About

About SJS

San José Strong is a grassroots volunteer-based organization that serves as a digital database and organizing hub for residents! What’s our digital database? We’re working to be a centralized location to find organizations, businesses, events and resources in the South Bay. We work to compile this information into digestible formats on our website and app, alongside breakdowns across our social media. We also work to breakdown critical issues and action items happening in our city so residents can be civically engaged!What’s our organizing hub? In addition to being a conduit for all things South Bay, we serve as an umbrella for residents with cool ideas to find a community of folks to support their work. All of our committees fall under this hub with efforts ranging from youth mentorship to archiving youth activism to creating safe spaces for marginalized community members.

Mission Statement

A world where every citizen of a city has a place to belong and the space to thrive. A world where our cities, like San José, are genuine communities, where every citizen has the tools and resources to optimize their skills, make their voice heard, and positively benefit the community around them.

Vission Statement

A world where every citizen of a city has a place to belong and the space to thrive. A world where our cities, like San José, are genuine communities, where every citizen has the tools and resources to optimize their skills, make their voice heard, and positively benefit the community around them.

Our Values

Accountability

Should San José Strong make a mistake, we want the community to hold us accountable so we can do our utmost to meet the needs of the community effectively and positively. We take responsibility for our actions as an organization and the consequential impact and consequences--even when those are negative.

Continuous Learning

We believe that the process of improvement is never-ending. The work San José Strong has picked up has been going on for centuries before us and will continue for centuries more. We want to stand alongside movements for progressive change in our community and continuously evolve as an organization.

Diversity

In order to get the most comprehensive solutions to a problem, we must have diversity of thought. Our platform thus works to uplift the voices and experiences of all members of the San José community to create holistic approaches to problem-solving. And while all are welcome in our space, we prioritize marginalized voices--BIPOC, youth, disabled, LGBTQA+, low-income and so forth--to ensure the amplification of their stories, perspectives and needs.

Empathy

We believe that any solution or conversation needs to be centered on those directly impacted by said solution and conversation. We are committed to promoting empathetic community engagement.

Empowerment

We believe that everyone has something to bring to the table. We work to empower our team to take on projects themselves and make a difference in our community.

Imagination

We are committed to creating a psychologically safe environment. We welcome constructive feedback and want all members of our team to feel comfortable to voice their opinion. We promote emotional check-ins, time for breaks and hobbies, and showing up for team members both within San José Strong and in each others’ personal lives.

Psychological Safety

We believe that San José can be the home to a new blueprint for how our cities operate. We thus work to imagine such a future for San José through innovation and creativity.

Transparency

We are committed to being transparent with our team and the community at all times. We uphold honesty and directness, we can explain every action taken thoroughly and welcome discourse with the community.

Our Origin Story

June 2, 2020 - SJS Founder, Mary Jessie Celestin, posted a guide to activism for San Jose residents to support the BLM movement in their city. After sharing the guide, Mary began receiving 50-100 direct messages a day from residents trying to get involved.
June 5, 2020 - Seeing a need in the community for a centralized place to get plugged into opportunities, initiatives, and community work in Sj. Mary founded San Jose Strong with the help of many old and new friends (: The team launched the SJS instagram page on June 5 2020 and consider that the anniversary of San Jose Strong!

Learn More

Our Structure

Each committee has 1-3 team leads that serve as facilitators for the groups and participate in SJS structuring meetings. During year one, we utilized distributed organizing and agile management techniques to develop an inventory of protocols, agreements, and structures so that committees could function autonomously.
All structures are editable by and available to members. Per our eight core values, we wish to foster a psychologically safe space for imagination. There is immense structural fluidity alongside our robust documentation.
We’re a volunteer-based team so our members also work and/or got o school full-time. Members can create and conclude leadership roles and committees based on their interests and capacity.

What’s SJS Been Up To?

Subscribe to our Newsletters and check out our archived releases! They come out every 2-3 months and highlight all the work we’ve been up to since the last newsletter.

Check Out Our Feature in Metro Silicon Valley here.

San Jose Strong is Fiscally Sponsored by the Collins Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization. you can donate to San José Strong through the Collins Foundation, our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor here through their Aplos page.