A Non-Profit Investment Fund for an organization lifting up a rural community through education and opportunity
The Grande Center for Education and Economic Opportunity brings together three vital opportunities for rural, refugee communities in El Salvador – high-quality elementary education, professional training, and high-tech work. Joe Albers, the Founding President of the Grande Center and previous Founding Principal of Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School, fell in love with the El Salvadorian community in the rural Chalatenango province over 20 years ago. “These are some of the most welcoming, kind and generous people I’ve ever met,” attested Joe. “I have kept this community in my mind and heart for all these years, and when the opportunity arose to start the school, I knew I had to take it.”
The organization has three arms, the first of which is the elementary school. The Bishop of the Diocese of Chalatenango offered a site for the campus, and in January of 2022, the Rutilio Grande School welcomed its first class of 25 kindergarten and first graders. In 2024, they anticipate welcoming 100 students across 4 grade levels. It was vital to Joe that the school be rooted in Catholic values. It is named for Father Rutilio Grande, SJ, a martyr in the El Salvadorian Civil War. “When people hear the name of the school, they immediately have an understanding of our values,” explained Joe. The three core principles of the school are Catholic values, bilingual instruction, and a focus on technology. For most families, the Catholic and bilingual aspects are what drew them to the school.
The second arm of the organization is the Adult Education Center. This is a workforce training initiative in two phases. Phase one trains participants in skills to make them more generally employable, and phase two teaches participants the skills to become a data labeler. This feeds directly into the third arm of the organization, Grande Data Services. This arm currently employs six graduates from the Adult Education Center as data labelers. They work on projects for tech companies here in Silicon Valley, matching this growing need for this kind of work with a drastically under-employed region. This provides high-quality, entry level jobs for the community, and the profits from the Data Services arm of the organization are reinvested directly into the school. “We have been so impressed with the hard work and dedication of the employees at Grande Data Services. When we asked them about what motivated them to go through the training program and work for us, they all talked about how they know that their hard work is going to directly benefit their community. And that was key for them,” said Joe.
Grande Center has its roots in Silicon Valley. The organization’s leadership is primarily based here and there is a strong connection to the tech industry. Grande Center’s leadership was also looking for a well-connected and mission-oriented partner to help further their goals around financial sustainability and prudent investments. This led them to open a Non-Profit Investment Fund at the Foundation. “Through our Grande Center Investment Fund at the Foundation, we now have a partner who is aligned with our values and offers us invaluable financial expertise,” expressed Joe. “Not to mention the benefit of working with a team who care deeply about their work and ours. It’s a perfect fit.”