OUR SERVICES | catalyzesv

Governments, community groups, businesses & nonprofits can hire Catalyze SV to assist with community engagement.

We know how hard community engagement can be!

That's why we host community visioning workshops about development - workshops we've designed from scratch - to showcase effective engagement strategies.

That's why we share ideas on enhancing community engagement.

That's why we consult with others regularly engaging the community.

We want a community engagement process that is as inclusive, innovative, engaging & constructive as possible.

If you're with a government agency, neighborhood association, business, or nonprofit organization, you may be able to hire Catalyze SV to assist with your community outreach efforts.**

We developed a community engagement model & methods. And you can hire us to implement them. We offer the following public engagement services:

strategy & planning
facilitating community meetings
broadcasting meetings
executing a multi-prong public engagement plan
community mapping
engaging "supporters" and/or "opponents" of your proposal
educational content and events
training on public engagement
translation services in Spanish, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language (we can hire through our partners or refer you directly)

If you don't see listed above a service you need, contact us and we'll see if we can help.

We're also happy to have a free, 30-minute consultation to brainstorm with you and/or offer advice.

Contact info@catalyzesiliconvalley.org if you'd like to inquire about our services.

Testimonials from Clients

Here's what some of our clients have said about our work:

“It was a pleasure to partner with Catalyze SV in facilitating creative and effective community outreach for one of our most significant city planning projects. Catalyze SV’s expertise in engagement strategies, commitment to inclusive outreach, and willingness to serve our needs were instrumental to the success of our work. The meeting facilitators were thoroughly trained and well prepared to engage our residents and business owners in highly interactive conversations. We received excellent community input for our project, and we highly recommend Catalyze SV to any government agency or nonprofit organization that is looking for a partner to help plan and facilitate their community engagement efforts.” – Ned Thomas, Planning Director, City of Milpitas

"In the Fall of 2020, the City of San Jose engaged Catalyze SV and other partners to host community engagement events about the redevelopment of the area around Diridon Station. Catalyze SV hosted two virtual workshops - one for Vietnamese community members & one for the artist/creative community. Catalyze SV's experience with community engagement on planning and development projects in the South Bay brought valuable relationships, professionalism, and insights to the City's program. Catalyze SV spurred the City and other outreach partners to use clearer, more community-centered communications to meaningfully engage people. Our staff found Catalyze SV to be our the most reliable among community engagement partners in providing complete deliverables on time, participating in coordination meetings, and communicating with staff about planned activities and events." – Kim Walesh, Deputy City Manager, City of San Jose (now retired)

** If you're with a business or nonprofit, reach out to us to inquire if you'd be eligible to hire Catalyze SV. To ensure we're a community-centered organization, Catalyze SV does not accept funding from companies or nonprofits benefitting from development. If we can't in fact serve you, we're happy to suggest other options.

Clients to Date

Since launching this social enterprise in early 2020, Catalyze SV has been hired by the following entities (status of each project in italics):

City of San Jose Office of Economic Development - to facilitate two workshops - one for the Vietnamese community & one for the artist-creative community - about the development of the area around Diridon Station. Completed Fall 2020.

City of Milpitas - to facilitate three community conversations for Milpitas residents and businesses about the revitalizing of the City’s Main Street. Completed Summer 2021.

San Jose-Evergreen Community College District - to create a report synthesizing the key themes the District heard from the community on how the District should use 27 acres of extra land it owns. Completed Fall 2021.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee - to put on an educational event highlighting the affordable housing projects the County is supporting, including those it has funded through Measure A. Completed Spring 2022.

San Jose Councilmember Chappie Jones - to facilitate a community meeting with experts sharing about the transportation impacts analyzed through the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Completed Spring 2022.

The Santa Clara County Equity Advisory Task Force - to advise on Housing Element outreach & inform the community about the process. Completed Fall 2022.

San Jose Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco - to put on an educational event for San Jose stakeholders about the connection between the number of trees in San Jose and the equitable distribution from neighborhood to neighborhood. Completed December 2022.

San Jose Councilmember Pam Foley - to discuss with District 9 residents the basics of affordable housing and ask what they want from such projects. Completed February 2023.

Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Real Estate team - to offer strategy & facilitation for community meetings about the development of affordable housing on VTA-owned land next to its transit stops. Active.

SOMOS Mayfair (through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation) - to facilitate bilingual Spanish-English workshops about new developments in East San Jose. Active.

San Mateo County Office of Sustainability - to be an on-call provider of community engagement services. Active.

VTA's Equitable Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Mitigation Program - to provide community engagement services and strategic support as a consultant to VTA staff on a team of planning and nonprofit professionals led by Fehr & Peers to ensure a connection between the agency and "equity priority communities." Active.

City of San Jose - to be a pre-qualified on-call provider of community engagement services available to any city department or elected official alongside a number of other community-based organizations. Pending.

Urban Confluence Silicon Valley - to facilitate a series of meetings (3) between community stakeholders and Urban Confluence about its development of a public art exhibit in San José. Active.

City of San Jose Environmental Services Department - to be part of a Community Advisory Board offering input on the design and implementation of the City’s Building Electrification Accelerator Program, as well as on best practices to engage and inform the community about it. Active.

City of San Jose Department of Transportation – to provide on-call consultation community engagement and outreach services -- such as to support the planning of community-based complete streets -- for transportation engineering led by Mott McDonald. Pending Council approval, anticipated Fall 2023.

Catalyze SV is in continual discussions with a number of other potential clients about providing our services.