner champion” to early education SOMOS Mayfair from 2015 to 2018 and sits on its board. Previously, Lau was the vice president of manufacturing operations and later the vice president of software engineering at tech giant Apple. ¹⁷

Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund was founded in 1988 by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, who worked as the organization’s chair until 2008. She is the wife of venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, the founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Laura is a trustee to various cultural institutions near San Francisco, the founder and board chair of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), the founder and president of the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation (LAAF), the co-founder and president of the Marc and Laura Andreessen Foundation, and teaches at the Standford Graduate School of Business. ²

SV2 has 30 official “partner leaders” that help carry out its initiatives. Partner leaders are drawn from environmentalist, technology, and social justice fields. ¹⁶