ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE DISTRICT

INTERIM LIVE/WORK ZONE

What is the Interim Live/Work Zone?

Through this process the Planning Department is developing a new zone, specifically
tailored for the Arts District, that will allow for live/work units in new construction along
with required public benefits and design criteria. This will ensure the neighborhood
will continue to evolve in a manner consistent with the vision of the community.

1st Stree
t

How does it work?

A project applicant will request this new zone for a development that will incorporate
live/work units in new construction. This is an interim measure while the Department
of Planning creates a permanent zone as part of the Community Plan Update, in
conjunction with re:code LA. A limited number of new units will be allowed to utilize
this path, which will allow for the City to test these provisions before they are made
more permanent.

This ordinance provides ground-up projects with an alternative review process to

ensure compliance with ordinance goals and residential needs.

Alameda Street

How does the City process these projects?

4th Street

Project Review Process:

General Plan Amendment through Los Angeles Department of City Planning to

Hybrid Industrial Land Use
Zone Change to proposed new Live/Work Zone
Site Plan Review
All projects will require a public hearing, City Planning Commission
recommendation and City Council approval.

7th Street

WHAT ARE THE GOALS?

Note that each new proposed standard and guideline will be matched with an icon, indicating one of three goals the Interim Ordinance desires to achieve.

Retaining the existing character of the Arts District by:

Maintaining incentives for the reuse or incorporation of existing buildings

Mandating spaces for Art Murals
Providing incentives for the construction of building that reflect what exists in the
neighborhood
Creating urban design standards for new construction
Placing limitations on signage that is out-of-character

Reinforcing the Arts and Productive uses that characterize the Arts District by:

Allowing only Live/Work units and prohibiting traditional apartment uses

Mandating a minimum amount of Arts and Productive uses as part of each project
Creating limits and prohibitions on uses that are inconsistent with the function of the
neighborhood
Requiring each Live/Work project to provide on-site communal workspace for residents

Maintaining a Livable and Sustainable Neighborhood by:

Introducing mandates for affordable live/work units

Requiring large sites to break up blocks and allow better pedestrian circulation
Including mandates for cool roofs (solar reflective)
Unbundling parking from use
Requiring EV charging stations in each project
Including bicycle parking with each project
Incorporating pedestrian-friendly urban design standards, with special treatment at the
ground floor
Planting trees as part of each project

History of Housing
in the Arts District
TIME
LINE

1981

2000

Artists Move Into Underutilized Buildings

Artist-in-Residence
Ordinance

Artists-in Residence
Policy

2014/2015

Artists seeking large, open

spaces for creative work began
illegally inhabiting warehouse
buildings zoned for industrial
use. These were the first live/
work studios in the area. Pictured
to the left is Artist Dustin Shuler
in front of his installation
Pinned Butterfly, a Cessna
150 aircraft he pinned to the
American Hotel (1982).

The Citys AIR ordinance

legalized the use of industrial
buildings for artist residencies
and work spaces. The
ordinance allowed for the
creation of live/work units in
existing industrial buildings
through adaptive reuse. This
has allowed for the majority
of the projects that have been
built in the Arts District.

The Artists-in-Residence area is

added to the Community Plan
Map and policies are added
to the plan to encourage the
continued expansion of live/
work projects for artists. The
boundary was expanded in
2008 to includes portions along
the south of the neighborhood.

Community engagement
process begins to create a
new tailored zone designation
in the Arts District. A Live/
Work zone will facilitate
development aligned with
the neighborhoods creative
character.

1970s

1998
Commercial Zonning Introduced
The blocks around the southeast corner of 1st and
Alameda are granted a General Plan Amendment
to Regional Commercial and Zone Change to C2.
This allows for the first ground-up construction
of housing in the Arts District and first traditional
apartments. These blocks developed as The Savoy,
Artisan on 2nd, and Mura buildings.

Live/Work Zone

2012
Uncommon Ground III

Arts District is officially named

Arts District stakeholders hold a

neighborhood charratte to set
neighborhood priorities for growth and
development. Housing priorities include
the creation of more live/work units, more
affordable housing for artists, and more
mixed-use projects.

ST
K
RIC
ME
R

ST

3RD ST
A

4T
H

2ND ST

MOLINO
ST

ST

Y ST
AVER

TR
A

HE
W

AV
E

PL
RIC

4T
H

CT
IO

ST

ST

3RD ST

IT
T

SEATON

ST

5TH ST

VIGNES ST

2ND ST

GAREY ST

AV

ROSE ST

ON

PL

HEWITT ST

HE
W

CTI

ST

RA

4T
H

ST
HEWITT

Industrial Use/Zoning
The majority of the Art District
has a Heavy Industrial Land Use
Designation (shown in blue)
and is zoned for M3, which is
the most intensive industrial
zone. Housing is only allowed
here in existing buildings and
only as live/work units.

COLYTON

ME
R

ST

ST

L
HP
4T

ST

5TH ST

MOLINO

HEW ITT

ST
SEATON

4TH PL

Molino Lofts

ALAMEDA ST

PALMETTO ST

ST

PALMETTO

6TH ST
6TH ST

6TH ST

MILL ST

JESSE ST

7TH ST

7TH PL

MATEO ST

DECATUR ST

One Santa Fe

WILSON ST

LAWRENCE ST

CHANNING ST

7TH PL

ST

7TH PL

VIOLET ST

Biscuit Company Lofts

MESQUIT ST

The Planning Department

would like to see this process
continue and for existing
buildings to be retained for
live/work uses.

IMPERIAL ST

INDUSTRIAL

SANTA FE AVE

PRODUCE ST

WHOLESALE ST

Barker Block

Megatoys

WILLOW ST

FACTORY PL

CONWAY PL

1. The live/work units will be

safe for human health
2. The introduction of live/
work units will not displace
viable industrial land.

Savoy, Mura, Artisan on 2nd

4T
H

ST

Housing in Live/Work Units

Projects that have been created
through the adapative reuse
of older industrial buildings
can be found throughout the
neighborhood. In order to
be converted, the Planning
Department must make the
determination that:

COLYTON

Creating housing in the

Arts District is complex
and nuanced process, but
vital for understanding
how the neighborhood
has developed over
time. Although artists
began to move into the
neighborhood
prior
to 1981, they did so in
unpermitted structures.
With the adoption of
the 1981 Artist-in-Residence ordinance,
older industrial buildings could legally be
a converted to live/work units. Most of the
projects in the Arts District have followed
this path and all of these live/work units
are found in older industrial buildings. The
second way that housing has been created
in the Arts District is through a General Plan
Amendment and Zone Change process,
since the Industrial Zoning does not allow for
both traditional residential nor ground-up
construction. Projects that have built housing
using this path are all located along near 1st
Street and include Savoy, Mura, Artisan on
2nd, Mega Toys, and One Santa Fe.

CASE
STUDY
of
Housing

ROSE ST

During a time when Downtown suffered from crime

and homelessness, Joel Bloom, the Arts Districts
unofficial mayor, petitioned the City to officially
designate the area the Arts District.

Arts District stakeholders again

hold a neighborhood charratte to
reaffirm neighborhood priorities for
growth and development. Housing
priorities again include afforable
artists-in-residence live/work units
and concern for the character of the
neighborhood.

