At Zoom, we’re deeply committed to supporting individuals and organizations working to effect positive change around the world. Every day, community leaders in the broader Bay Area and in cities like San Jose, where we are headquartered, are working tirelessly to meet pressing needs — we hope to advance their efforts with funding support. That’s why through Zoom Cares, our social impact arm, we’re pleased to direct $750,000 to support San Jose and other Bay Area organizations working on some of the most pressing issues of our time: education, climate change, mental health, and social inequities.
We’re continuously grateful for the opportunity to support knowledgeable and impact-driving grassroots leaders who understand firsthand what their communities need to thrive, and to move funding to nonprofit organizations that have historically been overlooked and excluded from accessing resources.
Nyla Choates is an embodiment of this dedication to the local community. As a Youth Civic Ambassador for Justice with A Black Education Network (ABEN), Nyla tapped her experiences as a child facing colorism to collect culturally-relevant books to read to Black students over Zoom and write her book, My Roots Are Rich. We celebrate ABEN’s ambassador program and honor Nyla for her fierce community impact.
Here’s more on the recipients of our latest funding:
Born This Way Foundation
We know we can have a deeper and more meaningful impact when we collaborate with organizations that ruthlessly champion young people and their success. This is why we joined forces with Born This Way Foundation, co-founded and led by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, and have contributed to their Kindness in Communities Fund to unlock free, accessible, community-informed mental health support for youth.
Our partnership with Born This Way Foundation has to date supported grants to two Bay Area nonprofits: Adolescent Counseling Services and LYRIC: Center for LGBTQ+ Youth. Learn more about them below.
Adolescent Counseling Services
Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) exists to support the well-being of all teens, tweens, and young adults ages 10 to 25 in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in California. ACS’ network of skilled family therapists and professionally led support groups are resources that youth and their families can rely on to help with life’s challenges, whether big or small.
LYRIC: Center for LGBTQ+ Youth
LYRIC is the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading organization offering expertise in youth workforce development, healthcare navigation, individual counseling, and group-based community building to marginalized, low-income LGBTQQ+ youth. By working towards social justice and supporting young leaders, their families, and allies, LYRIC is building a world that honors, respects, and appreciates LGBTQQ+ youth and their contributions.
A Black Education Network
A Black Education Network (ABEN) reverses the backward slide by facilitating academic and cultural excellence using culturally informed research, technology, and visionary parent education. Specifically, ABEN supports and partners with educational institutions – especially those focusing on African-centered education – that work to help Black students reach their full potential.
African American Community Services Agency
African American Community Services Agency (AACSA)’s mission is to preserve the dignity and culture of a diverse African American community and to provide services that promote the full participation of Santa Clara County and the general society. Founded in 1978, AACSA is one of the only African American cultural centers in Silicon Valley that provides 60 community events annually, over 100,000 completed volunteer service hours, and service to over 25,000 people.
Climate Resilient Communities
Climate Resilient Communities is a community-based organization dedicated to serving the underrepresented by empowering community voices to implement climate solutions that bring about unity and resilience for the residents in diverse, under-resourced communities of East Palo Alto, Belle Haven (Menlo Park), North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City. The organization’s outreach cultivates environmental awareness while giving local residents a voice in proactive resilience planning and adaptation.
Hoi-Quan Cuu Long Mekong Community Center
Hoi-Quan Cuu Long Mekong Community Center provides compassionate and culturally sensitive outpatient mental health and behavioral health services to Vietnamese-American clients, including crisis intervention, individual and group therapy, rehabilitation counseling, case management, and psychiatric medication support. The Mekong Community Center is located in San Jose, which boasts the largest Vietnamese population in the United States at nearly 11% of the overall population.
Latinos United For a New America
Latinos United For a New America (LUNA) helps Latino immigrants take positive action to address the poverty-related challenges that have hit the Latino immigrant community so hard since the Great Recession. LUNA follows a two-step process to empower individuals, including hyper-local community planning meetings and public forums to voice concerns that demonstrate to the people they can have influence when they band together.
Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation
Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation (VIVO)’s mission is to empower refugees, immigrants, and low-income ethnic families to become productive participating citizens, and to benefit themselves, their families, and their communities. VIVO provides comprehensive community, social, and culture services to promote a healthy, violence-free, self-sufficient, and multicultural understanding society to over 100,000 residents in Santa Clara and San Joaquin counties in Northern California.
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