ZeroDivide

ZeroDivide is a nonprofit, engaged/venture philanthropy foundation based in San Francisco, California. ZeroDivide invests in community enterprises that use technology to create earned-income businesses, policy change movements, and high impact programs within nonprofit community-based organizations. ZeroDivide’s investment partners leverage technology to benefit people in low-income and other underserved communities. Through these community, philanthropic and corporate partnerships, ZeroDivide helps nonprofit organizations find new revenue sources to become more self-sustaining. ZeroDivide has invested more than $50 million towards achieving this goal.
ZeroDivide has awarded more than 500 grants to over 400 community-based organizations in 41 of California's 58 counties.
Community investments
The foundation makes investments in three areas:
* Youth and Technology - investments promote changes in earned income potential for youth through media and technology skills training in afterschool programs in disadvantaged communities.
* Community Media - increases market demand for community news and media using new media tools in targeted underserved communities.
* E-Democracy - investments demonstrate wide adoption of effective, technology based civic engagement strategies and tactics by nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged communities, and inspire new participants in advocacy, electoral politics and public services interaction.
Big Bet Investments
Big Bet Investments are multi-year ventures that have demonstrated potential and initial capacity for taking a technology based service/product/campaign to an underserved market, with revenue generating possibilities, and/or scalability and replication potential. They include;
•Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC)
•YMCA of Greater Long Beach Youth Institute (Change Agent)
•Youth Outlook(YO!)
•Youth Radio
History
Founded in 1998, ZeroDivide (formerly the Community Technology Foundation of California) is a public foundation created as the result of the advocacy work and coalition building of 134 community-based organizations during the merger of two telecommunications companies, SBC Communications and Pacific Bell.
In 2007 ZeroDivide adopted a social enterprise model of investment, which utilizes community, philanthropic and corporate partnerships to help nonprofit organizations find new revenue sources to become more self-sustaining. The new grantmaking approach broadened ZeroDivide's focus beyond community technology centers, toward organizations that have innovative service models and forward thinking leadership, who are devising innovative, self sustaining programs that empower disadvantaged communities, and have the potential for replicability in other communities.

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