For years, EBASE and many other groups have been working to make the Port of Oakland a place that is accountable, and creates quality jobs, clean air and real opportunities for Oaklanders.  We have an immediate opportunity to make Oakland a People’s Port as the City Council considers a jobs policy that would ensure the massive expansion of port activities onto the former Army Base leads to thousands of good paying jobs for Oakland residents.  The City will consider this policy on December 13.

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The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) will host a free webinar covering the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  Each year, the state of California ranks in the top three nationally with the number of FAFSA applications processed and awarded. Thus far in 2011, there have been 2,220,110 applications awarded.

Please do not miss this opportunity to learn more about FAFSA, the process, and the application changes for 2012-13.

Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST/11:00 a.m. PST
Duration: 60 minutes
Cost: FREE
Register now
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Originally developed by Kim Klein, one of the nation’s best known and loved fundraising trainers, Show Me the Money: Nonprofits Talking Taxes workshops are now being offered to nonprofits throughout the state through CompassPoint and the Building Movement Project , with generous support from several foundations. This collaboration is now bringing you two FREE opportunities to talk about the common good with internationally-known fundraising consultant Kim Klein! All are welcome, whether or not you have participated in Nonprofits Talking Taxes before.

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Since we keep getting inquiries about whether or not we’ve moved, I wanted to clarify – it’s coming! At this time last year; we had a mural unveiling at the new Kapor Center building in Oakland, which features the always-dazzling work of Favianna Rodriguez. We wanted to mark our presence on the corner of 22nd and Broadway and share our excitement about moving to Oakland. But we haven’t moved yet. The building will first undergo a complete and thorough renovation. We hope to move in June 2013.

Relax; you didn’t miss your invitation to the Open House.

This Thursday at 6:00pm, local grant recipient Inner City Advisors (ICA) will be hosting their 11th Annual Inner City Business Reception at the Jack London Square Market in Oakland. This reception will serve as a meeting ground for hundreds of local businesses, entrepreneurs, advisors, and funders, all of whom share a common interest – creating quality inner city jobs and wealth.

ICA has served as a valuable asset to local businesses by directly working with management teams to address the everyday challenges associated with growth and sustainability.  ICA charges itself with “building sustainable and responsible inner city businesses that create quality jobs, reinvest in the community and contribute to the local economy.”

To register and learn more about this explosive networking event please click here.

Yes, that was “our” Mitch Kapor on last night’s Black in America 4: The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley on CNN. Mitch and Kapor Capital were major supporters of the NewMe Accelerator featured in the documentary.

The pre-screenings of BIA4 set off a controversy in the blog/Twittersphere about diversity in the information technology industry, especially regarding the distribution of startup capital to entrepreneurs of color and women founders. CNN posted a response here, and Mitch wrote a compelling post here.

Regardless of the illusions of meritocracy in Silicon Valley – that anyone can get financed, one just has to be smart and work hard – those of us who have an expansive vision for a functioning USA must press to ensure that underrepresented people of color and women are in the game, and that their brilliant ideas for job-and-services-generating business ventures are also capitalized and supported. Not only is this a matter of fairness, but it’s a smart business decision – we need all hands on deck to get this economy moving again.

Based in part on the experiences over the summer with NewMe, our board has charged the Foundation with beginning to explore how we can support the diversification of info tech and how tech tools can be used to further the impact of social justice work. Please stay tuned for more information about how this will unfold in 2012.

(And yes, we did get to meet Soledad O’Brien when the crew was in our offices taping! I’m a fan!)

For the past two weeks I’ve vacillated between glee, optimism, overwhelmedness, and disappointment around the Occupy movement.

I firmly support (my interpretation of) Occupy’s core tenets – holding financial institutions accountable for their role in exacerbating the economic meltdown, establishing a more just system for generating revenues that will support our domestic well-being, and disentangling corporate and private wealth from their stranglehold on our democracy. Those things are no-brainers.

Yet, as with many blossoming social movements, there are certainly nuances around Occupy’s strategy and tactics that need clarifying. How can those who can’t strike, who can’t (or won’t) camp out, or can’t sign online petitions participate in what could become the defining movement of a generation? How do we channel the rage (or opportunistic anarchy) into a disciplined, accessible, provocative force for change? It burned me up to watch the enormous goodwill and community-spiritedness of Occupy Oakland’s high points be vandalized and tear-gassed before the eyes of the world.

What are we going to do??

