In 1998 Pan Valley Institute (PVI) was founded as a program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) with the intention of strengthening the leadership capacity and fostering the civic engagement of immigrants, in California’s diverse Central Valley.
We work with indigenous migrants from Mexico and Central America; Hmong and Cambodians refugees from Southeast Asia, and more recently refugee families arriving from Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Iran.
PVI’s work is cross generational with specific emphasis on women, youth and indigenous populations.
One of our key strategies is to foster active citizenship by encouraging the process of political self-representation and realization of the power social actors can have and also need for bringing social change and advocating for just policies.
The work of PVI to support active citizenship with immigrant and refugee communities is guided by methodologies of Popular Education, Participatory Action Research, and Cultural Organizing which privilege the knowledge and wisdom of communities to identify goals and determine pathways forward.
VISION
We dream that in California’s Central Valley, all people are respected, cultural diversity is valued, and communities live in a socially, racially, and economically just world.
MISSION
PVI provides spaces where immigrants and refugees feel safe and welcome, learn from each other, reclaim their cultural rights, and build a sense of belonging and power for social change.
One Conversation in Many Languages
Una Conversación en Varias Lenguas
Ib qho Kev Sib Tham Muaj Ntau Yam Lus
محادثة واحدة بلغات متعددة
多くの言語での1つの会
Our goals for making an impact
At PVI, we are committed to spending the next 10 years creating a Central Valley…
- In which immigrants, refugees, and other disenfranchised communities have a seat and a voice at the table where political decisions regarding their lives are made.
- Where exclusion and racism are replaced by a culture that respects and values cultural and ethnic diversity, and immigrants’ and refugees’ contributions;
- That is not solely driven by agri-business, and that provides opportunities for economic security for all.
As an organization, our goals are to…
- Create a safe and welcoming cross-cultural popular education and participatory research learning center;
- Affirm and strengthen solidarity networks, partnerships, and friendships;
- Ensure PVI’s financial stability
