Bay Area

IN MEMORIAM: Elberta Eriksson’s Life Honored in Marin City

Mrs. Elberta Julia Eriksson, BCD, MFT, LCSW was born on March 19, 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up in Oakland. She graduated from Sacramento and San Francisco State Universities and was on the faculty at Dominican College and the California Graduate School of Psychology.

Published

3 years ago

September 26, 2022

Oakland Post

Cynthia Williams and Elberta Eriksson

By Godfrey Lee

The life of the late Mrs. Elberta Julia Eriksson, BCD, MFT, LCSW was honored at the Marin City Senior Center in Marin City on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. She passed away on May 9, 2022.

The service was well attended by the community. Terrie Green, Indie B, Kahaya Adams, Ricardo Moncrief and his Music is Health Band, Johnathan Logan, Jr, Ida Times, Maralisa Mack, and Felecia Chavez participated in the service.

Eriksson was born on March 19, 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up in Oakland. She graduated from Sacramento and San Francisco State Universities and was on the faculty at Dominican College and the California Graduate School of Psychology.

Eriksson was a social worker, family therapist, and a leader in child advocacy and family issues. She worked as the Director of the Multi-Cultural Outreach Project at the Family Service Agency in Marin, and as a family therapy consultant at Operation Give a Damn. Eriksson has received twenty-year service awards from both organizations.

Eriksson was actively involved in the Marin City Project, participating in the design of the social services to be provided. She served her third term on the Human Rights Commission and is the founder of the Marin African-American Coalition, which provides social, political, educational and cultural exchange. She has received awards for her contributions to the prevention of child abuse from both the State of California and the Marin County Board of Supervisors.

Eriksson was a Board-Certified Diplomat, a State Delegate on the Democratic Committee to advance family and children’s rights, and a charter member of the American Family Therapy Academy. Eriksson was also the head of the Southern Marin Community Connectors Internship Program, and is creator of the Family Functioning Scale.

Felecia Chavez wrote a blog: “Operation Give A Damn — A Former Wrap-Around Organization in Marin City — A Very Brief History,” that describes Eriksson’s passion for resurrecting “wrap-around services” for families in Marin City, and Southern Marin.

The organization that provided “wrap-around services” for families was called ‘Operation Give A Damn,’ or OGAD, which existed in Marin City from 1968 to 1995.

OGAD was a modified ‘Big Brother Big Sisters’ Program that worked in concert with mentors, education, social workers and the family. It addressed the individual client’s needs, and understood that the role, interactions and impact of family dynamics should also be addressed in order for a successful outcome. This often resulted in improving the functioning level of the whole family, says Chavez.

The focus on relationships is primary. “Traditionally, services had been dispersed to clients by social workers who acted as decision-makers working with little input from the client or his community. With organizations such as OGAD, intervention became a group effort; the child, his family, the community at large, all worked together to decide what was best for the child and where to seek help,” said Elberta.

“Building bridges, building high quality human relationships is the very heart of making the world a better place,” writes Chavez.

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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

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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.