I’ve certainly learned a good deal from some of our key partner organizations that have played a vital role in Bay Area Occupy movements: APEN, Ella Baker Center, Causa Justa:: Just Cause, and EBASE. And next week, Van Jones will speak to a group of  local funders about philanthropy’s role in supporting social movements. I certainly look forward to learning from his expansive vision and experience.

These are questions and issues that must be addressed. Occupy’s autumn vs. Occupy’s fall lies in the balance.

Last week at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, we hosted our annual played host to the Mitchell Kapor Foundation’s annual What Works! convening, focusing on the College Bound Brotherhood.  This year’s one day event, Back to School, Back to Work: College Readiness for Young Black Men, featured select Brotherhood grant recipients who have demonstrated successful college readiness strategies for working with young black men.  Attendees heard presentations on such topics as networking, recruiting and retaining black men, parental involvement, and balancing academics and athletics.

The day also featured tech presentations from three new startups, Magoosh, Acceptly, and Logrado, that are improving the educational experience for students through tech.   These short presentations, called Ten Minutes for Tech, demonstrated how tech can be a disruptive force in changing the way students learn and how teachers teach.  Please click on their names to learn more.

Below are a few takeaways from each of the convening presentations. Additional highlights are available on Twitter: #mkfbrohood.

Fund-raising and Friend-raising: Networking Leads to Both!
http://www.mkf.org/documents/EOYDCWW2011.pdf

• Keep your business cards handy; opportunities exist when you least expect them.
• Be mindful/respectful of your approach and understand when “no” means “maybe later.”

The Gap is Closed: How Corporate Philanthropy Helped the Greene Scholars Program!
http://www.mkf.org/documents/CAAAEWW2011.pdf

• Do not be afraid to ask for what you want from people with resources.
• Be strategic in seeking partnerships.

Creative Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Black Males in a Diverse Student Program
http://www.mkf.org/documents/SummerSearchWW2011.pdf

• Use data to make the case for outreach and offerings tailored especially for a specific demographic.
• Utilize your current students as a resource to recruit additional students.

Best Practices in Parental Involvement
http://www.mkf.org/documents/YSPWW2011.pdf

• Establish meaningful relationships with your parents through volunteer opportunities and parent-run group meetings.
• Convince parents that you need them just as much as their child needs your program.

ASAP: Individualized Academic Mentoring for Scholar Athletes & Athletics’ Role in College Access
http://www.mkf.org/documents/ASAP_SPAATWW2011.pdf

• Athletics are a terrific gateway to reaching students, potentially providing discipline and performance standards as well as post-secondary opportunities.
• Collaborate with coaches and administration to recruit and retain student participants; work with parents when coaches are unhelpful or uncooperative.
• Have honest conversations with your students about the probability of playing at the next level (and the necessity of an academic fallback).

Causa Justa :: Just Cause, Center for Third World Organizing, Chinese Progressive Association, POWER (& possibly more): On Wednesday, community based organizations from throughout the Bay Area participated in and provided leadership to “Foreclose on Wall Street West” actions that shut down Wells Fargo’s SF office for several hours.  CBS News Coverage

Brennan Center: Ahead of the 2012 elections, Brennan Center publishes Voting Law Changes in 2012, which is ”the first full accounting and analysis of this year’s voting cutbacks. It details both the bills that have been proposed and the legislation that has been passed since the beginning of 2011.” NY Times Editorial

Advancement Project: Co-director, Judith Browne Dianis, also weighs in on voter id laws and claims of voter fraud in her Washington Post Op-Ed, Five Myths of Voter Fraud.

Resource Generation: A photo of Resource Generation’s co-director, Elspeth Gilmore, holding a sign stating her support as a 1%er at Occupy Wall Street goes viral over Facebook. Resource Generation then teams up with Wealth for the Common Good to develop a new tumblr site, We Stand with the 99%. Good Magazine

In important election reform and election administration news, California will now allow for online voter registration.  See more info below in this article from the Associated Press:

California allows online voter registration |The Associated Press |Posted: 10/07/2011 06:46:53 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Californians will be able to register to vote online for the 2012 elections.

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday that he signed legislation that supporters say will modernize California’s election system.

The bill, SB 397, allows the state to begin registering voters online ahead of a new statewide voter database. It directs state election officials and the Department of Motor Vehicles to match registration information submitted online with DMV records containing an electronic copy of a voter’s signature.

Democratic Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco says his bill will allow more people to register and “participate in our democracy.”

The bill was sponsored by California Common Cause. Executive Director Kathay Feng says the system is expected to be up and running for the November 2012 general election.