Oakland Leaf :: Community Transformation Through Creative Education. After school programs for youth. Art, murals, food gardening, media, music, performance arts, leadership, peace, justice.

The mission of Oakland Leaf is to cultivate community transformation through creative education for youth and families.

The Nature of Oakland Leaf

Oakland Leaf was incorporated in 2002 by a group of Oakland-based educators who shared a commitment to community transformation through creative education. For over 8 years, Oakland Leaf has been providing innovative programs and services to feed the minds, bodies, and spirits of the low-income youth and their families we serve in East Oakland. Oakland Leaf actively works in solidarity with Oakland inner-city youth, their families, educators, artists, organizers, and community-based organizations for individual, collective, structural, and environmental transformation. Oakland Leaf's programming has grown to serve over 500 students and their families each year. Our programs and services include: We bring the following to the community:

• Two comprehensive after-school arts enrichment and academic support programs at ASCEND K-8 School and Urban Promise Academy, serving over 330 children and youth daily. 
• Two wrap-around Family Resource Centers at ASCEND K-8 School and Urban Promise Academy. Services include academic support, parental workshops, translation services, events and cultural celebrations, and food distribution through a partnership with the Alameda County Food Bank. 
• A nationally recognized high school leadership and media arts after-school fellowship called Youth Roots. 
• A schoolyard garden and ecology initiative called Love Cultivating Schoolyards that consists of two youth schoolyard gardens (at ASCEND and Urban Promise Academy. 
• An annual citywide youth empowerment and performance event called the All Oakland Youth Talent Showcase (going into its 11th year) produced by Youth Roots, featuring over 50 youth performers. 
• A three-week summer social justice education day camp for over 90 Oakland youth ages 12-18 called Oakland Peace Camp (going into its 8th year). 

Oakland in Numbers

Founded in 1852, Oakland is the eighth-largest city in California and the 44th-largest city in the United States. The California Department of Finance estimates that Oakland's population on January 1, 2008 was 420,183. It is a major West Coast port, and is home to several major corporations including Kaiser Permanente and Clorox, as well as corporate headquarters for nationwide businesses like Dreyer's (ice cream) and Cost Plus World Markets. According to the 2000 U.S. census, Oakland and Long Beach, California, are the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, with over 150 languages spoken in Oakland.
Data provided by United Way of the Bay Area.

28.6% of Oakland residents live below the federal poverty level. In the Fruitvale District, 44.6% of the youth ages 0-17 live below the Federal Poverty Level. 66.2% of Oakland students are eligible for free/reduced price meals (2006-2007). 45.6% of Oakland youth graduate from high school.
Data provided by Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.

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"We strongly believe that our future is in the hands of the young folks."Mutulu Shakur