Dallas Social Venture Partners

Storytelling

DSVP is proud to raise up the voices and stories from the efforts of our partners doing meaningful work with our Investees. 

• 	Child Abuse Prevention Center	“A lot of people aren’t focused on the social problem issues.  A lot of people give a lot of money to arts, their church, their university. We are working in education with children at risk. If you had to walk in their shoes, could you? Not many people could.” – Ellen Wood, Lead Partner Child Abuse Prevention is an organization which considers its primary mission one that is not well known and under-funded by the state. According to Margaret Patterson, the... More

• 	Mi Escuelita Preschool	“At some point, it becomes an experience that’s transformational. There’s a mystical moment when your mind shifts away from the rational to ‘this is something cool.’ The heartfelt experience of being able to help those organizations become more secure and meaningful.” - George Ellis, Lead Partner Gayle Nave, Executive Director of Mi Escuelita, says she grew up in a family that was “not blessed with material possessions.”... More

• 	Shared Housing Center, Inc.	“DSVP has helped us stay on path with forward thinking. They’ve been the vehicle to creating a workable business plan.” – Maria Machado, Executive Director, Shared Housing Center, Inc. Maria Machado grew up in a small, Catholic family in San Antonio, Texas where she was taught to take care of the senior citizens in her community. She’d sweep their porches, pick up their newspapers, help them out the best she could. For Maria, helping those in need is her... More

• 	The Concilio	“I think DSVP is a place where average people can contribute a little money and some time in a meaningful way to help the children in North Texas. It is extremely rewarding. Whatever you contribute, you will get back many times over.” – Randy Neal, Lead Partner “Before [Florencia] came in, The Concilio was a train wreck,” says Randy Neal, lead partner of the investee. “It was frankly just about to go out of business.” Randy, who has worked with The... More

• 	The Wilkinson Center	"DSVP started asking questions, surrounded us with support, guided us, gave us resources, built a foundation, and created a roadmap to help us get to a bold goal. They brought the brains and bucks to do consultation, brand our programs, retool them, think strategically, and seize opportunities. They've encouraged us and befriended us in every way." - Brian Burton, Executive Director, The Wilkinson Center You know you’ve done something right when people begin to... More

• 	Transition Resource Action Center	“No matter what you put into these organizations, you can’t give as much as you get back. The pride you have in what they’ve done—you can’t measure that.” - Steve Raab, Lead Partner The Transition Resource Action Center, or TRAC, a nonprofit organization that helps young people transition from substitute care to independent living, was founded in 2003 by a collaboration of organizations determined to help at-risk youth succeed. Evy Kay Ritzen, the... More

• 	Vision Regeneration	“It was very moving to see the end results of their efforts on kids who have gotten off on the wrong track, hearing them talk about their past versus today. That made an indelible mark and sold me into the value of the cause.” – Dick Evans, Lead Partner Youth prisons, at-risk children, kids on street corners in gang colors—while the area of South Dallas might make some cringe in fear, for Omar Jahwar, this location is perfect.  Omar, the Executive Director... More