When longtime Gilroy resident and philanthropist Ed Seledon envisioned a way to honor his late wife, Susie, he wasn’t just thinking about books. He was imagining a community where every child begins life with the opportunity to fall in love with reading.
Ed and his wife, Susie, moved to Gilroy in 1973. Susie spent the next 40 years as a beloved teacher at Glen View Elementary, inspiring a love of reading in her students. As a first-grade teacher, Susie was a passionate advocate of youth literacy. After her passing, Ed wanted to honor Susie’s legacy by giving the gift of reading to all children in Gilroy.
That vision became the Susie Seledon Literacy Program.
To bring this vision to life, a powerful local network came together. In partnership with the Gilroy Foundation, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that mails free, age-appropriate books monthly to children from birth to age 5, and the Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD), the initiative ensures that books reach families across Gilroy.
The Gilroy Foundation played a vital role in stewarding Ed’s vision from the start: establishing the charitable fund, coordinating local implementation, bringing the partners together, and leading the program’s long-term administration. When it came time to build the program’s digital home, they intentionally chose to keep the investment local by partnering with BizzNEST, Digital NEST’s career accelerator program. By doing so, Ed’s investment did more than build a literacy program; it also provided paid, real-world experience for local young professionals.
Start With One Step
What seemed simple on paper quickly became more complex. BizzNEST associates had to understand the program’s mission, gather feedback, and create an experience that felt easy for families to use.
Because the project was a true collaborative effort, it evolved significantly over time. As the team worked through multiple rounds of collaboration, design revisions, and community feedback, the scope grew, and it became easy to lose sight of where to begin. That’s when Gilroy Foundation Development & Operations Manager Carly Zanger offered a simple reminder to the team:
“Start with one step.”
That mindset carried the project forward, showing how community effort turns a simple idea into lasting change, inspiring collective pride.
“When one of us wins, the whole community wins.”
Clients look to BizzNEST for professional support on a wide range of projects: from AI museum exhibits and training videos to social media campaigns and community AI workshops. Through this work, our associates get paid work experience, build professional portfolios, and prepare to launch successful careers.
For Fern, Senior Software Development Associate, the website project showed him how his skills could create opportunities for others in his own community. Reflecting on the experience, he shared, “When one of us wins, the whole community wins.”
Ed describes the project as a way to “invert the pyramid.”
“My project in Gilroy is to invert the pyramid, start with kids’ literacy, get jobs for young professionals with Digital NEST, and amplify our impact in partnership with the Gilroy Foundation.”
By ‘inverting the pyramid,’ Ed emphasizes building from local partnerships and community-led growth, fostering confidence in collective effort.
A Community That Invests in Its Future
Ed represents the very best of the Gilroy community. A long-time Digital NEST donor and supporter, he believes local talent can solve local challenges and, most importantly, that lasting change happens when communities work together.
The spirit of investing in one another for the benefit of the community is at the heart of the Susie Seledon Literacy Program. This project celebrates how one donor’s profound vision successfully brought together the Gilroy Foundation, Digital NEST, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD), and the broader community to create something beautiful. Because of this collaborative effort, local families will benefit from the gift of literacy for years to come.
Want to help us build the next cycle of opportunity? Ed’s story shows what’s possible when a community invests in its own youth. By supporting Digital NEST, you help provide paid, real-world experience for young professionals and launch life-changing tech careers right here in our community. Donate to Digital NEST Today.
