This past year has been trying for everyone, with the economically vulnerable particularly hard hit. In a heartening turn, there has been an uptick in both volunteering and philanthropy throughout the country: charitable giving increased approximately 25% in 2020, and volunteerism also rose in response to increasing unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with the CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Nicole Taylor about this key California philanthropic organization. We learn how community foundations receive money from donors and distribute these funds to non-profits, discuss ways that the pandemic has changed philanthropy, and talk about how the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing trial of Derek Chauvin ignited a wave of giving to support racial justice.

Narrator - This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Nicole Taylor - I just really encourage you just literally put in a search in the internet about the community foundation near me and get to know them, get to understand what they're doing for your community and how you can use them as a vehicle. To give back community foundations were in touch with the folks who are doing great work, and we are here to ensure that that great work continues this past year has been trying for everyone with the economically vulnerable, particularly hard hit.

Narrator - In a heartening turn, there has been an uptick in both volunteering and philanthropy throughout the country. Charitable giving increased approximately 25% in 2020, and volunteerism also rose in response to increasing unemployment, poverty and food insecurity. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with the CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Nicole Taylor, about this key California philanthropic organization. We learn how community foundations receive money from donors and distribute these funds to nonprofits, discuss ways that the pandemic has changed philanthropy. And talk about how the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing trial of Derek Chauvin ignited a wave of giving to support racial justice.

Alex Wise (AW) - I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Nicole Taylor. Nicole is the CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Nicole, welcome radio. Thanks for having me. Why don't you explain the mission of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, if you will. A Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a regional, what I like to call a catalyst connector and collaborator. What does that mean?

Nicole Taylor (NT) - We bring resources and skills together of donors, business, government, community, to really look at and try to solve. A region's toughest challenges. And for us, it's the region of Silicon valley. There are community foundations all over the country. There's over 800 of us and each are having kind of a geographic territory. If you will, that they really support, uh, they promote philanthropy in their region, just like we do here in Silicon valley. They support philanthropists to invest with impact. And what we also do, which many of our colleagues do as well is we commit ourselves to advocacy. We use research and public policy and grant making to really seek solutions. That our community means in terms of the issues that it's facing as a community foundation, we're also really positioned to meet ongoing needs of our local communities. And especially during our next spectate emergencies or challenges, like we will, we're still living through. But in particularly all of the challenges that we saw in 2020 here in the, in the bay area, yes, we had COVID we also had wildfires. We had the most contentious election season, I think, in, in any of our,