Alliance for Teaching
The Alliance for Teaching focuses on a range of efforts addressing the challenges facing public school teachers throughout Silicon Valley. This initiative seeks to make Silicon Valley a nationally renowned region for teaching excellence and a place where good teachers are valued and rewarded. The Alliance for Teaching works to ensure teacher excellence through professional development programs and building community support for teachers by honoring, celebrating and rewarding them.
Cell Phone Coverage
A year ago leaders from the public and private secotrs identified cell phone coverage as one of the critical issues in Silicon Valley. As cell phones become less expensive and more useful we depend on them more for work, for keeping track of our kids, for safety, and even for entertainment. Cell phone service from one service provider or another has gaps, often in residential neighborhoods and along some heavily trafficed highways. Joint Venture has a strategy for filling in the coverage gaps.
Climate Protection
Joint Venture is convening representatives from many of the public agencies in Silicon Valley as a Climate Protection Task Force to develop strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from city, county, and other agencies' operations. The program will begin with conducting inventories of emissions from publicly owned buildings, vehicles, waste treatment plants and other facilities. Then goals for reducing emissions can be set and targets of opportunity developed. The Task Force will then form a purchasing pool to get the best prices on capital equipment, such as hybrid vehicles and solar panels, to help achieve emissions reduction goals.
Climate Prosperity
The Silicon Valley Climate Prosperity Council brings together leaders and programs from throughout our region and across multiple sectors to address climate change while growing our local economy. The initiative will be guided by our Greenprint, and will provide coordination among new and existing economic development and environmental initiatives.
Disaster Preparedness
The goal of Joint Venture's Disaster Planning Initiative is to make Silicon Valley the world's best example of regional planning and preparation. Why? So our residents feel safe and secure—because we know The Big One is coming—and so our economy can recover as quickly as possible.
Grand Boulevard
Making El Camino Real a grand boulevard, one that meets our needs and reflects our regions dynamic profile.
New California Network
The New California Network develops nonpartisan and broadly supported reforms that will rebuild the fiscal foundation and improve the performance and accountability of state government for the purpose of making California prosperous, safe and healthy for all of its residents. While we seek meaningful reform as quickly as possible, fundamental change will require a sustained effort over seven to 10 years.
Silicon Valley Econonomic Development Alliance
Silicon Valley cities work together to create a healthy economic environment, share best practices with each other and build relationships with Silicon Valley's economic engine. They get the word out there: our region is the world's best place to build a company.
Sustainable Buildings
Building on Joint Venture’s historical work with the business, development, and government communities to achieve uniformity in local building codes, we are engaged in a project to address buildings and the built environment. Joint Venture convenes meetings, brings together stakeholders to address problems, and provides vehicles for cities to access technical solutions, such as joint procurement and/or commonly owned software. We provide tools, training, and resources that industry, the counties and the cities need to successfully move toward sustainable buildings and development practices.
Wireless Silicon Valley
Smart Valley has partnered with city and county IT managers, and economic development staff to form the Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force. The Task Force is issuing a Request for Proposal to build a high-speed, wireless, data network that will cover all 1,500 square miles of the region. The network will be multi-purpose, serving local governments, businesses, and consumers.
Workforce
Silicon Valley faces well-known challenges in providing skilled workers for the region’s ever-growing list of innovative technology endeavors. Joint Venture has been selected by the North Valley Workforce Board (NOVA), work2future, and the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board to recommend a coherent regional workforce investment strategy and to identify the initial steps toward its implementation. This effort is financed through a contract with NOVA, which in turn is being funded by a one-time grant from the United States Department of Labor.