Mission & History
Mission & History
Mission
Oakland Kids First (OKF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to increase youth voice, leadership and power to create engaging and equitable public schools where all students learn and lead. Each school year, OKF provides over 600 Oakland youth with safe spaces and the skills needed to organize to positively transform their school system, while providing services and supports for students to navigate existing learning conditions and access postsecondary success.
We believe youth are the experts of their own experience, and therefore are equipped to evaluate, innovate and govern the institutions that are supposed to serve them. As Kenny, one OKF leader at Oakland Tech explained, “Unless you’re inside the school house, people can guess and read statistics, but they don’t actually know what’s happening or what issues inside of schools are. Youth experience OUSD schools every day and have insights into how to lead efforts to solve problems.” OKF prepares and empowers students to draw from their experiences to improve educational equity in schools in order to build power for all Oakland students.
history
Founded in 1996 as a coalition of community based organizations, Oakland Kids First has been partnering with Oakland students on systems change and organizing campaigns to meet the needs of low-income, BIPOC youth for nearly three decades.
Originally, the coalition came together to organize and pass the Kids First! Initiative as ballot measure K in 1996. That campaign won a 2.5% set aside of the City of Oakland’s budget, and amended the city charter in order to fund services for children and youth – now known as the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY). OKF went on to lead organizing efforts to renew and increase OFCY funding to 3% of the city budget. This multi-million dollar fund is the cornerstone of our organization, the inspiration for our name, and a demonstration of Oakland Kids First’s commitment to youth power-building, economic inclusion and racial equity.
In 2002, OKF evolved from a campaign coalition into a nonprofit organization. Since our founding, we have trained and partnered with thousands of low-income BIPOC students in youth leadership development, organizing and community school programs. Over the years, OKF has continuosly evolved by assessing student needs, reviewing equity data and sharing decision-making power with young people when it comes to our programs, campaigns and services.
The REAL HARD youth leadership development program is OKF’s longest standing program. Youth in REAL HARD engage in cycles of participatory action research to identify educational equity challenges and to prepare youth to lead efforts that transform school culture and climate in order to improve public education in Oakland. Examples of REAL HARD youth contributions to OKF include a student-created academic mentoring program called Peers Advising Students to Succeed (PASS-2), creating Codes of Respect across high school campuses, and authoring a Student Justice Platform.
OKF has an intergenerational organizing approach and has worked directly with teachers and families of students with the goals of building youth power and transforming education systems to better serve students. Examples over the years include:
- Facilitating a Teacher Cohort to incorporate meaningful student engagement opportunities, restorative practices and shared facilitation with youth into classes
- Co-teaching Peers Advising Students to Succeed during the school day at multiple high school campuses to prepare 10-12th graders to facilitate academic success workshops for 100% of their 9th grade peers
- Leading Meaningful Student and Family Engagement forums to integrate student and family input into school site plans, policies and budget priorities
- Creating an A-G credited course called “Civic Engagement and Social Movements” that can be taught at any high school across the state of California.
OKF empowers youth to be creative in their approach to tackling challenges in their school communities. For example, in 2020, we published our first comic book Town Force 1: And the Battle for East Oakland featuring 4 real students from our programs at Castlemont high school. The youth and program staff collaborated with Bay Area based visual storyteller Wahab Algarmi and local illustrator Jimmie Robinson to tell the story of four students, Essai Taleb, Natalie Zapien, Jun-Sang Kim and Heavenly Simpson as they fought gentrification in East Oakland and saved their high school from closure.
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Victories and Milestones
With a rich history spanning decades, Oakland Kids First has been empowering youth since our founding as a community coalition to successfully navigate and transform inequitable school conditions.
Every year, young changemakers in our programs immerse themselves in participatory action research and then take the lead to organize campaigns that make public education more equitable and engaging for all Oakland students.
For an exciting journey through our inspiring youth-led campaigns and victories, see the timeline below.
Student Justice Platform
OUSD “Supporting the Implementation of Measure QQ in High Schools Resolution”
Reparations for Black Students Resolution
Oakland Youth Vote - Measure QQ
Endorsed the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland School Police Department
Student Relief Fund Established
Town Force 1: And the Battle for East Oakland Comic Book Published
Free Supper for Hungry Minds
Youth Leadership and Organizing During Teacher Strike
Youth Organizing Council (YOC) Established
Justice for Oakland Students (J4OS) Coalition Formed
Castlemont Community School Initiatives Launched
Meaningful Student and Family Engagement (MSFE)
Civic Engagement and Social Movements course A-G credited
Code of Respect Campaigns
A-G for All policy passed
Measure 00: increased OFCY funding
PASS-2 program expands
MSE Collaborative and Standards Established
PASS-2 Peer Academic Counseling Program Created
Student Power Resolution
Student Voices Count Report
Bus Pass Campaign
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
OPD Out of Schools Campaign
Kids First! Initiative
Victories and Milestones
With a rich history spanning decades, Oakland Kids First has been empowering youth since our founding as a community coalition to successfully navigate and transform inequitable school conditions.
Every year, young changemakers in our programs immerse themselves in participatory action research and then take the lead to organize campaigns that make public education more equitable and engaging for all Oakland students.
For an exciting journey through our inspiring youth-led campaigns and victories, see the timeline below.
Student Justice Platform
Youth leaders researched priorities to improve the quality of public schools in OUSD and developed a Student Justice Platform.
