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From Bold Vision to Systems Change: Celebrating Escuela Viva's Journey
- Jul 16
- 4 min read
When Angie Garcia founded Escuela Viva in 2004, she set out to give Portland's youngest children something extraordinary: an early learning experience rooted in culture, language, belonging, and love. Two decades later, that vision has grown into something even bigger than a set of thriving preschools. It's become a force for change across Multnomah County's entire early childhood system.
Last month, SVP Portland celebrated Escuela Viva's graduation into our Alumni community. It was a major milestone worth marking: the story of what becomes possible when a fearless community leader and a committed SVP Partner build something neither could have built alone.
How the Partnership Began
Escuela Viva joined SVP as a Community Partner in 2024 with an ambitious goal: to grow its own operational capacity while helping other providers become leaders and business owners in their own right. From the start, this was a growth story defined by generosity, and that mindset is exactly what drew SVP Lead Partner Kirt Nilsson in. "After one coffee with Angie, I was in," he recalls. "It was all about love. That's what drives her, her schools, and her team." When he'd raise the question of competition, he says, Angie would just look at him as if to ask what are you talking about? "We're all here to solve a problem."
For Carolina Castañeda del Río, SVP's Director of Community Impact, Angie's approach reframed what philanthropy could look like from the inside out. "Angie made me reflect on what philanthropy means," she says. "She builds her business through a philanthropic lens, always thinking about how to empower other leaders to grow, even if it means shared or reduced profit. We learned as much from Escuela Viva as they learned from us."
Turning Vision into a Plan
Great partnerships have a way of unlocking what's already there. Angie always knew what she was trying to create: shared services, a meal program, a substitute teacher network, the infrastructure early childhood providers desperately need but rarely can access. What Kirt added was language, structure, and conviction. "Kirt found the words when I couldn't," Angie says. "I could feel the shape of what I was building, but I couldn't always say it in a way others could hold. Kirt could."
Together they developed a shared services pilot plan designed to create new Preschool for All seats, strengthen 25 providers, and wrap business support around early childhood programs. As Angie describes it, the plan "exists because Kirt believed it could, and persisted when I might not have". They turned a felt vision into a concrete blueprint for strengthening dozens of providers and expanding access for the families who need it most.
Rising When the Community Needed It
As the partnership evolved, so did its ambitions. When SVP's Ready to Grow business accelerator program was developed, Angie jumped in to contribute, bringing her expertise and energy to the wider preschool community it supports. And when Preschool for All faced a moment of real uncertainty, her steady confidence helped carry the field through. There was a lot of fear in that moment, Kirt remembers, "but what came from Angie was confidence and the spirit of 'we've got this.'"
Angie went on to engage directly at the county level, serving on the Preschool for All's Technical Advisory Group and Program Advisory Group and shaping conversations around Preschool for All. Her efforts look to open doors not just for Escuela Viva, but for providers and families across the entire ecosystem. It's the kind of systems-level change that moves slowly and rarely makes headlines, but reshapes what's possible for years to come.
What the Partnership Meant
The most powerful outcomes of this partnership weren't only strategic. They were personal. "Watching Angie keep going, year after year, taught me more than I gave," Kirt reflects. When he asked what kept her moving through the hard moments, her answers were full of insight he carried back to his own work and family. "Honestly," he says, "I got ten times more from Angie than she got from me."
For Angie, the value of the partnership came down to being truly seen. "SVP gave us more than strategy and structure," she says. "They gave us a Partner who saw the full vision and refused to stay small. That's rare and precious, and I'm deeply grateful."
What Comes Next
Graduating to Alumni status isn't an ending, it's a marker of strength. It means Escuela Viva is ready to carry its work forward, with SVP staying connected as a champion and sounding board. Kirt sees it as the natural next form of a lasting relationship: "I am excited about this next chapter, and staying engaged by bringing energy and connections when they're useful. That kind of momentum is one of Angie's superpowers."
And the horizon is bright. If the county advances a shared services or qualification pilot, it could become a game changer, not only for Escuela Viva, but for the entire Preschool for All community. SVP is proud to remain a strategic ally as those possibilities take shape. As Carolina puts it, "I have no doubt Angie and Kirt will stay in touch over the long term. Whenever Angie is ready for the next big thing, she'll reach out. And we'll be listening."
To Angie and her entire team: thank you for showing up for Portland's children since 2004 and continuing to build the backbone of our community with love, every single day. To Kirt: thank you for being a superstar Lead Partner who always shows up and says yes.
And to Escuela Viva, one thing we want to be clear about: this isn't goodbye. Graduating to Alumni means the relationship changes shape, not that it ends. You remain part of the SVP family, and we'll be right here. Cheering you on, connecting you where we can, and ready whenever the next big idea calls.
Congratulations, Escuela Viva. This is what happens when bold partnerships build a thriving community. We can't wait to see what you build next.
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