A Collaborative Environment
“Sand Hill Foundation always takes the time to understand our organization’s ‘bigger picture.’ They invest in our organization as much as the specific project they support. This communicates a level of trust in us that we appreciate — which in turn inspires us to ensure that their trust is well-deserved.”
— Allan Berkowitz, Executive Director
Silicon Valley, known for its innovation and world-class universities and technology companies, falls short in educating its young people about science and the environment — especially at the elementary and middle school levels. This is where nonprofits like Environmental Volunteers step in to help, providing hands-on science and nature education through classroom and field-based programs, summer camps, and its own EcoCenter in the Palo Alto Baylands.
Thanks to grants from Sand Hill Foundation since 2010, Environmental Volunteers has been able to partner with six other environmental education non-profits and local funders to deliver a coordinated learning continuum to students across four grade levels at Mountain View Whisman district schools.
This initiative —the Science By Nature Collaborative — enables each organization to deliver more hours of science and environmental education than any one organization had the resources to offer. A two-year evaluation of the program has shown that this collaborative approach is resource efficient, leads to better communication and cooperation among related nonprofits, and is achieving significant educational impact for students.
