Oakland Kids First
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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.
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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.
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