Help Make The Promise A Reality For Oakland’s Kids!

In 2016, Oaklanders came together to make a promise to every child in our city, offering them the resources, support, coaching, and incentives they need from birth and throughout their school years to empower them to seek out and thrive in the higher education and career of their choosing. With equity as a focus, Oakland Promise works to give kids and their families, especially people of color, the opportunity to make this promise a reality — and we are just getting started.

Support Us By Mentoring, Volunteering, Becoming A Champion or Donating! 

Make your tax-deductible donation here. 

Thank You for Joining OP’s 2020 Community Briefing!  Here are our Community Briefing Impact Report and End of Year Report 

Event: November 6, 2020

For those who were able, thank you for joining Oakland Promise’s 2020 Community Briefing on 11/6/20!  It was an exciting to hear powerful stories and the progress we are making together as an Oakland community to enable our young people to make their dreams of college attainable.  The virtual event had over 150 attendees and provided a venue for us to share our impact to date, ways we’ve supported our students and families during the pandemic, and how folks can join our movement for educational equity.  For those who could not join the Briefing, please see our illustrative Community Briefing Impact Report.  You can also see or our 2020 End of Year Brochure.

The event featured a number of VIP guests including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, CEO PolicyLink Dr. Michael McAfee, UCSF Director of Community Health Dr. Dayna Long, Director of Generation Thrive/Golden State Warriors Ay’Anna Moody, SVP of Blue Shield Kimberley Goode and OP CEO Mialisa Bonta. This event was hosted by Emmy-award winning journalist and KPIX/KBCW host Jan Mabry.

View also our videos of impact shared by those whom we serve and also by our supporters:

• From Participants of each of our 4 programs (parents, educators and students)
• From three of our Partners (Harlem Children’s Zone, OaklandUndivided and Oakland NAACP)
• From three of our Volunteer Mentors of OP’s college students

We appreciate all your support that helps create more opportunities for our young people.  For we know opportunity changes everything!

Announcing the OP Youth Organizer Grant.  About Y.O.G.

November 24, 2020

Join OP’s Winter Career Conference (WCC) on 12/19/20.  About WCC.

November 15, 2020

Join OP’s Party For The Promise on 1/29/21!

December 4, 2020

Learn How Young People and Families were Recently Supported: 2020 Autumn Newsletter

November 1, 2020

It has been a busy several months during this pandemic and other challenges.  In this newsletter, you’ll read about how our programs (Brilliant Baby, K2C, College Access and College Completion) are dynamically serving our students and families.  Also learn about the special initiatives Oakland Promise are implementing to support our BIPOC communities in Oakland.

#OaklandUndivided Reaches Major Milestone in Effort to Provide 25,000 Students w/ Free Computers & Internet Access

October 14, 2020

The #OaklandUndivided campaign, which is a joint venture of Tech Exchange, Oakland Promise, Oakland Public Education Fund, the City of Oakland and Mayor Libby Schaaf, and OUSD, began about five months ago with one goal: to ensure every public school student in need has access to a computer, internet, and tech support.

Most importantly, this week, the campaign expects to reach the halfway mark and hand out the 12,500th computer of the original 25,000 units. These devices are for students to keep at home and to provide consistent access for families.

OUSD Press Release is HERE.

Oakland Promise’s CEO Interviewed on CBS/KPIX’s Black Renaissance Program

September 30, 2020

Comedian Kevin Hart spoke to Oakland students in early March with a message of financial literacy and then… everything changed with COVID-19.

Watch this television news piece on Hart’s visit and how things changed for students.  CEO Mia Bonta is interviewed by Emmy-award winning journalist Jan Mabry on Bay Area station KBCW on how life changed for students since then and how they are being supported.

Aired on 9/20/20: Video Recording is HERE.

OP Collaborates with Youth Leaders and CBOs to Host a Series of Youth-led Town Halls 

July 23, 2020

For our first Youth Town Hall of the series, OP collaborated with the Mayor’s Office, community based organizations (CBOs) and youth leaders from across Oakland to host a youth-led Town Hall about the “School to Prison Pipeline”. 

This First Youth Town Hall was live-streamed on Thursday, 7/23/20 from 6-7:30pm PT on Oakland Mayor Schaaf’s Facebook page with over 4,200 views.  Spanish translation was provided.

7/24 UPDATE: Recording of 7/23 Youth Town Hall can be found HERE.