OUSD “Supporting the Implementation of Measure QQ in High Schools Resolution”
The Oakland Youth Vote (OYV) coalition partnered with school board members to pass a resolution that ensures high schools prepare newly enfranchised teen voters to participate in school board elections.
Reparations for Black Students Resolution
The Justice for Oakland Students (J4OS) coalition - which OKF is a member of - organized Black students and families to inform demands included in the Reparations for Black Students Resolution that passed with board approval, and continues to advocate for implementation of this policy.
Oakland Youth Vote - Measure QQ
Youth leaders partnered with Oakland City Council to author and advocate for Oakland Youth Vote, which advanced to a public vote as a ballot measure in 2020, passing with 67% of the vote. Oakland Youth Vote changes the law to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in local school board elections.
Endorsed the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland School Police Department
OKF endorsed “The George Floyd Resolution” that was developed from the Black Organizing Project (BOP)’s Peoples’ Plan for Police Free Schools (2019), to eliminate the school police department and use those resources to support schools.
Student Relief Fund Established
OKF established a Student Relief Fund during the pandemic to provide students in our programs with financial assistance and connections to resources during periods of unexpected hardship.
Town Force 1: And the Battle for East Oakland Comic Book Published
4 youth leaders partnered with a local artist a local artist Jimmie Robinson to tell the true story of their fight against gentrification and to save their East Oakland high school in the comic book Town Force 1 comics are available on our shop page.
Free Supper for Hungry Minds
OKF’s Youth Organizing Council and REAL HARD youth leaders rallied to reinstate the free supper program when it was cut due to a budget crisis by securing $3.6 million from a sweetened beverage tax and winning a $250k commitment from OUSD to not just continue, but to grow free supper from 32 to 52 schools.
Youth Leadership and Organizing During Teacher Strike
Students across OKF programs mobilized hundreds of their peers, spoke at OEA rallies, and marched in solidarity with their teachers during a strike following budget cuts to advocate for better pay and improved learning conditions.
Youth Organizing Council (YOC) Established
OKF established a cross-campus Youth Organizing Council to grow a broader student base and organize for regional campaigns.
Justice for Oakland Students (J4OS) Coalition Formed
Justice for Oakland Students (J4OS) coalition was formed as a multi-racial, intergenerational movement-building vehicle for students, parents and educators to work together to improve educational justice in Oakland.
Castlemont Community School Initiatives Launched
Castlemont high school selected Oakland Kids First to serve as lead agency of their 21st Century funded extended day programs, allowing OKF to serve as a core community school partner on campus.
Meaningful Student and Family Engagement (MSFE)
OKF’s pilot MSFE Initiative had a goal of increasing educational equity by incorporating the needs, priorities, and solutions of the students and their families into shared decision making for school site plans, school budgets and district budgets.
Civic Engagement and Social Movements course A-G credited
OKF developed the first leadership course curriculum to receive A-G credit called “Civic Engagement and Social Movements” so youth leaders could both receive “G” elective credit while also contributing to school improvement campaigns.
Code of Respect Campaigns
REAL HARD youth leaders worked with students, teachers and administrators to research and develop shared Codes of Respect that were adopted school wide and provided an alternative to punitive disciplinary practices.
A-G for All policy passed
OKF partnered with the district to align OUSD’s graduation requirements with UC/CSU college entry requirements to ensure that all high school student graduates in Oakland would graduate with an option to attend a college or university.
Measure 00: increased OFCY funding
OKF spearheaded the Kids First! 2 Coalition that successfully led a ballot measure campaign to increase the annual set aside of city revenue from 2.5% to 3% for distribution through Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY).
PASS-2 program expands
The Peers Advising Students to Succeed (PASS-2) program was created by students as one solution to address the shortage of counselors in high schools by empowering youth to provide academic mentoring and information to peers so all students could graduate.
MSE Collaborative and Standards Established
OKF worked in coalition to advocate for the district to establish a Meaningful Student Engagement (MSE) office and collaborative, and in 2007 helped to author a Meaningful Student Engagement Standards policy that was adopted district-wide.
PASS-2 Peer Academic Counseling Program Created
Youth leaders responded to the shortage of counselors in Oakland high schools by developing their own program PASS-2 that trained students as academic mentors who provided workshops for 9th grade students to help them navigate into and through high school successfully.
Student Power Resolution
As part of a Student Power Campaign, OKF drafted a resolution to re-define the role of student government representatives for high schools in order to provide structured skill development, shared decision making power and opportunities for students to engage in school improvement efforts.
Student Voices Count Report
REAL HARD youth organizers collected and analyzed data, then released a blueprint of youth created policy recommendations to address the findings of over 1,000 Student Report Cards.
Bus Pass Campaign
Youth organizers led the Youth Bus Campaign to provide free bus passes for all Oakland middle and high school students after organizer identified that paying for transportation to attend school was a financial barrier for low-income students and families. The Youth Bus Campaign reduced the price of monthly youth bus passes almost in half.
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Oakland Kids First officially changed names from the Kids First! Coalition and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
OPD Out of Schools Campaign
Youth led efforts to reduce the Oakland police department’s presence in schools to reduce punitive discipline practices, disrupt the school to prison pipeline and improve school culture and climate.
Kids First! Initiative
Oakland Kids First was formed as a community coalition advocating for the passing of Measure K: Kids First! Initiative, which won and set aside city funding for programs and services for children and youth, which is now distributed through the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY).
