By Pamela Cruz and Anna Lee Mraz / Peninsula 360 Press
Silicon Valley Community Foundation ‒SVCF‒ recognized and celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Castellano Family at an event on May 4 at the De Anza Hotel in downtown San José, a non-profit organization that was born out of luck and love for roots, and that provided opportunities and support to the Latino community in Santa Clara County for two decades.
"It was all the fruit of the love between my parents, of the love my mother had for her community," said Armando Castellano, Emeritus Trustee of the Castellano Family Foundation to Gina Dalma, Executive Vice President of Community Action, Policies and Strategies of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, about how the organization that closed its doors after 20 years began.
During the talk, Armando Castellano highlighted the love that his father Alcario always had for his mother Carmen and continued his legacy even when she was gone.
With a completely Latino focus, this foundation created by Alcario and Carmen Castellano, who earned 141 million dollars in California in 2001, money with which they decided to help the community to which they belong, the Latino community, was a pillar in the Silicon Valley community.
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20 years have resulted in thousands of scholarships for children, youth and adults who promoted Latin arts and culture in the region.
In addition, they added programs focused on helping low-income, at-risk, or incarcerated Latino youth achieve their educational goals, such as Summer Bridge, mentoring and tutoring to promote retention and follow-up; and to promote awareness and knowledge among parents/families about university requirements, academic support, and the academic socialization of their children.
Likewise, over the course of two decades the Castellanos created strategies to promote Latino leadership and diversity such as leadership development focused on Latinas and youth, training/education programs designed to increase the diversity of local nonprofit boards, and collaboration with nonprofit partners to create or expand paid internships for Latinos.
At the tribute to the Castellano family, it was announced that their foundation is ending its work and a $1 million fund was allocated to SVCF to support Latinx leadership and Latinx-serving nonprofits in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
At the nonprofit panel, Manuel Santamaría, SVCF’s vice president of community action, Diane Ortiz, executive director of Youth Alliance, and Dr. Adriana Ayala, executive director of Chicana Latina Foundation, highlighted that only 1 percent of philanthropic resources support Latinx organizations, and called for increased funding for Latinx-led and Latinx-serving organizations.
This, they specified, so that these communities can build their power and realize a bright future.
To support the LatinXCEL Fund, launched in 2021 by SVCF and the Castellano Family Foundation, please contact donate@siliconvalleycf.org. The LatinXCEL Fund seeks to raise $10 million over five years to support nonprofits and leaders serving the Latinx community in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
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