HEWITT ST

Uncommon Ground

GAREY ST

2006

1990s

Commercial Use/Zoning
In a few instances the Planning
Department has allowed for select
changes from Industrial Use to
Commercial in the Northern end of
the Arts District.
Housing through Zone Changes
Since housing is not allowed in
industrial zones, project applicants
wanting to build traditional
apartments have required a
General Plan Amendment and
Zone Change to Commercial, which
allows this type of housing. These
projects include The Savoy, Mura,
Artisan on 2nd, Megatoys, and One
Santa Fe.
As part of the new Live/Work
Zoning Ordinance, the Planning
Department to no longer make
changes to Commercial Use in the
Arts District and no longer allow for
housing in traditional apartments.
New Live/Work Zone
It is the intention of the Planning
Department with the new Live/
Work Zone to allow for the
construction of live/work units
in new buildings in Industrial
zones, which is not allowed today.
The new zone will require public
benefits and design features that
will ensure new projects are built in
a manner that is consistent with the
vision of the community.

LAND USE

Regulating activities creates a balance between residential, commercial,

production and open space uses within the community.
PROPOSED

CURRENT
Prohibited Uses

Permitted Uses

Encouraged Uses

Uses Allowed
with Size
Limitations

Residential uses (except

for live/work in existing
buildings)
Hotels

Heavy industrial uses

Drive-thru establishments

Heavy Industrial uses

(explosives manufacturing,
chlorine manufacturing,
drop forge, cement
batching)

Light industrial uses

Commercial uses
Live/work quarters in new construction
Live/work quarters in existing buildings

Commercial uses
Live/work quarters in
existing industrial buildings
(with conditions)
Retail, restaurants,
entertainment uses
Conversion of existing
buildings to joint live/work
quarters
Retention of job-producing
uses

Generally referred to as Arts and Productive Uses, this

ordinance would require each project to incorporate a
certain amount of floor area to these uses.

Conversion of existing
buildings to joint live/work
quarters
Retention of job-producing
uses

These include:
Artist studios
Art galleries and exhibition/performance spaces
Co-working facilities
Artisan/micro-manufacturing
Creative office
Retail or restaurant is ancillary to an on-site
manufacturing, creative or agricultural use
Research and development
Urban agriculture
Light manufacturing & light industrial uses
Live/work units in existing industrial buildings

LIVE/WORK UNITS
Only housing type allowed
Minimum work space requirement
(% of floor area)
Minimum Average Unit Size
Design Standards (doors, windows,
layout)
15 floor to floor height at ground floor
and 11 on upper floors
Each project will also provide
communal Artist Production Space for
use by all residents at F-2 occupancy
(low-intensity industrial use)
Each unit allows for up to 5 employees

Retail
Restaurants
Entertainment uses (e.g. bars)
Hotels with limitations
Example Live/Work Floor Plan

PUBLIC BENEFITS
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Minimum percentage of
live/work units reserved for
artists and others who have lower
income levels

ARTS & PRODUCTIVE USES

Minimum amount of Arts and
Productive uses required as part
of any project that introduces new
live/work units

RESIDENT PRODUCTION SPACE

Each project will incorporate
a space available for use by all
residents, built for F-2 occupancy,
that allows for on-site creation
and manufacturing

INCENTIVES FOR REUSE

1. All portions of a building
incorporated will not be
counted towards overall floor
area ratio (FAR)
2. No additional parking
requirement for area included in
a project

Projects that incorporate live/work units into new construction

would be required to provide the following public benefits.

PUBLIC BENEFITS
URBAN GREENING/ART MURALS
Minimum percentage of building
exteriors reserved for art murals,
green walls, or living walls
MURAL: A hand-painted, hand-tiled,
or digitally printed image that does not
contain any commercial message, on the
exterior wall of a building
LIVING WALL: A wall partially or
completely covered with vegetation that
includes a growing medium, such as soil
GREEN WALL: A wall partially or
completely covered with vegetation

PEDESTRIAN/OPEN SPACE NETWORK

Large blocks made accessible with
pedestrian paseos, accessible open
space
6TH

SANTA FE

ALAMEDA

MATEO

The Arts Distrist has a large block pattern as part of its

industrial legacy. There are blocks that stretch as long as a
quarter-mile. While this might be good for warehousing and
distribution, its not friendly for pedestrians.
7TH

Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community

Projects that incorporate live/work units into new construction

would be required to provide the following public benefits.

DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES

Projects that provide live/work units in new

construction would be allowed to build additional floor
area if they incorporate the following elements

UNDERGROUND PARKING
Additional floor area allowed if parking is built entirely underground or
screened at grade
Undeground parking does not contribute the bulk of a building and the additional space is offered as
a development incentive. Projects utilizing underground parking in conjunction with required public
benefits would be allowed to reach an FAR of 4.5:1

Construction Types

are building code classifications based on

how a building is constructed, not what or who occupies the building.
The primary purpose of Construction Type classification is to regulate
fire-safety. Construction Types are determined by the combustibility and
fire-resistance of the building materials. Types of construction span from
noncombustible to combustible types, with varying degrees of each in
between that are based on fire resistance.

Type I & II: Development Incentives Offered

CONSTRUCTION TYPE
Additional floor area allowed if new buildings use Type I or II construction
These buildings allow for a wider range of activity within the building, more closely reflect the existing
building stock in the Arts District, and are adaptable over time to meet unanticipated future needs.
Projects built with entirely Type I or II construction would be limted only by height and not by FAR.

These buildings are constructed with highly fire-resistant materials and

typically require concrete or steel framing. Use of combustible material is
highly limited, for example fire-retardant-treated wood is permitted only
in some non-load-bearing building components. This type of building
allows for the widest range of potential uses and is adaptable over time.

Type III & IV:

Unlike in Type I & II Construction, a broader range of materials can

be used for framing in Type III and IV. Only the exterior walls must use
noncombustible materials, however, fire-retardant-treated-woodframing is permitted for exterior wall assemblies. All materials permitted
in the building code are acceptable for interior components.

Type V:

Interior and exterior walls can be constructed from any material,

combustible or noncombustible, permitted in the building code.

URBAN DESIGN/
BUILDING FORM

These standards are intended to facilitate projects that

complement the existing urban form, and enhance the built
environment in a consistent and high-quality manner.

FACADE TREATMENT 10% of one facade (+ minimum sq. ft.)

reserved for Art Mural or Green Wall

TRASH ENCLOSURES Screened from view

ROOFTOPS Minimum % of roof top reserved for:

ON-SITE OPEN SPACE 100 square feet per live/work units;

any combination of common and private space

GARDEN

SOLAR

GREEN or COOL

A cool roof is highly reflective and

cools itself by emitting solar radiation
and absorbed heat. Buildings with cool
roofs require significantly less energy
to cool during the hot summer months
and can keep the neighborhood cooler
by reducing the cumulative effects of
the urban heat island effect.

GROUND FLOOR DESIGN

Minimum amount of windows and doors along
ground floor of buildings
Commercial or live/work: 50% minimum
Industrial Uses: 30% minimum
Windows should be clear, non-reflective

URBAN DESIGN/
BUILDING FORM

These standards are intended to facilitate projects that

complement the existing urban form, and enhance the built
environment in a consistent and high-quality manner.

VISUALIZING FLOOR AREA RATIO

Floor Area Ratio, commonly called FAR, is the measure of Gross Building Area
FloorVisualizing
Area Ratio, commonly
FAR,Ratio
is the measure
Gross
compared to of
Lot Area.
FAR controls the intensity potential of development for a
Floorcalled
Area
given site.
Building Area compared to Lot Area. FAR controls intensity potential of
development for a given site.

