William Blair Spreads Philanthropic Mission to the Bay Area by Partnering with Real Options for City Kids of San Francisco

William Blair Spreads Philanthropic Mission to the Bay Area by Partnering with Real Options for City Kids of San Francisco
By Jenna Watanabe, Marketing & Development Coordinator

William Blair and Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.) have teamed up after William Blair selected R.O.C.K. as their first Bay Area charity partner. The investment banking firm based in Chicago chose the small nonprofit as part of its philanthropic mission to give back locally. With a longtime history of being committed as a long-term partner to the communities in which we live and work, R.O.C.K. was the perfect fit as the leading after-school program provider in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley for over 23 years.

R.O.C.K.’s Executive Director, Curt Yagi says, “We are thrilled for this partnership with William Blair. We have been working with them for a few years now and I have always been impressed by their commitment to our programs.”

This partnership marks what has already been a promising relationship between the two organizations. William Blair’s intern program has been a regular participant in R.O.C.K.’s Go for Good event, a corporate scavenger hunt that encourages team-building among several Bay Area companies. In July, the company will sponsor a field trip for R.O.C.K.’s summer programs, taking 1st-5th graders to the Exploratorium. The partnership also awarded R.O.C.K. with a $25,000 grant back in April, which was a generous gift that gives 500 kids in Visitacion Valley the options they need to succeed.

William Blair Technology Investment Banker and R.O.C.K. Board Member, Greg South says, “We have been searching for the right charity to partner with since we started our tremendous growth in San Francisco over five years ago, and partnering with R.O.C.K. was a no-brainer. They have a longstanding history of serving underprivileged youth in a community that needs support by offering recreational and development programs that have a full circle impact.”

R.O.C.K. looks forward to continuing that impact with the support of William Blair this year with the hopes of many more to come.

To learn how you can partner with R.O.C.K., email jenna@rocksf.org for more details.