Cultivating Collaboration and Empowering Entrepreneurs with Catalyze Silicon Valley

Non-Profit Stories: Inspiring Tales from Silicon Valley

Alex Shoor is first and foremost an entrepreneur, community builder, advocate and idea-preneur who comes up with new ideas, builds coalitions to support them, and ensures they become a reality. Alex has launched two successful initiatives in his community; to name a street in San Jose after Barack Obama, and to start a farmers market in his neighborhood. Alex is also a Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Catalyze Silicon Valley.

Alex is driven by 2 inter-connected goals: To make Silicon Valley a sustainable, affordable, vibrant and equitable place where everyone can live and thrive, and to make our government as responsive, cost-efficient, inclusive and innovative as possible.

Catalyze Silicon Valley is a non-profit organization which was founded in December 2016 by Alex and four other community leaders in his living room in San Jose, Silicon Valley. Since that time it has grown to an organization with an extensive list of individuals, foundations, companies and governments funding their work, and a budget of over a quarter of a million dollars. CSV advocate for sustainable and equitable communities amidst the escalating housing crisis in Silicon Valley, and address the necessity of beneficial development that suits community needs, sustainability, and inclusivity.

In this episode Alex shares his journey towards inspiring change and promoting sustainable living, his passion for equitable development, community engagement, and the transformative power of community involvement in shaping development. We also learn how CSV are pushing boundaries, whether it's creating spaces for women and children, or urging San Jose to scrap parking mandates, plus Alex's vision for the city of San Jose, and his electoral campaign for city council.

"We have to literally build physical community. We have to build sustainable, vibrant places that are affordable for everyone, but we also have to do that in a way that respects those who have been here, that celebrates the history and culture of this place, and also allows those folks to say, hey, it's okay if more people live next door to you." - Alex Shoor

Show Notes:

• The origin story of Catalyze Silicon Valley
• How the housing crisis inspired Alex to advocate more for good housing for the community
• The challenges to overcome as a non-profit organization in Silicon Valley
• Catalyze's business model to create dynamic, vibrant neighborhoods
• How collaboration is the ethos of the organization
• About Women's History Month -- Designing for Women: Building Places that Prioritize Women & Children
• How Catalyze continues to build out other organizations that are working on issues that support and prioritize women and children
• How pushing for change in policy is moving San Jose to become more sustainable in the future
• Catalyze's mission -- To transform development through community engagement
• How Catalyze see's their growth in the future
• Key strategies used for the organization's success
• The importance of advocating for sustainable and equitable development
• Catalyze's partnership with the organization Code for San Jose
• Why Alex is running for San Jose city council
• How San Jose has become the most unequal place in the country
• About Alex's campaign kick-off "Building Community"

CSV's Mission: Engages community members, developers, and city leaders to envision and create sustainable, equitable, and vibrant places for people in Silicon Valley. Links Mentioned:

• Designing for Women: Building Places that Prioritize Women & Children
• Sign up to attend Alex's campaign kick off on August 12!
• Donate to CatalyzeSV.org
• Connect with Alex and CSV:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | Catalyze Silicon Valley

Contact CSV: Address: 88 Bush Street, San Jose, CA 95126 Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]