Bay Area

London Breed, Mayor of San Francisco

Published

6 years ago

March 19, 2020

London Nicole Breed became the 45th Mayor of San Francisco on July 11, 2018. She is the first black woman and second woman to be elected mayor of San Francisco. Previously Breed was the president of the Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2018.

Born in the Western Addition, she was raised by her grandmother in Plaza East public housing. Writing of her childhood, Breed indicated that the family of five lived on $900 per month in a place where violence was never far away. Her sister died of a drug overdose in 2006 and her brother is in prison serving a 44-year sentence for manslaughter and armed robbery. She graduated with honors from Galileo High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Davis in 1997, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco in 2012.

During her bid for reelection to the Board of Supervisors in 2016, Breed pledged to build and protect affordable housing, increase public safety, improve environmental health and modernize public transportation. Dean Preston, an attorney, lost to Breed by a 52% to 48% margin on Nov. 8, 2016. She was unanimously reelected to another two-year term as Board President on Jan. 9, 2017.

On Dec. 12, 2017, Mayor Ed Lee died unexpectedly of heart failure, and Breed became the city’s Acting Mayor by virtue of her position as President of the Board.

Breed ran in the mayoral special election on June 5th and won. As mayor, Breed began her term by walking through different neighborhoods and created a task force with the Department of Public Works to clean up the city sidewalks. She made homelessness an early focus of her administration, declaring a shelter crisis in San Francisco which allowed the city to waive certain permitting and contracting requirements for homeless shelters, and has worked to expand mental health and substance abuse recovery beds. She used 415 million in property taxes to fund housing and homelessness programs and also authored legislation with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman to expand San Francisco’s conservatorship laws, based on California Senate Bill 1045, authored by State Senator Scott Wiener.

Breed has fought for more funding for emergency medical services succeeding in getting $47 million invested to hire EMT’s, paramedics, firefighters, and 911 dispatchers in addition to purchasing new ambulances and fire trucks and improved fire department facilities. Her improvement increased response times by over 26%.

In 2015 opposed a proposal to build a $380 million dollar new jail for San Francisco. “I’ve seen way too many people from my community, friends, even family members, end up on the wrong side of these iron bars.” She stated that the proposal was “a return to an era of mass incarceration, an era San Francisco is trying to leave behind”.

In 2015 Breed helped pass “neighborhood preference” legislation for affordable housing, prioritizing communities at risk of economic displacement. She is a major advocate for modular housing and has announced a partnership with labor unions to build a modular housing factory near or in San Francisco.

In 2019 she requested 200 million dollars for a program entitled “UrgentCareSF” to address homelessness and the mentally ill.

Tanya Dennis

Posts by Tanya Dennis

Up Next

CBC Holds Telephone Town Hall to Address Stimulus Packages

Don't Miss

Hit By Coronavirus Crisis, School Districts Call Time-out: Still Providing Meals

Tanya Dennis

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.