This chapter is currently inactive. An inactive chapter is one that has not given a grant in six months. If you are interested in re-activating this chapter, you can learn more about getting started.
Air Quality Module – Youth Community Science
By Wietske Medema February 2022Bay Area Emerging Museum Professionals Mentorship
By Demetri Broxton January 2022Art & Equity Conversations
By Alyssa Stone November 2021Classroom Mural for Newcomer Immigrant Students
By Cole Margen October 2021bodyfabric
By Octavia Rose Hingle July 2021ROOTED: STORIES OF BELONGING
By Cindy Cesca Yoshiyama June 20212 Hot 4 Hoodies Binder Giveaway
By Cal Calamia May 2021Corps de Ballet - Ballet's effects on Bodies
By Katherine Hutchinson April 2021Ecology Center's Farm Box
By Marcel Ramos March 2021Walking Watersheds
By Elizabeth Dougherty February 2021Women Who Ride, Short Documentary Film
By Jessica Jones January 2021Pay It Forward
By Diana Wu December 2020Keep Kids Learning
By Sia Magadan December 2020Open E.A.R.S. For Change
By Terri Le November 2020AFROKIN Film Festival
By Jeffrey Yip October 2020creAItivity
By Stella Chen September 2020The Queer Choir
By Phoebe Sanders August 2020Covid-Affected Period Poverty Initiative Team
By Ethan Ye July 2020Achieve Academy Summer Literacy Programming
By Eloise Schrier June 2020Bay Area Mask Making and Distribution Project
By Rachel Sadd May 2020COVID-19 Response in the Black Community
By Tur Ha Ak April 2020Round Weather
By Chris Kerr March 2020Sick and Disabled Zine and Craft Fair (SAD)
By Charles Manzano March 2020Arsola's Census Hard-to-Count Outreach Project
By Laura McCoy February 2020Homeless Shadows
By Suzi Garner January 2020Stop Gap Rescue for Black Students
By Tasha Keeble December 2019Bay Area Queer Zine Fest
By Maira M McDermott November 2019Freewheel! A Bike Club for Girls and GNC Youth
By Nora Dye October 2019East Bay Creeks' Walk and Chalk
By Dr. Elizabeth Dougherty September 2019Two Fall Exhibitions by CTRL+SHFT Collective
By Sophia Schultz August 2019Dignity Bags
By Tyler Bevington July 2019Homeless First community screenings
By Anna Karewicz June 2019Nyamdu-Dro Mentorship Program
By Tenzing Dolma and Nawang Chokyi May 2019Hoover Elementary: Writer to Author
By Jessica Blair April 2019United Streets of Flowers
By Kiera Jaffin February 2019Oaktown Ballers
By Tony Beaman January 2019Sketchbook Connection
By Sonia Wallach (with William James Association) December 2018Planting Justice: Grow Food, Grow Jobs, Grow Commu
By Gavin Raders November 2018Access-Centered Movement
By Jess Dene Schlesinger October 2018The 10th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil
By Oscar Grant Foundation September 2018Creating Freedom Movements: more justice, more joy
By Cecilia Lucas August 2018The Pan African Festival (PAF)
By Travis Watts July 2018Good Grief Zine
By Nicole M Wisler June 2018Ballet for Black & Brown Bodies
By Alyah Baker May 2018Graffiti Camp for Girls
By Nina Wright April 2018Roots and Wings
By Emma Brown and Mara Lea Brown March 2018Visiting Artists Program for Howard Elementary
By Margaret Fransee February 2018Contagious Spirit
By Maddy Clifford January 2018Music for the Masses
By Meghan Dibble December 2017Haircuts with Heart
By Rebecca Beardsley November 2017All That I Aspire To Be
By Jamila Harris October 2017Kick Ass Mural: 26th & West
By Renata Foucré September 2017Social Justice Sewing Academy
By Sara Trail August 2017Non-Fiction High Engagement Texts!
By Kelsi Kane July 2017Lightning Bolt Community Safety Trainings
By Katie Loncke June 2017FIGMENT Oakland
By Rick Abruzzo May 2017Four Headed Records
By Michael Hale April 2017Anti Lab: A Creative Resistance Resource Center
By Sarah Burke March 2017Resistance is Love in Action
By Angie Wilson February 2017Punks with Lunch — West Oakland
By Alejandra Del Pinal, Grant Gleason, Marlo Habeeb January 2017Frailty Myths Workshop Tool Sets
By Erinn Carter November 2016Free Annual Halloween Marionette Show
By Larry Schmidt October 20167TH ANNUAL EAST BAY ALTERNATIVE BOOK AND ZINE FEST
By ARA CHRISTINA JO September 2016Fleet Farming Oakland Expansion
By Justin Vandenbroeck August 2016Through The Walls
By Jennie-Sue Nuccio July 2016Legal Clinic Day - Advanced Directives for All
By Kristina Dolgin June 2016The How Spirit Moves Us Project:
By Lisa Evans May 2016About Us
The Oakland chapter funds projects and events in – or in support of – Oakland and the surrounding area of the East Bay that bring art, performance, and social change and improve and enrich our larger community.
Proposal guidelines
• We review and award grants to proposals for projects, ideas, and events based in – or in support of – Oakland and the surrounding communities of the East Bay. To fund a project that takes place somewhere else, apply through that chapter.
• Your proposal must have a clearly defined problem that you're trying to solve and describe how your project solves the problem by providing a solution, resource, or benefit to your intended audience or community. Defining the community or audience should be a significant part of your proposal.
• Your proposal must include a detailed budget of your project, including how you plan to spend the money, what you'll spend it on, and how much those items cost. In the form field "How will I use the money," you must include a budget of your expenses, listed out as individual line items. We won't accept a screenshot of your spreadsheet. Ya gotta type it in.
• Because we're a small group of volunteers with limited funds, we strive to make a significant impact when we can. So we prefer to fund projects with limited funding resources, where our contributions can make a big difference over proposals where our contributions are only a tiny part of an otherwise well-funded or large-scale project.
• We prefer to fund projects that make a big impact and serve a large community, especially if that community is historically underserved.
• We prefer to fund projects that aim to inform, educate, delight, or entertain your community or intended audience, and/or your project directly involves your community as part of its execution.
• Your proposal and project includes details how many people you hope to serve and a clear and concise outreach plan for reaching your intended audience. If your plan is to 'use FB ads' or 'social media' that's not enough. Be as specific and open minded as you can, it will help get you funded and help your project.
How this works
We award twelve grants per year and generally $1,000 per month. Proposals are due on the last Wednesday of each month. We meet on the 1st Wednesday of the month to review the applications, and recipients are announced shortly after. If your project is awarded a grant, you'll receive your funds through Paypal or Venmo.
Psst! here's an example winning proposal
Want to know what a winning proposal looks like? Check out this one from Red Light Legal
We're here to help
Didn't get funded this month? No worries. If a proposal has promise, but needs some love we'll reach out to help you tweak it for resubmission, and we're happy to review proposals before you submit them. Just be sure to contact us at least one week before the first of the month at: oakland@awesomefoundation.org
All of your projects are awesome, but sometimes they don't meet the goals of our chapter. If you're here in the Bay Area consider applying to the SF and SJ chapter, as they might fund an idea that isn't a fit for us, conceptually or geographically.
Thank you for your awesome passion!