FLOOR to FLOOR HEIGHT

Ground Floors - 15 minimum average

This will help create a friendly environment at the

ground level that is inviting for pedestrians and
allows for a wide range of uses

Grade
=
Level

0.5:1 FAR
1 Story
50% Lot Coverage

2.5:1 FAR
1.5:1 FAR
4 Stories
4 Stories
100% Lot Coverage
50% Lot Coverage

1:1 FAR
2 Stories
50% Lot Coverage

Lot Width

Floor Area Ratio (FAR) =

Taller than typical apartment ceiling height, the

upper floors in live/work projects will have a taller
height to help facilitate functional work activity
3.5:1 FAR
5 Stories
100% Lot Coverage
Above Grade Parking

Lot Area
Lot
Depth

Upper Floors - 11 minimum average

Gross Building Area

4.5:1 FAR
5 Stories
100% Lot Coverage
Above Grade Parking

Lot Area

= Lot Area
= Building Area

These two buildings would appear the same when

viewed from the street but have a very different Floor
Area Ratio beacuse areas dedicated for parking do
not count as Gross Building Area and thus do not
increase FAR. Its because of this the proposed
ordinance provides for additional FAR when a project
includes the required parking entirely at or below
grade.

= Parking Area

PROPOSED

CURRENT
Allowable
Density,
Intensity,
Height

1:.5:1 FAR for new

projects
Adaptive reuse projects
do not have density
limitations, but are
limited to the floor area
of the existing building
No limits to height

1.5:1 FAR with no Public Benefits required

3:1 FAR with Public Benefits package (Affordable Housing, Arts
& Productive Uses, Pedestrian/Open Space Network)
4.5:1 for projects that provide underground parking
Limitation by height only for projects that are built with steel or
concrete load bearing walls
100 height limit in the area north of 4th St. (Approx. 8 stories)
150 height limit in the area south of 4th St. (Approx. 13 stories)
750 square feet Minimum Average Unit Size

The graphic below shows the minimum floor heights proposed

in the in the Live/Work Zone

URBAN DESIGN/
BUILDING FORM

These standards are intended to facilitate projects that

complement the existing urban form, and enhance the built
environment in a consistent and high-quality manner.

HEAVY INDUSTRIAL BUFFER

15 minimum required buffer from industrial uses
PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION
Blocks longer than 400 feet will have mid-block
pedestrian pathways to encourage a convenient and
attractive pedestrian environment
SIGNAGE
Sign restrictions will ensure that introduction of new
signage matches the size and type of signs founds in
the Arts District and reflects the local character
PROHIBITED SIGN TYPES
Billboard, can signs, digital signs, monument signs,
pole signs, and temporary signs

URBAN DESIGN/
BUILDING FORM

PROPOSED

CURRENT
Vehicular
Parking

By Code:
1 space per unit, for less than
3 habitable rooms
1.5 spaces per units, for
3 habitable rooms
2 spaces per unit, for more
than 3 habitable rooms
1 space for each guest room
(first 30)

Access

None

Adaptive
Reuse
Projects

These standards are intended to facilitate projects that

complement the existing urban form, and enhance the built
environment in a consistent and high-quality manner.

Parking that exists at the

time of construction and
reduction are allowed as per
the decision of the Zoning
Administrator

Standard Parking Requirements

Reductions allowed through car-share spaces or
within half-mile of rail transit proposal
Flexibility through allowance of off-site parking
within 1500
All spaces unbundled and rented separately,
allowing individuals to lease appropriate
parking
Minimum 1% of all spaces equipped with EV
Charges
Bicycle parking per code

What is unbundled parking?

The cost of parking for residential units, office space and
commercial space is often included or bundled into lease
costs. When parking is bundled, the cost of parking cannot
be avoided regardless of actual parking needed.
Unbundled parking refers to the separation or
unbundling of parking spaces from the lease of individual
units. When parking can be leased separately, individuals
then have the opportunity to lease precisely as much
parking as needed.

Driveway will have 20 limit, preferably located

on secondary building facade
No surface parking allowed between a building
front and street
No additional parking for those portions of a
building that are adaptive reuse or incorporate
existing older buildings

Bicycle Parking Requirements & Incentives

Bike parking is required as part of every project and developers are allowed to
provide additional bike parking in exchange for reduction in the required automobile
parking spaces. Robust bicycle infrastructure can help reduce parking demands in the
neighborhood and encourage more active transportation use.

Bicycle Parking Reductions: A reduction in automobile spaces is

allowed by providing additional bicycle parking
Residential projects may replace as much as 15% of the required
parking by providing the replacement spaces at a ratio of 4 bicycle
parking spaces for each residential parking space reduced.
Commercial requirements may be reduced by as much as 30% using
the same ratio for replacement

My
Brothers
Keeper
Oakland, CA
Local Action Plan
May 2016

To The Reader

Consider early childhood development.. High quality pre-school is a game changer.

We know that. For those children who attend pre-school in Oakland, almost all of them 84% will be ready to learn in Kindergarten. Thats the good news.
Now lets look at African Americans in pre-school. Just 76% will be ready for Kindergarten after
attending pre-school. But the more concerning fact in Oakland is that the African American
young children started pre-school ahead of or on par with their peers but are surpassed by them
in just one year. Why would that reversal occur?

Thats what this report is about. As we engage in broad system change, we need to be aware
that not all children fare equally. If we want to close the gap between boys and young men of
color, compared to girls and to their white peers, we need to look more deeply into the data to
understand what is going on and what we can do to change that.
Oakland does not lack for energy, compassion and focus on this issue. We are a national leader.
We will continue to lead. But we will do this now by challenging ourselves to uncover, confront
and overcome the barriers that suppress the potential of our young men, and deprive them, their
families and their communities of the full potential of their lives.

Oakland MBK

Pledge

We will work as a community to infuse into our work a

deep commitment to uncover, confront and overcome the
conditions that result in depriving our young men of their
right to live a full and productive life.

We will engage together collaboratively to better

understand what causes the disparities faced by young
men of color. We will expose the data specific to them, and
hold ourselves accountable for employing the strategies
and changing the systems that cause poor and inequitable
outcomes for our young men of color.

Letter from

Mayor Libby Schaaf

and

President & CEO James Head

To the Oakland community,

Here in Oakland we are blessed with strong community serving organizations, reform minded public
institutions, and residents who are willing to roll up their sleeves to tackle the toughest problems.
Perhaps no challenge is more uncomfortable and difficult to engage than the sensitive questions
of race and disparities that persist in our nation, and in turn here in Oakland. Yet, again, Oakland
excels. Our public and private leaders have taken this issue head on through ground breaking
work like having the first school district in the country to have an African American Male
Achievement Initiative, leading police reform work with department-wide procedural justice
training, and a community led Opportunity Youth Initiative to connect out of school and out of
work young adults to education and employment.
Yet, we all know that the work has not produced enough desired impact. Whether it be incomplete
data, insufficient opportunities to share lessons and leverage deeper change, the difficulty of getting
to the deep-seated origins of behavior that produce disparate results, or all three, we still witness
persistent disadvantages, particularly for our young men of color in Oakland. And being Oaklanders,
when we see injustice, we confront it and ask ourselves how we can do better.
We applaud President Obama for raising the My Brothers Keeper Community Challenge, and we
respond to it with a uniquely Oakland approach. In this blueprint we lay out a strategy for how we
will recognize, support and advance the significant work of our communities, non-profits, businesses,
and public agencies to address racial inequities. The world offers new opportunities to see and
use data, to manage across systems and to challenge the status quo with evidence of what works.
The MBK Oakland plan leverages all these dynamics with the single purpose of creating greater
accountability for improvement for our young men.
We are hopeful for Oakland, and we are committed to creating an environment where our young
men of color can succeed. We will do what is within our ability to create the supports to improve
that success through our partners and institutions, and more than anything else, we will hold
ourselves accountable for results. We embrace and celebrate this mission.

