About Us

Kids in Common (KIC) is a leading child advocacy organization focused on eliminating systemic inequities impacting children’s education, health, social emotional wellbeing, and justice. KIC advances this mission by supporting policies, promoting data-driven action, and fostering collaborations of cross-systems leaders and experts that support positive outcomes for all children in Santa Clara County, from cradle to career.

Vision: Every Child Safe, Healthy, Successful in Learning, Thriving in Life.

Mission: Kids in Common advocates for education, healthcare, social-emotional well-being, and justice for all children in Santa Clara County by supporting policies, promoting data-driven action, and fostering collaborations of cross-systems leaders and experts.

Our Work:

Kids in Common serves as the backbone organization for the collective impact of cross-sector organizations coming together to meet the needs of Santa Clara County youth by mobilizing, coordinating, facilitating action through a coordinated, structured, and collaborative approach. Since so many factors affect the overall health and wellbeing of children, Kids in Common takes a holistic view with a focus on four major spheres of influence: communities, government and education systems, families and selves.

Kids in Common improves the outcomes for children, youth and families in Santa Clara County through cross-sector partnership, a data-driven framework, targeted and aligned action, and by promoting policies, investment, and practice that put children and youth first. This work focuses on:

Building bridges between community organizations, policymakers, governmental agencies, and community leaders to coordinate and amplify their individual and combined efforts on behalf of children and families.

Providing data that drives conversations and creates the foundation to achieve better outcomes for children, youth, and families.

Advocating for practices, policies, and investments that are focused on what is best for our kids.

Holding programs and investments accountable to ensure they are getting positive results for children and families from cradle to career.

Kids in Common establishes a framework and common language to help policymakers, funders, nonprofit and business leaders to collectively address child development and well-being broadly, from birth to young adulthood, through innovative and sustained collaboration that cuts across bureaucratic silos. Working collaboratively, Kids in Common achieves collectively what cannot be done alone and is able to align efforts across sectors and among organizations working at different stages of a child’s development and move from fragmented action and results to deep and durable impact.

We are:

Santa Clara County’s only comprehensive child advocacy organization focused on children’s issues and policies.
Partner-based, counting organizations and individuals as public policy partners.
Focused on advocacy at the local level, informing local decision makers about best practices, policies, and investments that will improve children’s lives.
Willing to speak out about public policy, budget allocations, and systems issues.
Able to assist our partners with their own advocacy efforts.
Able to leverage our partners’ expertise to educate lawmakers, community leaders, decision makers, and funders for the betterment of children and their families.

Our Guiding Principles:

Partnership – building strategic alliances with other organizations, both within and outside the health and human services arena
Collaboration –working in concert with and valuing the success of member organizations, interested parties and other related groups
Independence – pursuing those issues and strategies that represent and support the best interests of children and their families in our community
Integrity – guided by what is best for children in our community, reliable in every commitment made, authentic in word and deed
Diversity – respecting, understanding, and integrating a wide range of perspectives, people and ideas
Non-Partisan – being free from political party affiliation

Racial Equity Pledge

Kids in Common is a co-signer on the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofit’s “Nonprofit Racial Equity Pledge,” a commitment to prioritize racial equity work within our organization and center the perspectives and lived experience of people of color and oppressed communities in decision making in our organization’s operations, programs, and services.”