For immediate release
February 5, 2008 |
Contact:
Larry Slonaker,
SCCOE
(408) 453-6662 |
Education Foundations Merge
The San Jose Education Foundation and the Santa Clara County Education
Foundation have merged into a new entity, dedicated to improving public
education in Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley Education Foundation, which will
serve all the public school districts in Santa Clara County, will be headed by
Muhammed Chaudhry, who was CEO and president of the San Jose Education
Foundation.
As part of the Feb. 4 launch, the Knight Foundation announced a grant to SVEF
of $1.7 million to create new curriculum for Silicon Valley classrooms that
focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
In addition, Cisco Systems of San Jose announced a $400,000 grant to SVEF to
develop open source software tools for classroom teachers; and the Sobrato
Foundation awarded SVEF a rent-free office space grant for 10 years, valued at
nearly $3 million.
"We are excited to work with SVEF to achieve our goals for students
county-wide," said Joe Fimiani, interim county schools superintendent. "The
prospect of devastating budget cuts to state schools is looming over us…so
this is a welcome and timely launch."
Board members include Faysal Sohail, General Partner of Silicon Valley
venture capital firm CMEA Ventures, board chair, Bruce Chizen, former CEO and
current senior strategist for Adobe Systems, vice chair; H. Raymond Bingham,
managing director of General Atlantic, LLC, treasurer; and Lisa Sobrato Sonsini,
board president of Sobrato Family Foundation, secretary.
"We will bring a Silicon Valley business approach to education," Chaudhry
said, "focusing on clear goals, delivering results and placing an emphasis on
creativity and innovation.
The County Foundation, which was formed in 2007, concentrated mainly on arts
education, special education inclusion, alternative education and technology.
The SJEF was formed in 2006 and focused on improving public schools in San Jose
through partnerships in the business, civic and education sectors.
Date last updated: February 5, 2008
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