Libby Schaaf, Mayor

City of Oakland

James W. Head, Pres. & CEO

East Bay Community Foundation

Examples of Oakland Efforts

for Boys & Men of Color (BMOC)
Below are examples of work that have occurred in Oakland:
Culturally-Focused Manhood
Development Programs

Office of African American Male Achievement,

Oakland Unified School District

Oakland benefits from the presence of outstanding

leadership among community-based partners that have
worked to develop programs for African American, Latino,
Native/Indigenous, and Asian Pacific Islander boys and
young men. Culturally-focused manhood development
programs are both school- and community-based,
provide instruction and support led by males of the same
cultural/ethnic background and include healing circles,
rites of passage, intergenerational mentoring, academic
support, life skills training and, at their core, build the
resiliency of boys and young men.

The Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA)

was launched in 2010 by the Oakland Unified School
District and creates the systems, structures, and spaces
that guarantee success for all African American male
students in OUSD. African American Male Achievement
is an ambitious project designed to dramatically improve
academic and ultimately life outcomes for African
American male students in Oakland. AAMA is leading the
school district by analyzing the patterns and processes
that are producing systemic inequities. OUSDs theory of
action, Targeted Universalism, asserts that by targeting
support for students who are situated furthest from
opportunity, OUSD will create a district that improves
academic and social-emotional outcomes for all of its
students. Over five years, OUSD has experienced a
12% reduction in districtwide suspensions for African
American male students, 40% reduction in the number of
African American male students incarcerated, and AAMA
teachers make up 11.3% of all African American male
teachers, districtwide.

Some of these programs include:

Communities United For Restorative Youth Justice
(CURYJ) focused on Chicano/Latino/Indigenous boys
and young men; Village Connect focusing on African
American men and boys; The Mentoring Center, focused
primarily on African American young men with juvenile
justice system involvement; Inter-Tribal Friendship
House focused on Native men and boys; Urban Peace
Movement, focused on transition-aged African American
young men; Brothers On The Rise, focused on boys and
young men of color ages 8-17 years of age; and Youth
ALIVE! (technical assistance partner for trauma-informed
assessment and service delivery for boys and men of
color.)

Brotherhood of Elders Network

The Brotherhood of Elders Network (BOEN) origins
can be traced to a simple question asked by Arnold
Perkins, a longtime human rights advocate in the Bay
Area, of a small group of influential and powerful African
American men. The question was simple: Would you
be interested in helping young black boys survive and
thrive? The responses encouraged a call to action. The
BOEN developed an agenda and is constantly expanding
its ranks. The agenda is focused on a commitment to
shaping programs and interventions that will positively
impact the lives of Black boys and men.

The MBK White House Community Challenge is a charge to local governments to focus attention
on outcomes for BMOC. This is not a new engagement for us; the Oakland community has led
this work for decades. The promise of MBK Oakland is to collectively support our public, private,
and community partners in a stronger collaboration with laser focus on improving outcomes
for BMOC.

Asian Pacific Islander Youth

Promoting Advocacy Leadership
AYPAL: Building API Community Power
AYPAL was created in 1998 in response to increasing
gang activity, truancy, and substance abuse issues
among low-income Asian and Pacific Islander (API) youth.
The project addresses the marginalization of API youth
voices in the burgeoning bay area youth movement.
AYPALs strategy is to engage young people in school
and neighborhood reform campaigns as a positive
alternative to high-risk activities. Young people in the
program develop the cultural capital and confidence
to meaningfully participate in multi-racial social justice
initiatives. Since its founding, AYPAL has developed the
leadership of over 450 Youth Leaders and has engaged
over 4500 young people in grassroots campaigns. The
organization has become a vital home where youth from
different schools, neighborhoods and ethnicities can
gather together to learn, discuss and collectively change
the adverse conditions impacting their lives.
Urban Strategies Council / Oakland-Alameda
County Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
(BMOC)

The Unity Council

Latino Men and Boys Program
The Unity Council (officially known as the Spanish
Speaking Unity Council) was founded in 1964,
incorporated in 1967, and received 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
status in 1968.
The Latino Men and Boys Program provides educational
and academic support, mentorship, health and wellness
programs, career development, and culturally based
activities for young Latino males ages 12-20 years
old who live in Oakland. Its aim is to support young
Latinos and their families to improve and succeed in
educational attainment, employment opportunities,
access to health care and healthy activities, and to
reduce violence through positive connectivity. The LMB
program uses the Joven Noble curriculum model. The
central theme of the program is character development
through Palabrayoung men learn to honor their word
in preparation toward becoming an adult. The curriculum
also includes an important peer health education model
focused on preventing substance abuse, violence and
unwanted pregnancy. Of the 140 LMB participants
through February 2015, 75% of eligible participating
youth were placed in a job or paid internship.

Formed in 2011, the OaklandAlameda County Alliance

for Boys and Men of Color (BMoC) is committed to
improving outcomes for boys and men of color in
education, health and employment and criminal justice.
The Alliance consists of public systems and community
leaders who focus on identifying and implementing
programs, practices and policies for improving
outcomes for boys and men of color. The Alliance
focuses its efforts on Latino, Black, Asian-Pacific Islander
and Native American boys and men as the groups
experiencing significant disparities in outcomes. The
Oakland-Alameda County Opportunity Youth Initiative
(OYI), is a project of the Alliance focused on connecting
18-24 year old young adults who are out of school and
out of work to education and training that lead to familysustaining employment opportunities.

Oakland MBK Process

MBK Oakland Action Summit

In August of 2015 Mayor Schaaf and the East

Bay Community Foundation hosted the Oakland
My Brothers Keeper Summit. Attended by 140
individuals, this event was both an acknowledgement
of all the work underway in Oakland and a
reality check for the work that is yet to be done.
Closing the summit, participants were given the
opportunity to commit to work groups aligned with
the MBK Milestones laid out in the White House MBK
strategy document (These six milestones can be seen
on page 9.) These six milestones were selected by
the White House with knowledge that they are critical
inflection points in a young mans life that predict
chances of academic and employment success, and
for which evidence based strategies can be employed
to improve outcomes.
MBK Action Plan Meeting
& Best Practices Document Produced

In the month of September an initial leadership group

co-chaired by the City of Oakland and the East Bay
Community Foundation began to meet in order to
map the process that would result in the creation of
the Local Action Plan. The initial deliverable was to
identify best practices aligned with the preliminary
recommendations from the summit. Workgroup
chairs were identified and instructed to meet
individually on specific milestones.
The follow through from the notes collected at the
summit created the foundation of work for the six
MBK milestone workgroups. These groups were asked
to identify the critical barriers faced by young men
of color in achieving success within each milestone
target. This discussion produced the milestone
specific recommendations listed in the milestone
section of this report.

Milestone Meeting Memo

& Milestone Work Group Meeting

In the month of October the milestone work groups

met to generate recommendations to strengthen
the current efforts in Oakland. Conversations were
focused on identifying specific action steps needed
to remove barriers and increase opportunities for
boys and men of color.
It became abundantly clear that Oakland had
numerous existing strategies impacting each
milestone. However, despite these numerous efforts,
the outcomes for which we could gather existing
data were weak. And many conversations revealed
silos among groups and lack of awareness of
closely related activities happening simultaneously.
Opportunities were being missed.
All Work Group Meeting

In the months of November and December the work

groups convened jointly to review recommendations
and priorities. From these meetings areas for priority
attention for the Local Acton Plan were developed.
Most significantly, focus was given to several central
cross cutting recommendations that are proposed to
guide the work.
Listening Sessions

The MBK Oakland process continued with Mayor

Schaaf holding a series of meetings to review the
process and the input, and to share her own goals
and objectives. The Mayor and President & CEO
Head met several times to review and revise the
recommendations and the Mayor shared them for
input with other elected city and county leaders.

