Program areas at Oakland Natives Give Back Fund
The Back and on track (bot) program provides a multi-phased and tiered approach to mitigate "learning loss" resulting from the covid-19 pandemic and its drastic impact on consistent student attendance. Through the entire school year, the program served 72 students from 8 different partner schools. The program yielded remarkable results by incentivizing these students with a monthly reward, and schools witnessed improvement in their attendance, engagement, and academic performance. The weekly lessons that focused on social and emotional learning (sel), attendance support, career & college readiness, case management, and wraparound services have proven to be invaluable. The scheduled home visits and family support have strengthened the bond between schools and the families of these students. By working together, we created a nurturing and supportive environment that fosters academic excellence and overall well-being.
Kinder attendance challenge (kac) targeted early education levels, improving attendance among k and tk students through incentives totaling $13,000. Parental engagement and community outreach were key to the program's success, with activities designed to build strong attendance habits early in students' academic lives. Kac aims to prevent future absenteeism by focusing on these foundational years before it becomes a deeper issue.
Girls equity movement (gems) enriched the lives of 82 young women through 312 hours of entrepreneurship training and robust mental health support. With 82% of participants reporting depressive symptoms and 65% experiencing anxiety, our in-house clinician enrolled 15 participants in weekly therapy. Gems adopted a hybrid model, engaging participants globally via zoom. In october 2023, gems had dual international involvement, with fellows leading workshops in london and hosting an event at the san francisco federal reserve, where they met with president mary daly. Since 2019, gems has maintained a 100% high school graduation rate. In 2023, 100% of seniors applied to college, with 75% accepted to their first choice. All seniors graduated, surpassing the local graduation rate, with 98% attending community or four-year colleges.
Every day counts attendance challenge (edcac) rewarded students with perfect attendance through a monthly lottery. In 2023, 90 students each received $500, resulting in $45,000 awarded, boosting attendance rates across participating schools. This challenge has created a culture of healthy competition and commitment to school attendance, significantly improving engagement and participation throughout the year.