Welcome to Oakland Kids First!

The mission of Oakland Kids First (OKF) is to increase youth voice, leadership, and power and create engaging and equitable public schools where all students learn and achieve. Founded in 1995 by a multi-racial coalition of youth serving community based organizations, Oakland Kids First provides hundreds of young people each year with the skills and opportunities to advance safe and caring school cultures, advocate for their needs and priorities, and improve educational equity, racial justice, and academic outcomes for low-income students of color. We offer programs that include leadership development, peer academic mentoring, enrichment, wellness, restorative justice, and youth organizing.

We believe students are the experts of their own experience and therefore equipped to evaluate, innovate and govern the institutions that are supposed to serve them. OKF has supported youth organizing and campaign work for over twenty years and is proud to stand with youth organizers and adult allies invested in justice for students in Oakland, CA.