Oakland MBK

MBK Milestones
Milestone 1

GETTING A HEALTHY START

AND ENTERING SCHOOL READY TO LEARN

All children should have a healthy start and enter school ready
cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally

Milestone 2

READING AT GRADE LEVEL BY THIRD GRADE

All children should be reading at grade level by age 8 the age at

which reading to learn becomes essential

Milestone 3

GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL

READY FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER

All youth should receive a quality high school education and graduate with
the skills and tools needed to advance to postsecondary education or training

Milestone 4

COMPLETING POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

OR JOB TRAINING
Every American should have the option to attend postsecondary
education and receive the education and training needed for
the quality jobs of today and tomorrow

Milestone 5

SUCCESSFULLY ENTERING THE WORKFORCE

Anyone who wants a job should be able to get a job that allows them
to support themselves and their families

Milestone 6

KEEPING KIDS ON TRACK

AND GIVING THEM A SECOND CHANCE

All youth and young adults should be safe from violent crime;
and individuals who are confined should receive the education,
training, and treatment they need for a second chance

Work Group
Participants

Co-Chairs

Peggy Moore
City of Oakland, Mayors Office

Debrah Giles
East Bay Community Foundation

Work Group Chairs and Participants

Milestone 1 & 2:

Getting a Healthy Start and Entering School Ready to Learn

Ready At Grade Level By Third Grade

David Pontecorvo & Nicole Kyau

Work Group Co-Chairs
East Bay Community Foundation

Angie Garling
Early Care & Education Planning
Council of Alameda County

Kevin Bremond
First 5 Alameda County, Fathers
Corps

Andrea Youngdahl
Oakland Starting Smart and Strong
David and Lucille Packard Foundation

Sandra Taylor
City of Oakland

Debrah Giles
East Bay Community Foundation

Janis Burger
First 5 Alameda County

Sachi Yoshii
East Bay Community Foundation

Susan True
Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Paula Ambrose
Kenneth Rainin Foundation

Cassie Perham
Oakland Literacy Coalition

Milestone 3:

Graduating From High School Ready for College and Career

Benard McCune & Gilbert Pete

Work Group Co-Chairs
Oakland Unified School District
Brandon Nicolson
Hidden Genius Project

Susan Mernit
Hack the Hood

Diane Dodge
East Bay College Fund

Van Jones
Yes We Code

Milestone 4 & 6:

Completing Post-Secondary Education or Job Training

Keeping Kids on Track and Giving Them A Second Chance

Sandra Taylor
Work Group Chair
City of Oakland
Lt. Leronne Armstrong
Oakland Police Department
Ricardo Quezada
City of Oakland

Linnea Ashley
Youth Alive

Mile Wetzel
OFCY

Celsa Sneed
Mentoring Center

Mark Henderson
Oakland Unite

Gilbert Pete
OUSD

Milestone 5:

Successfully Entering the Workforce

Aisha Brown & Shomari Carter

Work Group Co-Chairs
Alameda County
Phil Patrick
Step to STEM
Joe McKinley
Stride Center
Adrian Sanchez
Urban Strategies Council

Sachi Yoshii
East Bay Community Foundation

Lynda Gayden
Biotech Partners

Milan Drake
Coding Corps, Alameda County

Rodney Brooks
Alameda County

Joshua Fisher
Asian Pacific Island Youth
Promoting Advocacy

John Bailey
City of Oakland

10

Indicators by Race
Oakland community leaders have long been aware of the fact that outcomes for young men
of color fall behind their white peers, and even behind those for young women of color. Here
are some examples of those disparities. While information is widely available for African
American and Latino youth, more work must be done to understand and identify disparate
outcomes for Asian American youth and the specific sub-populations represented in Oakland.
And often times, the data does not separate the men and women, leaving us in the dark as to
the extent of the gender disparities.

Special Education

Reading at Grade Level

Early Literacy

African
American

Latino

Asian

40 34
%

of students enrolled
in special education
at OUSD are African
American but they
constitute only 27%
of the overall
student population

of Latino students
are reading at Grade
Level for 2nd-5th
graders, compared
to 85% for the
White students

11

47

of Asian youth
entering schools
possess an early
literacy skill needed
to be successful
later in literacy,
to 75% for
White youth

Core Recommendations
to Improve Collaboration,
Accountability and Outcomes
Oakland accepted the MBK Community Challenge and launched a planning
process mapping existing work and engaging partners in developing
recommendations for action. Oakland does not lack for plans and strategies.
We have a capacity for reform and a willingness to grapple with our challenges.
What emerged from these discussions for MBK is that we need to focus a lens
on these existing efforts in a way that more deeply opens a discussion about
the ability of young men of color to succeed in the environments surrounding
them. It is not enough to focus on improving outcomes overall; we must
understand how the young men of color fare in particular and get under the
factors that uniquely hold them back.
So this plan does not generate a new list of programs and activities. Instead
it focuses on the tools, skills and approaches to apply to our most important
reform initiatives, until we know what it takes to break these vicious cycles.
There are three overarching recommendations:
- Data
- Sustainable, Impactful Collaboration
- Systems Change

12

Data

First, we commit to the development of a much more

robust set of shared data. While several Oakland
efforts focus on this, data points are limited and most
often lack disaggregated race and gender detail.
Reporting comes from a multitude of city, county,
state, federal and private and non-profit sources and
information updates are sporadic and incomplete.
The data is episodically published in final chart
form and the numbers underlying the charts are not
available, inhibiting further calculations and analysis.
All this prevents a full picture of the experience of the
young African American, Latino or Asian man, and
minimizes the potential for further engagement and
action through use of the data.
This plan commits to develop a
comprehensive data management
approach which disaggregates each
critical life indicator by race, gender and
age (see below for a discussion of critical
indicators and life course analysis).

The goal will be to make de-identified information

widely available. It will be de-identified to ensure
privacy of individuals is protected. It will be widely
available to ensure its broadest use as a practice tool
for leaders to assess their own performance and be
accountable for results. It will be the foundation upon
which action is taken, to facilitate an outcome driven
system of collective accountability to produce change.
Technical assistance and support to public and private
partners will be critical to success. Many organizations
cannot even access and make use of the data that sits
in the repositories of their own offices. This process
will focus on accessing and sharing that data, and
enabling partners with the capacity to use that data.
Critical Indicators and the Life Course Framework
Over the past several decades, a field of social practice
has emerged, referred to as life course research. In
this interdisciplinary field of study, an individuals life
outcomes from childhood to old age are understood
to be the product of his or her cumulative prior
experiences, as influenced by home, family, community
and work.

