Celebrating 30 Years of Putting Oakland Kids First
For three decades, we have developed student leaders to run community organizing campaigns, shape public policy, launch innovative programs, and build youth power in Oakland, CA.
How Youth Organizing Drives Change
We believe that we should all be involved in the governance of our communities, but youth are often locked out of decisions that directly impact their lives. Since 1996, Oakland Kids First has set out to change that by teaching youth how to lead, organize, imagine, and build a path toward a more just community and world. What we’ve witnessed as a result over the last 30 years is that when young people receive genuine support from adult allies, harness their experiential expertise, speak bravely, and organize their communities – real change is possible.
Students Engaged
Over 20,000 OUSD High School students have participated in OKF’s youth leadership development and organizer training programs, care management, peer mentor training, academic navigation workshops, and after school college, career and community readiness programs and events.
Youth Impacted
From winning a city budget set aside to fund children and youth services to winning voting rights for 16 and 17-year olds OUSD School Board Elections (and many campaigns in between), OKF has used organizing to improve material conditions for hundreds of thousands of Oakland youth.
Distributed to Youth
Through stipends, internships, participant support, and relief fund assistance, OKF has put $3,027,305 directly in the pockets of young people in 30 years, expanding economic opportunity and improving financial literacy for Oakland Youth.
Reflections
Roxy Franco
Former OKF Lead Organizer Roxy Franco helped build the Youth Organizing Council, Free Supper for Hungry Minds, the Student Justice Platform, and Oakland Youth Vote.
Emily Sanchez
Former REAL HARD member Emily was part of Oakland Kids First throughout all four years at Fremont High School, growing as a leader and sharing thoughtful reflections on her experience.
Paul Brekke-Miesner
Co-founder of the Kids First! Coalition Paul Brekke-Miesner reflects on the origins of Kids First and the organizing that helped bring OKF to life, securing dedicated city funding for Oakland children and youth.
How It Started
Oakland Kids First began with a simple but powerful idea: young people should have a real voice in the decisions that shape their education.
Explore the chapters below to see how that idea grew into decades of youth leadership and organizing efforts, school-based support, and citywide change.
1996–1999
Launching the Kids First! Initiative
Kids First! was founded in 1996 as a coalition of multi-racial youth and community-based organizations who created, gathered signatures for, and organized to pass the Kids First! Initiative- Oakland Children’s Trust Fund.
That campaign won a set aside of 2.5% of the city budget annually to fund programming for children and youth. After the measure passed, the coalition spent the next few years focused on ensuring it was implemented with fidelity. That process led to the creation of the Oakland Fund for Children & Youth (OFCY), which has distributed around $350 million to local organizations serving Oakland children and youth.
2000–2005
Organizing for Student Voice & Power
Following the success of Kids First! Initiative, the coalition morphed into a community based organization committed to organizing Oakland youth, and hiredKim Miyoshi as its first Executive Director in 2000. Oakland Kids First became a 501(c)3 in 2002. This period involved youth leaders from various OUSD schools creating the REAL HARD (Representing Educated Active Leaders Having A Righteous Dream) program. Those student organizers led campaigns against racist standardized tests, for free public transportation for youth, to strengthen student government, create districtwide standards for meaningful student engagement, and advance other student-created policy recommendations.
2005–2012
Building Out Campus Based Programs
OKF’s REAL HARD program began setting up campus-based chapters at several of OUSD’s comprehensive public high schools to be able to reach more students.
At this time, OKF helped fight for Measure OO to expand city funding for children and youth from 2.5% to 3% of the general fund, helped advance the A-G for All policy, and partnered to establish OUSD’s Meaningful Student and Family Engagement office.
They also launched a campaign that sought to convince OUSD to hire more counselors. When that campaign failed, youth decided to establish PASS-2, a peer-to-peercounseling program that helped students navigate high school and prepare for graduation. Until the program was sunsetted in 2021, OKF trained over 1,400 student mentors who facilitated multiple workshops a year for over 11,000 OUSD 9th graders.
2012–2016
Changing School Climate from Within
REAL HARD youth leaders felt that many of their organizing wins were not being felt on the ground in their schools, so they shifted from focusing on policy to focusing on place. Their emphasis was on transforming school culture by engaging their peers in co-creating and upholding shared values to create learning environments they wanted to be a part of, rather than defaulting to punitive codes of conduct.
They worked with their peers to create schoolwide Codes of Respect at all comprehensive high schools. These were not traditional school rules linked to punitive measures, but rather aspirations accompanied with cultural currency and student stores that incentivized upholding the shared values. Youth organizers held roles as Culture Keepers and OKF partnered with teachers through a cohort model to transform school culture and climate.
