Fall Giving Circle: Youth Uprising

Last week a group of TechEquity community members met to discuss the finalists in the running to receive our next Giving Circle contribution. With a focus on public health and housing this quarter, we sourced three amazing organizations serving very different communities in the Bay Area. Our finalists were La Casa De Las Madres, Youth Uprising (YU), and The Homeless Prenatal Program. While it was a tough decision, we ultimately voted to make our contribution to Youth Uprising!

If you’re not familiar, a giving circle is a community of like-minded philanthropists who pool their funds in order to increase their collective impact. If you spend a little time reading up on giving circles, you’ll find that these initiatives democratize philanthropy. The goal of the TechEquity Giving Circle is to build a culture of philanthropy specifically among tech workers. Last quarter we made a contribution of just over $2,100 to Techtonica. You can read more about that initiative here.

Youth Uprising

Youth Uprising started in 2005 as a response to youth in East Oakland who needed a safe place in the community to spend time. While YU started out as more of local hang out spot, they’ve evolved their approach to center around mental and social health determinants and offer a wide variety of programming to youth across Alameda County.

YU hosts a GED program, provides support around internships and job entry training, and are in the process of growing college-level course offerings. Their cafe and music studio train and employ youth onsite, allowing them to develop essential work skills and earn money. As East Oakland sees more and more development and the cost of housing continues to rise, YU sees a need to develop more support around securing and maintaining housing. While housing support is being discussed in their strategic planning for 2019, they already provide emergency support to youth in need.

What drew us most to YU is their interest in growing their relationship with the tech community and how they would use our contribution to drive forward their goals. While YU has been serving East Bay youth for over a decade now, they haven’t yet tapped into the tech industry the way our other finalists have. Our group felt that this presents a unique opportunity to leverage our networks in Tech for more than just a financial contribution. Here at TechEquity, we’re getting in touch about catering and music for some of our upcoming events.

The other factor that tipped the scale was that our contribution would go directly to the emergency support fund they are building. A majority of YU’s funding comes from Alameda County and the City of Oakland, and therefore comes with specific restrictions on how it can be used. YU continues to strategize on a long-term plan to address the housing needs of their youth and in the meantime, they need a fund that supports emergency housing, transportation, and other safety needs right now. Because we at TechEquity feel anti-displacement is key to addressing the housing crisis, it made sense for our group to support this fund and help keep the Oakland community vibrant and diverse.

Get Involved

We’re leaving the contribution period open for the next week in hopes that we can increase the size of our donation to Youth Uprising. Join us in building this culture of giving and reaching our goal of making a $2,500 contribution (we’re already over halfway there). We encourage you to give the recommended amount of $150 (or 1% of your income) but we understand that unplanned contributions can be tough. Please consider donating what you can. Donate today!

You can stay up to date on this work and make your voice heard on who will receive our next contribution by joining our Giving Circle. Our next meeting will likely be sometime in mid-February. While we haven’t finalized the theme or organizations for the next meeting, the group discussed looking at organizations working on immigration or mental health. Be part of the decision-making process and join us today!

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