13

Outcomes result from personal decisions and actions,

as well from institutional and structural factors.
In fact, Arnold Chandler of Forward
Change Consulting has shaped a life course
framework for understanding outcomes
for boys and men of color specifically. By
exploring data across health, education,
employment and justice outcomes,
Chandler points to disparities from birth
through adulthood for young men of
color, revealing the cumulative, escalating
impact of negative childhood experiences
on later life outcomes.
The framework is also inter-generational. A fathers
ability to parent a child is influenced by the fathers
own history of education, employment and justice
involvement, and the fathers prior experience highly
predicts the neighborhood where the family resides,
and the chances offered to children in the variation
in school quality, for example. Thus the cycle
repeats itself.
Chandlers research also helps us to understand the
intergenerational cycle is not inevitable: At every
step, policy and resource decisions are being made
that either amplify or dampen the impact of macro
forces like structural shifts in the economy. Chandler
maps the critical outcomes across protective factors
those conditions that ameliorate the risks, such as
enrollment in high quality pre-K, and risk factors, such
as over-referral to special education and increased
justice involvement. These life course framework
indicators facilitate an understanding of contributing
forces to inequalities when compiled within a
jurisdiction, and create the foundation for analysis,
discussion and action.
The data project to be undertaken will attempt to
gather as many of these points of protective and
risk factors.

Sustainable, Impactful
Collaboration
Second, opportunities to share progress and discuss
barriers will be created. Groups working on the same
issues now lack effective mechanisms to share
knowledge and leverage opportunities. Individual and
collective accountability is underdeveloped.
We will create a new manner of joint action
to create a community of practice around
collective accountability with the purpose
of sharing knowledge and experiences.
Members of the existing initiatives,
particularly several relevant collective
impact efforts, are crucial to our success
and will be engaged for their leadership,
wisdom and resources.
The data will be our guidepost. We will meet and
explore the trends in the data and honestly discuss
why we are not seeing better results. We will
encourage academics and research partnerships to
explore the data more deeply, and we will identify
actions that can generate better outcomes. Most
importantly, youth will be involved, to strengthen the
integrity in the conversation and build opportunities
for leadership and impact.
We will support collaboration. We will
weave a more effective thread among
our existing initiatives and leverage them
for greater impact, starting with our lead
organizations. We will embed this work in
the Youth Ventures Joint Powers Authority,
which will be tasked with convening
the lead organizations and other key
participants and bringing a focus on clear
outcomes that will be tackled
for improvement.

Systems Change
Third, people and organizations will develop a shared
framework for thinking about, and discussing race
and its particular impact on young men of color as
they approach questions of policy and practice within
their organizations. In Oakland, the ability to talk about
race is a gift we have; yet we acknowledge that the
source of much of the disparity for our young men
is the implicit and unconscious bias that persists in
our society - now harder to see in operation but no
less pernicious in effect. Additionally, well-intentioned
policies that produce disparate outcomes must also
be questioned. We must hold ourselves accountable
not only for good intentions, but also for fair and good
results. To delve into changes required to recognize
how policies are producing inequitable results, a set
of capacity building tools are needed.
MBK Oakland will create an environment for
sustainable evolution of change in programs and
practices, through increased personal and institutional
awareness of implicit bias and structural racism.
We will build the capacity of our public and
private organizations to better understand
how their practices may produce
unintended disparities. We will scour our
policies and practices for what works, and
what doesnt work. We will get under the
behaviors that produce disparities, and
we will use the evidence to propel change
forward. We will engage the challenging
and difficult questions of bias in that effort
and build the capacity of our community to
take this question head on.
We will do this with candor, love and
without blame, and will commit to taking
action to replace in our social construct
positive images of young men of color
as our future, making use of
their full potential.
As we engage in the capacity and skill building
activities we will build a comprehensive
communications campaign focused on an improved
narrative around the strength and potential of our
young men and heightened awareness for making
positive change.
14

Next Steps

Weve identified a lead agency or collective impact organization for each of the MBK
milestones. We will focus our initial implementation of these core recommendations with
these lead organizations, working closely with the Oakland-Alameda County Alliance for
Boys and Men of Color.
A strong and trusted convening group will need to lead the implementation of these core
recommendations, particularly those around collaboration. We are working to build this
capacity at the Youth Ventures Joint Powers Authority (JPA). The JPA is a collaboration of
the County of Alameda, Oakland Unified School District, and the City of Oakland. Its public
sector leaders share responsibility for directing resources that impact the well-being of
families. The JPA works to eliminate health, income and education disparities in Oakland
and other high needs communities to allow all children in Oakland to thrive. Among its
three member agencies, it controls vast amounts of the policies, public systems, data and
resources that impact young men of color.
Thus, it is uniquely positioned to advance these core recommendations to harness the
power of data, strengthen collaboration and change disparity-producing systems.

15

Application of the Core

Priorities to Existing Work
and the MBK Milestones

Our commitment to data, collaboration and capacity building across our community of
practice will hone in on existing initiatives to enhance their success. We will be informed by
the input of the milestone groups and pursue their recommendations of the areas where the
greatest need for improvements are believed to exist.
Because there are so many efforts underway in Oakland, we document in the pages that
follow those initiatives which are the most directly related to the needs of young men of
color. In total, the milestone efforts will use a race and gender framework to delve into
the strategies in place in Oakland in a very structured way that creates awareness and
accountability and have a measurable impact on outcomes for young men of color.

16

Milestone 1

Getting a healthy start and

entering school ready to learn
All children should have a healthy start and enter school ready cognitively, physically,
socially, and emotionally.
The research is clear on the importance of high quality early investments in children. Almost half of Oakland
children are able to attend pre-K and the benefits are clear. These investments drive outcomes from the
point children enter school through workforce readiness. The best way to ensure Oaklands continued
success is for public, private, and community advocates to cooperatively support the needs of Oaklands
most vulnerable children with expanded access to high quality early education and development support.

Lead Indicator:
Percentage of boys of color entering kindergarten ready to learn as measured by Desired
Results Development Plan (DRDP)

17

Lead Organization for

Milestone 1:

Oakland Starting Smart and Strong: Is a collaborative

of funders, community advocates, family service
providers and OUSD working to ensure Kindergarten
readiness for every child in Oakland. Their long term
goal is to create universal access to high quality
early learning experiences that promote healthy
child development.
Other Key Efforts in Milestone 1:
The Oakland Promises Brilliant Baby Strategy: The
Oakland Promise is focused on ensuring every child in
Oakland graduates high school with the expectations,
resources, and skills to complete college and be
successful in the career of their choice. Its Brilliant
Baby strategy will provide support to low-income,
vulnerable mothers to help raise babies who start life
smart and strong and with college as an expectation.
Core elements of the Oakland Promise related to
Milestone 1 are:
Brilliant Baby

College Savings Accounts

Parent Savings Accounts and Savings Match/
Financial Literacy

Kindergarten To College

Universal College Saving Accounts

Family Savings Match
Financial Education and College as
an Expectation

Boys of Color Early Childhood Health and Education

Project: Designed to improve outcomes for Boys of
Color related to health, enrollment in quality early
childhood education programs, kindergarten readiness,
discipline, chronic absence and third grade reading and
math proficiency.

OUSD Pre-K expansion and improvement: While

Oakland has made strides in creating additional Pre-K
options; the goal is to ensure the universal expansion
of Full Day Pre-K. The initiative includes:
Quality Standards (including mental health
assessments and referrals)
Efforts to strengthen enrollment and attendance
Summer camp for Pre-K
Pre-K library story times
Oakland Fund for Children and Youth: The Oakland
Fund for Children and Youth was established in 1996
when Oakland voters passed the Kids First! Initiative to
support direct services to youth under 21 years of age.
The initiative sets aside 3% of the Citys unrestricted
General Fund for these efforts and requires a threeyear strategic plan to guide the allocation of funds.
Alameda County Birth to Success Workgroup:
Alameda County Interagency Childrens Policy
Councils (ICPC) provides tools, guidance and
resources for policy and practice improvements
focused on the wellbeing of children, youth and their
families. A guiding tenet of ICPCs work is primary
prevention, collective impact and equity. ICPC is
focusing on policy areas that improve outcomes for
Birth to Age 8.
First 5 Alameda County: First 5 Alameda County is
an innovative public entity to help fund early care and
education for children ages 0-5. Research shows that
a childs brain develops most dramatically during the
first five years of life. To ensure that more children
are born healthy and reach their full potential, First 5
supports a comprehensive system of early childhood
care that helps prepare kids for success in school and
life. It is supported with funds secured through
a levy which added fifty cents per pack to the sale
of cigarettes.