At the same time, OKF’s Meaningful Student and Family Engagement initiative brought over 700 student and family members to the table as data-informed decision-makers for budgets, policies and priorities at their schools and through district LCAP budget processes.
2017–Present
Deepening School Connection & Expanding Reach
Oakland Kids First expanded its school-based presence when Castlemont High School selected OKF as lead agency for its extended day programs and to serve as their core community school partner after successfully providing youth leadership and family engagement programs.
Since then, we have established and expanded youth and family programming and work-based learning opportunities. OKF partners with Castlemont to run a one acre farm on campus and has been building out a care management program.
These programs are designed to support the myriad needs of East Oakland youth, while exploring ways to recruit them into broader community organizing efforts.
2017–Present
Students Lead Campaigns for Change
Every year REAL HARD youth organizers would inevitably need to pause their site-based campaigns to shift attention to annual budget cuts, school closures, and other OUSD crises. We established the Youth Organizing Council (YOC) in 2018 to focus all year round on district and citywide issues, so REAL HARD could continue to focus their organizing at their school campuses. The YOC convenes more experienced organizers from all 5 chapters of the REAL HARD program to collaborate on shared citywide goals, gain a deeper political education and organizing skillset, and develop plans to grow a broad student base across campuses for regional campaigns.
Youth leaders organized across schools and communities, supported teacher strike solidarity, expanded free supper access through the Free Supper for Hungry Minds campaign, advocated for restorative justice and school safety, launched the Student Justice Platform during the pandemic, and used creative storytelling through Town Force 1 to address the impacts of gentrification and displacement on their schools.
2020–2024
From Measure QQ to the First Youth Vote
After youth organizers experienced elected board members and adult allies acknowledge their advocacy, but failing to follow through on commitments or student campaign demands, OKF youth organizers chose to champion the expansion of democracy to include teen voters in local school board elections with the goal of building political electoral voting power. Youth wanted to ensure OUSD decision-makers are accountable to the constituents most impacted by their budget and policy choices – students.
Between 2019 and 2020, youth organizers researched and co-authored youth vote legislation, formed a coalition of supporting organizations, and ran a campaign to support their measure. Their efforts culminated in a unanimous city council vote to place the youth vote measure on the ballot as Measure QQ. Youth conducted phone banking, promoted the measure on social media and engaged with local and national press to gain public support of Oakland Youth Vote- all during the pandemic. Then in November, 2020, Measure QQ made history when 67% of Oakland voters voted Yes, granting eligible 16 and 17-year olds the right to vote in local school board elections.
Since then, OKF has continued working in coalition with five organizations, the Oakland Unified School District’s legal team, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Registrar of Voters (RoV) to ensure Measure QQ is implemented with fidelity. The OYV Coalition is partnering with the county, city and district to institutionalize civic engagement, voter pre-registration, and inter-system coordination.
2021–Now
Deepening Support To Meet Individual Needs
While organizing to shift conditions and improve education for all students, OKF realized we needed to better address and support students as they navigate everyday school challenges and economic pressures.
We launched Castle Cares to provide one on one care management that includes check-ins, academic progress reviews, attendance improvement strategies, skill development workshops and connections to jobs and social services.
We developed a Student Relief Fund to provide cash assistance and other types of support for youth facing urgent crises.
Today & Beyond
Building What Comes Next
Today, Oakland Kids First remains committed to developing youth leaders to imagine and build a future rooted in possibility and community power. We help youth navigate unjust conditions, develop alternative approaches to meet community needs, and build the power to transform systems to better serve Oaklanders.
This is a course correction away from being an educational justice organization back to our roots as an org focused on advocating with and for youth on a host of intersectional issues that impact their quality of life.
It also signals a shift towards building an intergenerational component to our work so that we can sustain longer campaigns, engage transitional aged youth, and support youth in joining broader fights to improve their material conditions.
Why This Work Matters
When students launched the Oakland Youth Vote campaign, they adopted the motto, “No decisions about us without us!” We believe that when young people are part of the decision-making and governance of the systems that impact them, we all stand to benefit.
Unfortunately power is not something readily given up by those who have it so we support youth in sharpening their insights, developing their leadership, and running the organizing campaigns necessary to be at the table rather than on the menu
Support the Next Chapter
For 30 years, Oakland Kids First has helped resource, support, and develop youth leaders and organizers to strengthen our communities. As we look ahead, your support is necessary to help us sustain this work, reach more students, and build youth power in Oakland.
If you believe students should have a real say in the systems that impact them, please consider supporting Oakland Kids First.
