Thrive Alliance Thrive - The Alliance of Nonprofits

Thrive is a robust, trusted network of nonprofit organizations,businesses,government agencies,elected officials and civic leaders in San Mateo County. We help to build the capacity of nonprofits,large and small,to strengthen San Mateo County's critical community organizations and connections. In an increasingly technology-driven world, Thrive is real people, meeting real challenges, with real collaboration -- on the ground,face-to-face, 200 strong and counting.Thrive's unique approach allows us to work across the social,public and private sectors, and facilitate and magnify outcomes through connections,collective voice, and person-to-person collaboration. Only Thrive includes nonprofits from every sector - from large foundations to small organizations, from human services to arts and education, hospitals,banks and County Departments. Together we form an ecosystem for San Mateo County that gets things done: for Nonprofits, for Government, for Business, for Everyone.Thrive's program service accomplishments for this period have included bringing a multitude of resources to the San Mateo County nonprofit community, as follows:Thrive continues to represent San Mateo County non profits and bring their voices to the tableWe have served as a resource hub during emergencies, including COVID-19 and wildfires.We have helped improve social capital for nonprofit professional (e.g. CEO Leadership Circle)We have connected community leaders with nonprofits (e.g. Community Forums)We have strengthened the people power of the sector (e.g Thrive's Job and Volunteer Board)We have promoted opportunities for cross-sector collaboration (e.g Thrive's Holiday Mix & Mingle; Thrive Policy & Advocacy; Thrive Philanthropy Roundtables)We have mapped the local nonprofit landscape and identified opportunities for new synergies and resource sharing among nonprofits (e.g. Thrive's Strategic Alliances Initiative)Our main programs and impact areas for this period were as follows:Thrive Convenes -Covenings and outreach to nonprofits regarding key community issues. This year, we had a variety of specialized convenings and capacity building support around pressing issues, including COVID-19 response efforts. We also conducted a nonprofit landscape analysis and nonprofit sector qualitative research as part of our Strategic Alliances Initiative, identifying new synergies among local community based organizations. We also serve as the Community Action Team Coordinator for nonprofits doing Covid-19 safety community outreach work on behalf of the County. We also led an Out of School Time Task Force that evolved into the Children & Education Peer Learning Series to support nonprofits launching learning hubs and providing services to support children and youth during the pandemic. In addition, we facilitated nonprofit convenings on behalf of the County of San Mateo to help strengthen partnerships between the County and nonprofits providing County Services.Our Community Forums are quarterly programs that bring distinguished speakers to present relevant information for nonprofits. This year's topics ranged from vaccine equity to a town ahll with Congesswoman Jackie Speier on the pandemic recovery federal funding landscape and the American Rescue Plan Act. We drew 1,000+ people to our Community Forums this year.Thrive Connects - Facilitated peer support networks for executive directors and nonprofit professionals. ThriveConnects also features our Leadership Circle Luncheons for our member executive directors and CEOs who convene to discuss pressing topics, from contracting with the County to social justice and racial equity. We also provide a weekly member-to-member Listserv that keeps our community informed about important local initiatives and activities, often driven by the nonprofit sector and impacting the overall health of San Mateo County. We provide weekly job Announcements to our membership to support the sector's recruitment efforts. We also provide two important online community tools: Event Calendar and Job Board.Every day, Thrive members make strategic connections that enhance San Mateo County's business and community efforts with: expert consultation,co-sharing of staff,co-sharing of space,staff positions filled,funding opportunities and resources identified and supplied. This fiscal year, we have also served as a resource hub for nonprofits during the pandemic.Thrive policy and Advocacy - We completed our fourth year of Thrive Policy and Advocacy. The purpose of this initiative is the following:to monitor the policy landscape;to communicate potential changes;and to advocate for the overall health of the sector and community. We raise awareness on key issues and also provide special trainings in this domain.We also completed our fourth year of Thrive Action Groups (TAGs). Each of our TAGs meet monthly and are anchored by an organization that serves as an expert in the field. These action groups provide monitoring ,communication,and advocacy in five key areas. The action groups and their corresponding anchor organizations are as follows: Basic Needs & Safety Net, anchored by Samaritan House; Children & Education, anchored by Peninsula Family Service and Mid-Peninsula Boys & Girls Club;Immigrant and Worker's Rights,anchored by Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County;Environment & Sustainability, anchored by Nuestra Casa; and our Arts & Culture TAG. We hosted conversations on topics ranging from climate change,to the digital divide, to how arts organizations are recovering from the pandemic. Our Environment & Sustainability TAG continues to grow, with monthly meetings with an average attendance of over 40 people. We continue to co-lead the Voter Education and Outreach Committee (VEOAC, the establishment of a program committee, and the launch of a collective impact effort on single -use plastics. We continue to co-lead the Voter Education and Outreach Commmittee (VEOAC),a community group that liasons with the Elections Office of the County of San Mateo. We continue to grow our civic participation efforts in the voter education and outreach space,with a recent focus on both redistricting and recall elections, and we continue to expand our efforts in community organizing and mobilization, with a focus on social justice and racial equity.