Zoom is a global organization, but we’re proud to celebrate our roots in San Jose, where our headquarters is located and where many of our employees live and work.

Following our recent announcement of $5.5 million in funding to support organizations delivering critical impact around the world, and a donation to Direct Relief to support their efforts in sending medical supplies to Ukrainian healthcare providers, Zoom Cares is thrilled to announce a number of new partnerships in and around San Jose. 

We believe in uplifting San Jose and the broader Bay Area, where Zoom was founded and continues to have close community ties. Our latest local grant portfolio directs $500,000 to 10 nonprofits working in three strategic areas: education, climate change, and social inequities. All of these are grassroots organizations with a focus on youth, led by people of color, and serve marginalized communities, including low-income individuals, LGBTQIA+, and people of color. 

We are grateful for the opportunity to support these groups and their ongoing commitments to a more just future. Read on to learn more about their important work:

Alliance for Girls

Alliance for Girls mobilizes young female students to address barriers facing girls and gender-expansive youth, create conditions for girls’ success, and advance systemic change to achieve equity. It is the largest alliance of girl-serving organizations and leaders in the country, whose membership includes 100-plus organizations serving more than 300,000 girls across nine Bay Area counties. 

Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice & Empowerment

Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment provides immigration legal services, housing for families experiencing homelessness, mentorship and academic support for youth, mental health counseling, and community organizing and leadership development. The organization focuses its work in the East San Jose neighborhood of Mayfair, a working-class cultural hub drawing first- and second-generation immigrants from Latin American and Asian countries.

Asian Pacific Environmental Network

Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) supports clean renewable energy, housing rights, and environmental policies with deep roots in California’s Asian immigrant and refugee communities. APEN is focused on building a world where all people have the resources they need to live full, dignified lives.

Californians for Justice

Californians for Justice works to improve academic outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), immigrant, low-income, LGBTQ, and other marginalized youths. Student engagement is key to this organization’s approach, with staff members working to make sure that every student is heard, valued, and reflected in the continuous improvement of their schools. 

Ever Forward Club – Siempre Adelante

Ever Forward Club – Siempre Adelante provides middle and high school students with academic support, mentorship, workshops, and community development programs. The organization’s signature program is a mentor-led, year-long youth development and mentoring initiative designed to provide an environment for young men to navigate challenges and human emotions that they are often not given the space, or the tools, to do so safely.

Razing the Bar

Razing the Bar (RTB) provides mentorship and housing support to current and former foster students for personal and professional development. The goal is to help program participants achieve permanent connections and reach self-sufficiency.  

The LGBTQ Youth Space

The LGBTQ Youth Space is a community drop-in center and mental health program that offers free counseling for LGBTQ youth and young adults ages 13 to 25 in Santa Clara County. The organization is committed to youth empowerment strategies and offers participant-driven programming.  

Third Street Community Center

Third Street Community Center provides comprehensive educational programs for young people including college preparatory science and technology education, peer role models and mentors, and family engagement. The organization’s Young Engineers Program introduces fourth through 11th grade youth to careers in science and technology through a design challenge.   

Up Together

Up Together will partner with Oakland Resilient Families to financially support low-income Oakland families for 18 months. The goal is to enhance the social safety net for these families along with addressing generational and racial wealth inequities.  

Valley Verde

Valley Verde is an environmental group promoting food access and healthy living by offering greenhouse training and access to healthy food. One of the group’s programs, Super Jardineros (Super Gardeners), provides an opportunity for their most dedicated gardeners to gain professional-level horticultural skills and increase their income, through a micro-enterprise model.  

Collaborating with the San Jose Sharks, Sharks Foundation & Local Color

We’re also proud to partner with the San Jose Sharks, our local National Hockey League (NHL) team, and the Sharks Foundation, the charitable arm of Sharks, to celebrate our diverse region. Together we teamed up with Local Color, a woman-led nonprofit helping creatives stay engaged, employed, and active in our community. 

Working as a group, Local Color, Zoom Cares, the Sharks Foundation, and the San Jose Sharks engaged in three efforts:  

• Selected six talented San Jose artists to create murals depicting the multi-faceted and diverse culture of the city. Artists were asked to highlight what an equitable and inclusive community looks like to them. All final works of art are prominently displayed at SAP Center, home of the San Jose Sharks, for guests to enjoy. Artists include Jessica Eastburn, Luis Guardado, Rayos Magos, Eddie Ramirez, Sam Rodriguez, and Alyssa Wigant. 

• Made a donation to Local Color that will support the organization’s critical efforts, including the use of a 3,000-square-foot building on Barack Obama Boulevard that has been repurposed as a creative and safe space for artists. 
• Hosted a Hockey Is For Everyone Night with the Sharks at SAP Center. During the event, ceramic shark heads decorated by local artists commissioned by Local Color and signed by Sharks players were auctioned off, with proceeds going to support the work of Local Color. 

More Zoom Cares news on the way

We’re committed to helping support positive and sustainable change within our community. And we’re even more excited to share what our partners have been working on. Subscribe to our blog for the latest Zoom Cares news, including our 2021 Social Impact Report, coming this spring.