ENTREPRENEURS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS and educators will soon have access to millions of dollars in grants via the West Oakland Community Fund, city officials announced last week.
The fund will initially have $3.7 million and will be administered by the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, a nonprofit selected by the city that focuses on environmental stewardship and community investment, among other things.
The Rose Foundation will form an advisory board to oversee a grant-making program to award roughly $500,000 annually until the fund runs out, which is expected to be somewhere between four to eight years, according to a news release from the city of Oakland.
“The partnership with the Rose Foundation will create a process for disbursement of much needed funds in line with the goals and intents of the West Oakland Community Fund, which include advancing economic development, education, business, employment, and workforce training opportunities for West Oakland residents,” said Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife.
Fife, who represents West Oakland, said she’s been working with city staff and members of the community to get the program off the ground since before she was elected in 2020.
The money is the result of a community benefit agreement the city penned with the developers of the former Oakland Army Base, Prologis and CCIG, as well as the Port of Oakland.
The developers have already put in $1.7 million and are expected to put in another roughly $700,000 as the old base is built out. The port contributed $2 million.
The grants are intended to help business development projects that support local entrepreneurship, small business development and other economic development efforts in West Oakland, including local hiring programs serving West Oakland businesses and residents, according to city officials.
Also eligible are workforce development projects, including job training programs targeting West Oakland residents, as are educational projects, including programs serving West Oakland K-12 students.
The funds can also be accessed by groups working on environmental projects that provide benefits to the West Oakland community.
Applicants should reach out to the Rose Foundation.
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