Recommendations from the MBK Oakland Milestone 1 Workgroup

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Increase parental education, support and engagement, especially of fathers

Increase access to quality early care and education
Ensure access to developmental screenings and appropriate responses
Provide professional development and support for educators and caregivers
Ensure successful transitions at all stages (birth through age 8)
Support state and local policy efforts to increase resources for early education and
promote fair compensation of educators
18

Milestone 2

READING AT GRADE LEVEL

BY THIRD GRADE
All children should be reading at grade level by age 8 the age at which reading to learn
becomes essential.
Educators will tell you until 3rd grade you learn to read, after 3rd grade you read to learn. Proficiency in
reading by 3rd grade is highly predictive of later learning outcomes. The efforts in Milestone 2 will ensure
BMOC are targeted in literacy efforts in schools and the community and given the tools necessary to
reach proficiency.

AFRICAN
AMERICAN

ASIAN

LATINO

Male

WHITE

46.8%

38.9%

83.1%

74.3%

31.4%

25.5%

58.5%

51.1%

40.5%

31.8%

OUSD 3rd Graders Scholastic Reading Inventory Test by

Race and Gender, Spring 2015

ALL

Female

Source: https://dashboards.ousd.org/views/SRIPerformancePublicDashboard/Snapshot?:embed=y&:showShareOptions=true&:displ
ay_count=no&:render=false

Lead Indicators:
Percentage of Oakland Students reading at or above grade level by the end of the third grade.
Note: OUSDs goal is to increase this from 42% (2010-2011) to 85% by the year 2020
Percentage of Long-Term English Language Learners (six or more years in US schools)
reclassified as fluent. Note: OUSDs is to reach 50% by 2020

19

Lead Organizations for

Milestone 2:

Oakland Literacy Coalition: The Oakland Literacy

Coalition convenes a robust network of literacy service
providers and builds their capacity to achieve greater
coordinated impact together towards addressing
the citys literacy challenges. In 2012, the Coalition
launched Oakland Reads 2020, a citywide campaign
aimed at dramatically increasing the number of
Oakland students reading at or above grade-level by
the end of third grade. Oakland Reads 2020 combines
the strength of the Oakland Unified School District, the
City of Oakland, city and county agencies, communitybased organizations, and funders committed to the
progress and success of early learners.
Oakland Unified School District Balanced Literacy
Programs: The school districts commitment is to
a balanced literacy program through a framework
designed to help all students read and write effectively.
The Elementary Literacy Collaborative, launched
as a partnership of OUSD and the Oakland Public
Education Fund, program provides targeted and
intensive intervention to struggling readers in need
of additional support beyond the classroom to reach
grade-level reading proficiency.
Office of English Language Learners and Multilingual
Achievement (ELLMA): The ELLMA Office works
collaboratively with all stakeholders to provide English
Language Learners with equity and access to an
excellent education, ensuring that all ELLs achieve at
high levels in one or more languages and ultimately
graduate college, career and community ready.
(This language is pulled from ELLMA webpage)

Recommendations from the MBK Oakland Milestone 2 Workgroup

1.
2.
3.
4.

Fully implement a community schools model, linking early childhood education

Address causes of chronic absenteeism
Prevent summer learning loss by providing engaging educational opportunities
Create school-wide and classroom-based literary environments geared to engaging BMOC

20

Milestone 3

GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL

READY FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER
All youth should receive a quality high school education and graduate with the skills and
tools needed to advance to postsecondary education or training.
Black and Latino young men in Oakland graduate at 70% and 60% of the rate of White and Asian peers,
respectively. Failure to graduate increases the chances of unemployment, low wage work and increased
justice involvement.
Males Graduating from High School in Oakland Unified
School District (OUSD) by Race and School Year (Rate per 1,000)

2012 - 2013

2011 - 2012

African American

Asian

2013 - 2014

Latino

White

Source: California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) (2013). Retrieved from: http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/CohortRates/
CRbyGender.aspx?Agg=D&Topic=Graduates&TheYear=2011-12&cds=01612590000000&RC=District&SubGroup=Ethnic/Racial
Disparity Index: Shows the experience of outcomes by race compared to whites, where whites are set as 1.

Lead Indicators:
Cohort graduation rate. Note: OUSDs goal is to reach 85% by 2020
Percentage of high school students in Linked Learning Pathways. Note: OUSDs goal is 80%
overall and 100% for rising sophomores by 2020
Percentage of African-American and Latino males with no out-of-school suspension
during the year. Note: OUSDs goal is 97% by 2020
Percent of HS graduates proficient in A-G requirements
21

Lead Organization for

Milestone 3:

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD): OUSD is

committed to ensuring that every student thrives.
Several of its initiatives are focused on ensuring
quality seats in high schools and ensuring that every
student graduates prepared for college, community
and career. These specific initiatives include:
Other Key Efforts in Milestone 3:
Linked Learning Initiative: Linked Learning is
transforming secondary education in Oakland into a
personally relevant, wholly engaging experience for
all levels of students, exposing them to previously
unimagined college and career opportunities. Linked
Learning is a flexible approach bringing together
college prep academics, demanding technical
education, support services, and work-based learning
that, together, help prepare students for success
in college, career and life. Core elements of linked
learning are:
Rigorous Academics

Full Service Community Schools Approach: Full

Service Community Schools serve the whole child;
they invite the community in and extend boundaries
into the community to accelerate academic
achievement and overall wellness; they share
responsibility for student, family, and community
success. While every community school is unique to
its school community, all Oakland community schools
have a consistent set of foundation, program, and
community elements at the core:
Health and mental health screening
and follow-up

Re-entry pathways for justice involved youth

Access to substance abuse treatment
Focused digital literacy

Linked Learning is Professional Development:

Investment in professional development is a
recognized need in improving educators capacity to
successfully connect with young men of color.
Implicit bias training

Professional development in culturally

responsive teaching practices

Integrated Student Supports

Work Based Learning

Career Education Sequence

Recommendations from the MBK Oakland Milestone 3 Workgroup

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Increase digital literacy and low-cost broadband

Offer comprehensive college readiness strategies
Expand technology pathways
Offer career counseling and exposure
Expand trauma prevention; health and mental health screening, and referral
Increase access to substance abuse treatment
Reduce suspension and expulsion from school through restorative justice approach
Eliminate barriers for youth who have dropped out of school
Expand pathways for re-entry to education for the formerly incarcerated
22

Milestone 4

COMPLETING POST-SECONDARY
EDUCATION OR JOB TRAINING
Every American should have the option to attend postsecondary education and receive
the education and training needed for the quality jobs of today and tomorrow.
In todays economy, achieving employment with a sustainable wage is greatly facilitated by a college degree
or technical skills training highly relevant to the local job market. College enrollment and persistence is key
and alignment of job training with emerging private sector opportunities is critical to success.
Male Graduates with A-G Completion for UC/CSU Entrance
in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) by Race and School Year (Rate per 1,000)

2012 - 2013

2011 - 2012

African American

Asian

2013 - 2014

Latino

White

Source: California Department of Education. (2015). 12th Grade Graduates Completing All Courses Required for UC and/or CSU Entrance.
Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/z8blm94

