Announcing the 2022 Full Circle Nonprofit Accelerator Cohort!

Posted on August 29, 2022 by SVP Pittsburgh

Social Venture Partners (SVP) Pittsburgh and The Equity | Impact Center are collaborating to re-launch SVP Pittsburgh’s capacity-building program for small and mid-sized nonprofits in the Pittsburgh region. The Full Circle Accelerator Program addresses the key strategic and tactical operational challenges that nonprofits are experiencing with an intentional focus on equity. The three organizations selected for the 2022 cohort represent a diverse group of nonprofit organizations and leaders making a significant impact in our community. The selected nonprofits will engage in an intensive 14-week accelerator program that combines strategic consulting, workshops, networking and a pitch event. The program focuses on three areas of organizational effectiveness; growth strategy, financial sustainability, and communicating impact. The nonprofit leaders in the cohort will work with teams of coaches (SVP Partners) who bring various skills and expertise to support in developing strategic solutions to their growth challenges. Full Circle intentionally incorporates a space for the corporate and nonprofit sector to connect, build relationships, and develop collective solutions. The program culminates with the Final Pitch event on November 17th, which provides a platform for nonprofit leaders to tell their impact story.

The Citizen Science Lab

The Citizen Science Lab (TCSL) is Pittsburgh’s first community life sciences laboratory. A space where hands-on, discovery-based learning and STEM enrichment fuel inquisitive minds and enthusiasm for all things science. The Citizen Science Lab is a nonprofit OPEN TO ALL to observe, analyze, and explore the life sciences. 

Sisters Lifting As We Climb

The Sisters Lifting As We Climb Network is an intergenerational, personal, and professional support network for women of color. The Sisters Lifting As We Climb Network’s mission is to serve as a conduit to advance economic mobility for Black women while amplifying their voices and visibility in the City of Pittsburgh and beyond. 

Radiant Hall

Radiant Hall’s mission is to create and preserve studio environments for working artists. Radiant Hall provides a vibrant, sustainable support network for artists, centered around safe, functional, and affordable studio space. Radiant Hall enables a diverse community of artists specializing in a variety of disciplines to work alongside each other in a forward-thinking environment that fosters professional growth, experimentation, collaboration, and inspiration. Their work serves the Pittsburgh region in its aspiration to become a welcoming, inclusive, and viable community for all artists.

The Full Circle Accelerator Program is facilitated by Leigh Solomon Pugliano, President and CEO of the Equity |Impact Center. Nonprofits that successfully complete the program will receive an unrestricted financial award, professionally produced video, and additional resources/contributions from SVP Partners and program sponsors. 

The Equity | Impact Center addresses systemic inequity through broad social, cultural, and economic solutions and comprehensive, intentionally designed initiatives. The Equity | Impact Center provides capacity-building, leadership development, and organizational development support to advance social justice missions through programs and initiatives that address systemic inequity.

Social Venture Partners (SVP) Pittsburgh is a community of engaged philanthropists who contribute their expertise, skills, networks, and finances to grow the impact of nonprofits and tackle our community’s greatest challenges. SVP Pittsburgh’s core program is the Full Circle Nonprofit Accelerator, which connects SVP Partners as executive coaches to accelerate the impact of Pittsburgh’s most innovative nonprofits.

Upcoming SVP Pittsburgh Events

Happy Hour with a Purpose

Current and prospective SVP Partners should join us on Tuesday, September 20th from 5 – 7 pm at Blue Sky (211 N Whitfield St, Pittsburgh, PA 15206) in East Liberty for a SVP Partner “Happy Hour with a Purpose”. Connect with SVP Partners, learn more about becoming an SVP Partner, and meet the nonprofit leaders in the current cohort. RSVP here.

Full Circle Final Pitch 

SAVE THE DATE for our Full Circle Final Pitch on Thursday, November 17th at 5PM. Learn about the impact of the incredible organizations in our program. More details to come.

SVP Pittsburgh Opens Application for the 2022 Full Circle Nonprofit Accelerator Cohort

Posted on June 22, 2022 by SVP Pittsburgh

Social Venture Partners (SVP) Pittsburgh and the Equity | Impact Center are collaborating for the 2022 Full Nonprofit Accelerator, a capacity-building program for small and mid-sized nonprofits in the Pittsburgh region. The Full Circle Accelerator Program is designed to address the key strategic and tactical operational challenges that nonprofit organizations and their leaders experience. 

Full Circle is a proven capacity-building program designed to improve organizational efficiency, program implementation, financial sustainability, and increase overall impact. The 14-week cohort program incorporates workshops, mentoring, networking opportunities, and a pitch event. The program allows SVP’s Partners who serve as mentors and coaches to provide nonprofit leaders with resources, expertise, and strategic solutions that better prepare them to solve immediate and ongoing challenges within their organizations. Full Circle is designed to increase impact and improve overall financial sustainability. This year’s program will address the impact of COVID-19 and includes an intentional DEI focus for leaders seeking to improve their knowledge, skills, and awareness. There is no cost to participate in Full Circle. Nonprofits that successfully complete the program receive a $3,000 unrestricted award as well as additional resources, support, and financial contributions from SVP Partners and program sponsors. The Full Circle program culminates with the final pitch event, which provides a platform for nonprofit leaders to share their organization’s mission, impact, and organizational goals and needs to a broader audience.

The Full Circle curriculum areas of focus include: 

• Organizational Growth Strategy
• Financial Sustainability
• Storytelling: Communicating Impact

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Organizations that apply must be designated as 501(c)3 nonprofit organization (or have a fiscal sponsor) operating in or around Allegheny County.
• Organizations that apply must designate at least two leadership staff who will participate consistently throughout the duration of the 14-week Full Circle program. The time commitment is approximately 60 hours over the 14-week period including 3 Saturday sessions.
• Organizations, if selected, will be asked to submit their most recent annual report and/or year-end financial statements.

