Patty Nation's goal for Xilinx is that the company continue doing good in the company's communities, MercuryNews.com
By Carol Rosen
Patty Nation has worked at Xilinx for 14 years, and for the last seven has made it her personal goal to ensure the company does good for the community--in fact, for all the communities in which the company has divisions.
But her work began in San Jose District 9, the Cambrian Park area where the company's headquarters are located. When former CEO Bernie Vonderschmidt founded the company, he believed that it was just as important to give back to the community as it was to make money. He established a program called Rolling Readers with Oster Elementary School and, along with Regis and Diane McKenna, was instrumental in getting a children's shelter built in District 9.
When Nation took over as senior marketing manager for corporate and community engagement, there was no one person heading it. "When I started it was a different tactical program. It was a small committee looking over programs. We had no anchor program," she said.
One of her main ideas grew when the Research Area for Teachers called and asked if the company would be willing to donate money for backpacks filled with school supplies to specific schools in the Xilinx area. "I agreed and then they called back and asked if I would like to pick up and deliver the backpacks," she recalled.
Since the company already was working with Oster Elementary in the Union District, Nation decided to provide for schools in that district. It also prompted her to build an education model "to see what it would look like to create an integrated grant program," she says.
She calls the program, which has expanded now to the Campbell Union High School District and is beginning to be implemented into the Cambrian District, the Education Eco System. Its focus is providing children with the same level of service from elementary through high school.
The goal is to ensure that schools are provided missing services. The program provides $25,000 STEM grants to Oster Elementary, Union Middle and Leigh High schools. The schools use 80 percent of that money for science, technology, engineering and math.
The remaining money goes to supplement services including reading programs, field trips and other essential activities as well as helping students get in to college. This includes a portion of Project Lead the Way, supplemental services the company has just implemented. The project will fund technical and engineering concepts for all five high schools in the Campbell Union High School district. The company also is giving the district $25,000 per year for college scholarships.
Xilinx also finds grants for nonprofit groups for enrichment to support art, community and social services and health, says Nation. "We join community partners to provide services to these schools and serve students from kindergarten through 12th grade."
Xilinx has nine partners including Junior Achievement, Almaden Valley Counseling Services, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose Rep, RAFT, the Youth Science Institute, YMCA and Positive Coaching Alliance.
The ninth partner, the Mouse Squad, develops online computer training and technology problem-solving at the elementary, middle and high school levels. At Union's Guadalupe Elementary School, about 25 students are members of the Mouse Squad. They meet once a week and are available to help teachers and students with digital problems.
Once Mouse Squad students reach the high school level, they can work at Xilinx as six-week summer interns. Three Leigh students worked this summer and two a year ago. The company also sponsors a program for Leigh students to spend Tuesdays and Thursdays working in the marketing department. "The program was one of those 'aha 'moments. It's not about the money, it's not driven by the donor; it's about time and talent, providing a partnership that works. We fund the nonprofits, and they provide services to the school. It works and it works well," Nation said.
But that's not the extent of her work. Through the company she has developed other programs to help the community. In conjunction with Cambrian-area schools, Xilinx holds a warm clothing drive and turns the clothes over to InnVision. "It's a community project. We acknowledge the schools as partners so the children develop the habit of giving back."
Nation's excitement grows when she begins discussing the Cambrian Relay For Life. She had already decided she wanted to participate in a relay when AMC officials asked her to attend a large conference in Southern California that prepares volunteers for Relay For Life. After that conference, she said, she decided to start a relay in Cambrian without any idea of the event's complexity.
That first year "was magically crazy," Nation says. With the help of other relay committees and some hard work, "it came together in 14 weeks by the grace of God." The goal was $25,000, which Xilinx donated. But then they raised $160,000, making it the No. 1 new relay for the state.
She didn't do it alone, though, and acknowledged the students from Union School District, Xilinx employees, her staff and even CEO Moshe Gavrielov who came out to give the opening address. "It was amazing to see the young people create teams and the support we received from senior management. And, we've managed to improve. The second year, we collected $165,000 and made it to No. 17 in the state, and this year had even greater attendance and more community outpouring," she added.
Service activities also fall under Nation's purview. Recently, the company's engineers held a team building competition and picnic at Coyote Ranch. The group built 10 playhouses for Habitat for Humanity. Each had a theme, and each came with an empty bin to fill with toys.
The engineers built and painted the playhouses and also brought a new toy to illustrate the theme of each bin. Engineering administrative assistants went to Build a Bear and created stuffed bears to go in the houses. Each house was given to one of 10 charities to auction. Among the charities are Next Door Solutions, EHC Lifebuilders, the American Cancer Society, the Youth Science Institute, two Blue Star Moms groups, City Team Ministries, the American Diabetes Association, Save One Child and Almaden Valley Counseling Service.
Nation's programs don't serve just San Jose areas, but employees at its divisions in Colorado, New Mexico, Singapore, India and Dublin, Ireland, also volunteer and provide services and donations in their areas.
One recent program involves Oster Elementary, Union Middle and Leigh High schools. Students partner with the company to collect books. "Every other year, we collect books geared for beginner or easy reading for the African Library Project. One thousand books opens a village/school library. We've put in 16 libraries in the past three years," Nation said.
Xilinx has just launched a program in Hyderabad, India, to provide students with one meal a day throughout the year, as well as shoes, uniforms and new desks. The project is working on a library, providing running water and electricity for the Government Upper Primary School, Indresham.
The tireless Nation manages to do all this with a very small staff. She is also raising a family and traveling to set up new worldwide programs. She does have a staff and executive committee to work with her.
"My vision is to work with customers at district and sales offices throughout the world and let our customers choose to help. God has given me the ability to stay busy, and I've learned to embrace my God-given gift."
Click here to see the article at MercuryNews.com.
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