Activism

City Council Unanimously Approves Plan to Save Head Start, Prevent Layoffs

To ensure equitable sustainability and prosperity of Oakland’s Head Start/Early Head Start programming, these councilmembers applaud their colleagues’ support for their resolution which will require that, if Head Start/Early Head Start programs are restructured or reorganized before June 2022, all existing staff who represent decades of experience and expertise serving low-income communities of color in Oakland, are retained.

Published

4 years ago

December 12, 2021

Oakland Post

Councilmembers (left to right): Sheng Thao, Rebecca Kaplan, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Carroll Fife. Photo courtesy of Oakland City Council.

By Kimberly Jones

The Oakland City Council this week unanimously approved a resolution by Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, Councilmember Carroll Fife, and President Pro Tem Sheng Thao directing the City Administrator to ensure Head Start/Early Head Start are adequately funded now and in the future — including preventing staffing layoffs.

The backbone of Early Head Start and Head Start membership is overwhelmingly Black women and people of color, who have historically and disproportionately borne the brunt of the economic difficulties our society experiences.

These communities are also disparately impacted when childcare is not available.

It is vital to engage front-line workers directly impacted by investments and center conversations around these workers in a transparent budget process, according to a media statement released by Kaplan’s office.

Stable funding ensures staff retention, and that existing Head Start/Early Head Start facilities are properly maintained.

Further, the City Administrator will be required to return to City Council with an amendment to the biennial budget for fiscal years 2021-2023 that fully funds all City of Oakland’s Head Start/Early Head Start programming no later than May 2022 when the fiscal year 2022-2023 midcycle budget amendments will be considered.

Finally, the resolution requires the Human Services Department to create a transparent, strategic planning process for the operation and management of the Head Start/Early Head Start programs.

“We must prioritize equity in our City’s COVID-19 recovery plan and allowing our most impacted communities to have vitally needed services is a high priority,” Vice Mayor and Councilmember At Large Rebecca Kaplan said. “Head Start is an important program which helps children with lifelong positive impacts on their future and ensures access to economic recovery for struggling working parents…I thank everyone who helped pass this important plan to save Head Start to support providing these services for all of Oakland’s communities.”

“Our most vulnerable children and families in Oakland must be supported,” Nikki Fortunato Bas, Council President and District 2 Representative, said. “The Franklin Head Start Center serves a diverse community in District 2, from the Chinatown to Eastlake to San Antonio neighborhoods, and I am fighting to protect the services for these families and the jobs for the workers caring for our children.”

“Robust investment in Head Start is investment in our future; it is long-term public safety planning; it is the right thing to do,” said Carroll Fife who represents District 3. “Our local government cannot allow Head Start to fail. To do so would be to continue the practice of state-sanctioned discrimination that creates new racialized disparities and perpetuates existing ones…As a working-class Black woman, like many of our Head Start providers, I have lived experience in needing access to affordable childcare. And as an elected official, I am committed to doing what it takes to keep our centers open, funded and accessible to the families who need them most.”

“Every parent knows the first five years of a child’s development have an enormous impact on the adult they will become,” Council President Pro Tempore and District 4 representative Sheng Thao said. “Head Start is a vital resource to the children and parents that need support. One of my top priorities is making sure every child in Oakland has a chance to succeed.”

Kimberly Jones is the chief of staff to Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan.

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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

1 week 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.