The 2022 program will include both in-person and virtual meetings and gatherings.

2022 Full Circle Application

About SVP Pittsburgh

SVP cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in collaborative solutions – building powerful relationships to tackle our communities’ social challenges. 

About the Equity | Impact Center 

The Equity | Impact Center addresses systemic inequity through broad social, cultural, and economic solutions and comprehensive, intentionally designed initiatives.

Email questions to fullcircle@svppittsburgh.org 

Nonprofits prepare for accelerator program’s final pitch event

Posted on June 20, 2019 by SVP Pittsburgh

Above: The SVP Full Circle Spring 2019 Cohort and SVP Partners during a happy hour and networking event in May at the Millvale Food + Energy Hub.

While they embody different missions, the common thread amongst the SVP Full Circle Spring 2019 Cohort is a common one for those who work in not-for-profit organizations.

“With nonprofit work you think big and want to save the world on a zero dollar budget,” said Jackie Smith, executive director of Greater Valley Community Services. “And [the coaches] keep it in perspective.”

Social Venture Partners Full Circle is a 14-week accelerator program that combines consulting, workshops, seminars, networking and a final pitch event that will take place on Wednesday, June 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Energy Innovation Center, 1435 Bedford Ave.

Meant for nonprofits that are at a critical juncture regarding their organizations future development, the program looks for applicants that are committed to achieving measurable outcomes and ready to expand and grow their impact.

The coaches that Smith referred to, also known as SVP Partners, are individuals engaged within the nonprofit community that are able to contribute their time and energy to furthering the advancement of the selected nonprofits chosen to participate in the program.

“The Full Circle Program is an incredible opportunity for nonprofit leaders and SVP Partners from the corporate sector to work collectively to improve internal operations and develop strategies for growth,” said Leigh Solomon Pugliano, Full Circle manager and director of opportunity at New Sun Rising. “It also provides greater insight to the corporate sector, the issues our communities are facing, and the incredible work our nonprofits do to make change.”

The program is held in the fall and spring, and accepts a total of five nonprofits each season. Recently, four out of the five organizations gathered for a happy hour event at the Millvale Food + Energy Hub to network and practice for the final pitch event on June 26. During the event, individuals shared their nonprofits history and the key areas they have been working on within the program. Those organizations included:

Greater Valley Community Services

Based in Braddock, Greater Valley Community Services was created to strengthen and hold S.P.A.C.E (supportive programs affording collaborative engagement) for youth, adults, and seniors in the community. Executive Director Jackie Smith said that recently there has been a disconnect between residents and the businesses coming into the neighborhood, especially with youth, and when she read the description for the Full Circle program felt that the fit them perfectly.

“We’ve been stuck in a place and thought this might be the boost that we needed for the program that we wanted to work on,” Smith said.

Partnering with the Woodland Hills School District and entrepreneurs in the community, GVCS plans to create a program that will connect high school students to small business owners who will work together to create marketing plans, websites, and eventually apps for the neighborhood businesses. Smith said the SVP coaches have been instrumental in understanding the best ways to engage both students and businesses, and in deciding how classes will be structured for students in the program.

Unity Through Creativity

The Grounding Lab, a program under Unity Through Creativity, is situated in Hazelwood and uses arts infused techniques to assist people experiencing despair and enhance their emotional coping skills through contemplative process of deep self-reflection. With 40 years of nursing experience and research, Creative Director Margaret Baco said she has developed the understanding that true healing from traumatic experiences can come from engaging in expressive arts.

Baco said the SVP coaches have helped her focus on creating a community strategy, program development, strategic thinking, and networking. Specifically, she said she has appreciated the connections between those in the program.

“We are attracting one another during this dynamic process and New Sun Rising is able to see how networking through this cohort can strengthens our capacity to function,” Baco said. “It’s an outcome that I am deeply grateful for.”

Legacy Arts Project

In 2005, Erin Perry became a member of the dance ensemble at Legacy Arts Project, an organization focused on preserving the history and traditions of African arts as represented throughout the diaspora through education, instruction and interactions. In 2011, Perry became the executive director and has continued to expand the vision and grow the organization. She said Legacy Arts Project is “not only the exploration of African art, but also the exploration of self and well being.

Perry said joining the Full Circle program has provided guidance on fiscal sponsorships and marketing, and has also “rejuvenated” the nonprofits outlook around its programming and impact it has made in the Homewood community.

“If we were to have a personality assessment of our organization, [I’d say] we are humble,” Perry said. “At the same time we haven’t done a full service to the organization in promoting the work we do or have done, and the coaches have allowed us to recognize humility and pride in the power that has been going on and motivated us to tell the story.”

Coraopolis Community Development Foundation

The Coraopolis Community Development Foundation was formed to serve its community by encouraging and assisting in renewal through community service and development projects, and Executive Director Amy Cavicchia said if she asks someone to volunteer, it’s because it’s something she’s also going to do herself.

Cavicchia has been easing in to her position at the nonprofit over the last two years and said her work with the Full Circle program has been focused on her elevator pitch and donor management.

“This program has really kept me focused and realizing what you can do and what you can’t do.” Cavicchia said. “Write it down, figure it out, do what you can and don’t worry about what you can’t do, because you can’t do it.”

Associated Artists Pittsburgh

Associated Artists Pittsburgh was unavailable during the event. Their mission is to enhance the region’s cultural vitality and promote visual arts excellence by showcasing artists’ work through contemporary exhibitions, providing community-based education programs, and facilitating a broad dialogue to engage artists with one another and the community.