Lead Indicators:
Percentage of young men of color who have graduated college five years after high school.
Note: the Oakland Promises goal is to triple the number of OUSD college graduates
between 2015 and 2025
Percentage of African-American, Latino, Special Education, English Language Learner (ELL),
and Foster Youth students who meet the California College admission requirements for
a 4-Year university or college. Note: OUSD goal is 60% by 2020
23

Lead Organization for

Milestone 4:

Oakland Promise: Is focused on ensuring every child in

Oakland graduates high school with the expectations,
resources, and skills to complete college and be
successful in the career of their choice. Oakland
Promise will provide support to low-income, vulnerable
mothers to help raise babies who start life smart
and strong and with college as an expectation. Core
elements of the Oakland Promise particularly relevant
to this milestone are:
Future Centers
School based centers for college
and career planning

College Scholarships

Financial advisement to maximize scholarships

Needs based scholarships with service supports

College Completion Support

Peer and professional support for

college persistence

Other Key Efforts in Milestone 4:

OUSD Cradle to Career Plan
Investments in work development and college
and career counseling specialists (Linked
Learning office and the ECCO program)

Dual enrollment /credit expansion with

Peralta Community College (Office of Strategic
Partnerships)

OUSD AAMA and Latino Males Initiative join the

goal of youth leadership with college and career
readiness. The Firefighter Jr. Academy pathway
with Oakland High is embedded in their work
based learning continuum
Oakland Unite: Reengagement work focused on
improving youth employment and second chance
funding for providers to focus on at risk BMOC

Recommendations from the MBK Oakland Milestone 4 Workgroup

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Offer dual enrollment in community college

Employ evidence-based models of academic engagement for underprepared students
Adopt comprehensive wrap around service models for high risk students
Increase community college curriculum consistency with K-12 school schools
Expand incentives for men of color to choose education careers
Expand Linked Learning Initiative pathways
Reduce student debt
24

Milestone 5

SUCCESSFULLY ENTERING
THE WORKFORCE
Anyone who wants a job should be able to get a job that allows them to support
themselves and their families.
Oakland is growing and developing. It is important for BMOC to see opportunities for themselves in
the Oakland of tomorrow. Oakland can ensure BMOC have a role in this growth by providing additional
pathways into the labor market that offer meaningful employment opportunities.

Disconnected Youth Ages 16-24 in Oakland, CA by Race

AFRICAN
AMERICAN

LATINO

WHITE

ALL

Source: Lewis, K. & Burd-Sharps, S. (2015). Zeroing In on Place and Race: Youth Disconnection in Americas Cities. Retrieved from: http://ssrc-static.
s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/MOA-Zeroing-In-Final.pdf
Disconnected youth are young people ages 16 to 24 who are neither working nor in school.

Lead Indicator:
Percent young men of color age 16-24 employed or in school

25

Lead Organization for

Milestone 5:

City Workforce Development Board (WDB): The

Oakland Workforce Development Board (WDB)
oversees the federally-funded employment and
training programs and services in Oakland.
These programs and services help job seekers
gain employment and connect businesses with a
qualified workforce.

Other Key Efforts in Milestone 5:

Alameda County Social Services: Summer and
Afterschool Youth Employment and Education
Program for Alameda County child welfare involved
youth and at-risk probation youth.
Classrooms 2 Careers: City of Oakland Summer Jobs
and Year-round Internship program, employing 1,800
youth every summer.
Oakland Unite: Youth Employment and Reentry
Training and Employment Services.
Opportunity Youth Initiative: In 2013, the OaklandAlameda County Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
was selected by the Aspen Institute as a site for the
Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund (OYIF) initiative,
a national collective impact initiative focused on
education and career employment for opportunity
youth (16-24-year-olds who are not in school and
not employed).

Recommendations from the MBK Oakland Milestone 5 Workgroup

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Link GED programs to college or training

Enact growth and opportunity agenda that will boost employment opportunities
Increase apprenticeship options
Explore entrepreneurialism strategies and seek capital for micro enterprise investment
Expand Summer Youth Employment opportunities
Expand access to mentoring and business sector networks
Improve financial literacy
26

Milestone 6

KEEPING KIDS ON TRACK AND

GIVING THEM A SECOND CHANCE
All youth and young adults should be safe from violent crime; and individuals who
are confined should receive the education, training, and treatment they need for a
second chance.
More than in any other domain, African American youth are overrepresented in the justice system. The
justice system should make every effort, consistent with public safety, to avoid bringing young people into
the system when they come into contact with them. Individuals who serve time should be given second
chances, and should receive the education, training, and treatment they need to succeed.
Oakland Juvenile Misdemeanor Arrests by Race 2012 - 2014 (Rate per 1,000)

2012

2013

African American

Latino

2014

Other

White

Source: State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General (2014). Monthly Arrest and Citation Register. Retrieved on December 16,
2015 from: https://oag.ca.gov/crime/cjsc/stats/arrests

Lead Indicators:
Number of young men of color who are victims of violent crime
Recidivism rate for young men of color
Number of young men of color incarcerated

27

Lead Organization for

Milestone 6:

Oakland Comprehensive Community Safety

Partnership: The Oakland Comprehensive
Community Safety Plan is designed to engage the
entire community in an effort to eliminate community
violence, and to engage in prevention activity
tackling the social determinants of adverse life
outcomes. To accomplish this, the plan seeks to align
outcomes and efforts of all stakeholders to serve
the families who are most impacted by violence in
their neighborhoods and homes. The Partnership is a
group of public and private sector stakeholders who
monitor plan progress.

Other Key Efforts in Milestone 6:

Safe Neighborhoods
Oakland CeaseFire and Response Teams for
Aggravated Assaults this evidence based
program has experienced success in Oakland
and there are plans to expand it further
Intensive case management and training
and employment

for high risk youth

for young adults returning from incarceration

Restorative City
Oakland Police Department

Community policing
Personnel Rights Education
Police stops courtesy explanations

Restorative justice practices in schools

and communities
Trauma-informed protocols
Restore sense of place in high stressor
communities

Recommendations from the MBK Oakland Milestone 6 Workgroup

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Improve community/police relations

Reduce arrests through de-escalation and offer accountable alternatives to arrest
Provide mental health and substance abuse screening and referral
Reform the juvenile justice system through alternatives to detention and placement
Provide structured employment opportunities for men discharged from jail and prison
Reinforce ban-the-box policy in city hiring and encourage private employers to do the same

28

Conclusion

In 2010, as part of a commitment to improving outcomes for students in our city, Oakland Unified
School District created the nations first Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA). We
understood that improving school outcomes required the kind of focused attention to disparity
data, collaborative accountability and system reform that this report espouses. And we have been
doing just that within our school system. That effort has generated great success for our young
men, for instance, since 2010 in a 12% reduction in suspensions and a 40% reduction in arrests,
and increases in the proportion of teachers who themselves are men of color to 11.3% of teachers
district-wide. This innovative effort is a leading example of Oaklands willingness to confront racial
equity locally, and be a national model for change.
Through the efforts outlined in this report, we intend to bring that very approach across our
agencies and institutions to tackle disparities in the full range of services impacting young men of
color. We will do this comprehensively, in the manner of AAMA and other efforts like it. Because
we are Oaklanders, we will bring our full heart and soul to the work. We know it can work and we
know how hard it will be. We can and will make it happen.
Special Thanks
We would like to extend our gratitude to the consultants from Bloomberg Associates and PolicyLink.
Lastly, this report would have not been possible without the commitment and consideration of the residents of Oakland.