OP Partners with Harlem Children’s Zone to Provide Oakland COVID-19 Relief Efforts 

July 21, 2020

Oakland Promise Partners with Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) to Provide Oakland COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Efforts through an Initial $2 Million Investment from The Audacious Project.

Oakland Promise is the only leading anchor institution in the western U.S. among 5 other organizations who are working with HCZ in partner cities to address Black communities’ most critical needs and support COVID-19 recovery.

Our Commitment to Oakland’s Black Community and Racial Equity

Update: July 15, 2020

Initial Response: May 29, 2020

At Oakland Promise, we share in the grief and pain by the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others.  Please read this first letter (5/29) and follow-up second letter (7/15) from Mia Bonta, our CEO of Oakland Promise, on actions we have taken in our commitment to Oakland’s Black community.

#OaklandUndivided: Closing the Digital Divide in Oakland

Update: June 2020

#OaklandUndivided is a campaign to ensure every Oakland public school student has robust home technology access.  The initiative will provide disconnected and under-connected Oakland students with a home computer, Internet connection, and tech support.  The Office of Mayor Libby Schaaf, Oakland Unified School District, Tech Exchange, Oakland Public Education Fund and Oakland Promise are all founding partners of  the campaign, which began in April, and it has since expanded to include charter school leaders, community organizations, City agencies, and funders.  Find more information HERE.

OP Celebrated Inaugural Scholar Class Graduating College in 2020!

Honored Resilient OP Alumni Amidst Nationwide Calls for Racial Equity & Justice –  June 17, 2020

Virtual Celebration Program featured speakers Governor Newsom, Mayor Schaaf, OP President Dr. Michael McAfee, Councilmember Sheng Tao, CEO of We Lead Ours Dwayne Aikens, Jr, CSUEB President Dr. Leroy Morishita and Graduates Brandon Oliver (video) and Cierra Cryer (video)

Nidia Burgos, First in her Family to Finish College

COVID-19 Resources Available for Community

May 2, 2020

Many people in our Oakland Promise community need a single place to find resources available for all sorts of needs during this COVID-19 pandemic.  Here is a a document of some resources you may find helpful.

Help College Students Facing Adversity TODAY

March 20, 2020

Many of our 1,400+ Oakland Promise college scholars are undergoing tremendous financial challenges due to campus closures.  For many students this means getting displaced from their housing, loss of income, losing access to computers, internet and other learning resources, and needing to get home quickly to be with and care for their families.  Donate to the Dreamcatcher Fund, our emergency financial support to ensure that their college dream does not become a dream deferred, even in this challenging moment.

UPDATE: Read the 3/30/20 SF Chronicle front page cover story featuring interviews with Mia Bonta, CEO of Oakland Promise and one of our scholars about tackling the challenges of college campus closures.

Oakland Promise | Navigating through COVID-19

March 13, 2020

At Oakland Promise, we believe it is our role and responsibility during this time to prioritize two things: ensure the health and well-being of our kids (and our community educators, volunteers, staff and partners) while keeping them on track towards post-secondary success. To learn how we are doing that, please read CEO Mia Bonta’s letter to the community by clicking the button below.  OUSD provided a recent set of restrictions – COVID-19: Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Supports New Bay Area Restrictions.  Please find ongoing updates from OUSD here.

The 2020 college scholarship application portal is now CLOSED.

March 9, 2020

Awarded scholars will be notified in late April. The Oakland Promise awards need-based college scholarships as well as advising and mentoring supports for Oakland public and charter high school students through their college journey. Students at 2-year and technical colleges will receive up to $1,000 per year while students at 4-year colleges will receive $1,000 to – $4,000 per year. 

2019 Application is now closed. 

Please visit us in December 2020 for the 2021 application cycle..

Update to the City of Oakland Education Partnership Committee

October 21, 2019

Oakland Promise’s last fiscal and programmatic update to the City of Oakland Education Partnership Committee about our governance structure, both historically and at present, our budget, K2C scholarship administration, and early evaluation results and impacts to date.

Open Letter to the Oakland Promise Community

October 3, 2019

Since launch, Oakland Promise has given thousands of Oakland children and families hope, guidance, and resources that will change the course of their lives. With success inevitably comes some pushback, and as a response, this is an open letter to our valued community partners to share facts about our organization and our work.

Exciting announcements and a message from Dr. Michael McAfee, President of the Oakland Promise Board of Directors

June 2019

Oakland Promise Announcement from Maggie Croushore on Vimeo.