From the Board President: A 10-Year Goal is in Sight, What’s Next for SVP?

I'm writing with news that is both exciting and, for SVP, pivotal: recent modeling from Multnomah County suggests its Preschool for All goal of universality may soon be reached.  Specifically, a Preschool for All June news release stated, “Preschool for All had a record number of available seats this year, with nearly 7,100 offered through hundreds of providers.” Meanwhile, the recently published Preschool for All TAG and PAG Combined Final Report cited demographic trends and updated the estimated number of potential PFA participants' to between 8,265 to 9,000. The combination of a faster ramp of PFA seats and a lower number of potential participants means we are getting very close to achieving Multnomah county’s universality goal. This is wonderful news, and a tribute to the many SVP Investor Partners and Community Partners who have worked tirelessly to get us here. Thank you!

It also raises a defining question for us. Since 2016, SVP Portland's work in capacity building has focused on the goal that all children in Multnomah County have access to high-quality, culturally relevant preschool. Now that our goal is within sight, what comes next? Answering that means convening our Community Partners and broader ecosystem of stakeholders to explore how we build on this progress together.

This question also comes at a moment of change on our Board. We are saying goodbye to three remarkable Directors — Larry Fox, Charlie Gilkey, and Bala Cadambi — who have been at the forefront of SVP Portland's evolution, and welcoming three highly motivated new Directors: Lea Ann Grannum, Dani Kerrigan, and Kirt Nilsson.

All of this set the stage for our Board's strategic retreat on June 19–20. The retreat had two aims: to give us ample time for discovery, conversation, and ideation about where SVP goes next — the first step on a long journey — and to thank our departing Directors while giving them a forum to pass their insights to those joining the Board.

We opened with Dr. Michael Wilkerson (Partner and Director of Economic Research at EcoNW) on the 2026 State of the Portland Metro Economy. He gave a summary of his more detailed talk to the Portland Metro Chamber, which you can view here (min 20–1:05), along with the Exec Report and Full Report.

Two panels followed. The first asked whether SVP should continue its current early-learning focus, with Kali Thorne-Ladd (CEO, Children's Institute), Meg McElroy (Interim Director, Portland Children's Levy), and Johnna Timmes (Education Initiatives Director for Governor Kotek). 

The second panel with Yohannes Wolday (Metro Director of Partnerships and Social Innovation), Kimberly Melton (Vice President of Impact at Meyer Memorial Trust), and Emily Evans (Director, Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Insight at EcoNW) widened the lens, focusing on what systemic barriers must be addressed so everyone in Multnomah County can thrive.

One theme cut across every session: SVP's greatest value is its ability to bring people together to solve complex problems. And our speakers saw no shortage of problems — within, adjacent to, and beyond early learning — where that convening power could make a real difference.

Day two turned inward. It included time for reflection on what we heard the previous day, a discussion to converge on the most important attributes when deciding on an SVP goal, and guidance to staff on some pending decisions. We ended with an excellent discussion on what we will need to do to build on our existing collaborative environment to continue the process of discovery, ideation and exploration with our Investor Partners, Community Partners, and people most proximate to the issues being discussed. There is still work to do on the last topic but I hope we will be able to share the results from that in subsequent newsletters or the annual meeting.

In summary, the retreat was an incredibly valuable step to help the Board align on our current state, glimpse what lies ahead, and begin exploring how to bring our Community Partners and broader ecosystem of stakeholders together to shape the path forward. I left with tremendous enthusiasm for our mission, which feels more relevant than ever, and for the impact we can have together. I am looking forward to going on this journey with everyone.

With deep appreciation.

Rob Aslett