All posts in College Access

100 Black Men of the Bay Area, Inc.
Athletic Scholars Advancement Program
Bayview Hunters Point Y & College Track
The Greene Scholars Program (of the CA Alliance of African American Educators)
Choose College Educational Foundation, Inc.
East Oakland Youth Development Center
Juma Ventures
M³ Foundation
Meritus College Fund
Berkeley Scholars to Cal (a program of Stiles Hall Community Service Agency)
Student Program for Academic and Athletic Transitioning
Summer Search
The Hannah Project
Young Scholars Program

College Bound Brotherhood grant recipient, Young Scholars Program, gets some awesome press coverage after returning home from visiting 17 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

To read more … click here!

Be sure to check out the upcoming Bay Area screening and discussion of “Beyond the Bricks,” an important documentary that has been making the rounds on the East Coast. More information is available here.

Yesterday, a group of staff from the Kapor Center partner organizations participated in a Business to Business challenge meeting with BUILD, a non-profit that runs the nation’s largest youth incubator with the mission to use entrepreneurship to excite and propel disengaged, low-income students through high school to college success.  Groups of BUILD students provided an overview of their business teams, the business ideas they were promoting, an overview of what they’ve done at BUILD so far and what the program consists of, and an overview of their career aspirations and the role college plays in achieving their dreams.

These high school sophomores were quite impressive, having created three amazing businesses to produce lego jewelry, travel pillows, and custom t-shirts.  They also provided us with professional resumes and business cards.  Following the presentations, the Kapor Center staff spoke of their college-to-career paths and provided advice to the students regarding their own academic and career goals.  It was quite an inspirational event.

BUILD will be hosting their Annual Youth Business Plan Competitions in May where the program’s 9th grade student teams of 3-5 members present their innovative business plans (including financial statements) in two rounds of competition to a panel of prestigious judges. The winning team receives a cash prize and automatic acceptance into BUILD’s second year program, the Youth Business Incubator.  You will be wowed by the youths’ charisma and ingenuity!  If you’d like to attend the Business Plan Competitions, see the information below:

12th Annual Peninsula Youth Business Plan Competition

Saturday, May 14, 2011
12:00pm-4:00pm
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Bishop Auditorium
518 Memorial Way
Stanford, CA 94305

5th Annual Oakland Youth Business Plan Competition

Sunday, May 22, 2011
12:00pm-4:00pm
UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
Arthur Andersen Auditorium
2220 Piedmont Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94720-1900

College Bound Brotherhood Graduation Celebration
Wednesday, June 8
The Oakland Museum

Are you a graduating black male student who is heading to college in the fall or know someone who is? Contact jdavis@mkf.org and be recognized at the celebration!

Through the College Bound Brotherhood, the Kapor Foundation seeks to expand the number of young black men in the Bay Area who are prepared for a college education.

More information coming soon!

For Oakland’s African-American Boys, a Hopeful Statistic
by Katy Murphy
Oakland Tribune
April 7, 2011

A recent school district analysis revealed that about 400 elementary schoolchildren in Oakland Unified tested perfectly in math or reading on the 2010 California Standards Test. Twenty-three of them were African-American boys.

See the full article here.

See Letter to the Editor here.

Photo of student Amir Ealy by Trib staff Laura Oda

Harsh rain and wild wind were not enough to stop the first annual Black & Proud to Be College Bound conference. 180-plus tenacious students and parents from across the Bay Area made the trek to San Francisco State University to take part in the conference.  The day kicked off with the world-premiere of “Rebound: Get Yours” The Justin Davis Story, an 8 minute biopic that illustrates the importance of obtaining a college degree.  The video set the tone for what the day was all about.

The morning plenary continued with words from the board of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, Mitchell Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, Ph. D.  They shared their sentiments on the importance of the conference and their decision to invest specifically in the area of young black males.   Conference participants then heard from Dr. Kenneth Montiero, Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, Walter Robinson, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of Admissions at University of California, Berkeley, and lastly, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Speaker pro Tempore.  Collectively, the speakers emphasized the importance of developing self-awareness, striving for success, and building a cohort of peers that will support, encourage, and work with you to become college-ready.

The morning was followed by several engaging workshops, ranging from obtaining financial aid to the role education plays in developing and maintaining  successful career. Participants reconvened in the afternoon for a raffling of gift cards and two Flip cameras.  The event ended with the CEO of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, Cedric Brown,  reiterating the important messages from the morning speakers and asking each young man to sign a pledge (see below) committing themselves to becoming college-ready. It was truly an epic day!

COLLEGE BOUND BROTHERHOOD PLEDGE

I am Black and proud to be college bound.
I pledge to join the 1000 other brothers on the pathway to college.
I will be focused and determined, courageous and tenacious.
I pledge to set goals that I will not only reach but surpass.
I pledge not to procrastinate when there is work to be done.
I will find and use resources that will help me to be prepared.
I will follow these values in my pursuit of higher education and
other opportunities of a lifetime.

(Written by young men from Bay Area high schools)

photo source: Derek Lassiter

Registration is still open.  Click here to get registered!