Educational Opportunity Spotlight

From time to time, the Chamber is made aware of local educational opportunities relevant to our members and other community based organizations. See below for the most recent opportunity spotlight, with special attention to all high school juniors and seniors:

The San Francisco and East Bay Student Leaders® program is open to high school juniors and seniors in the following counties: San Francisco, Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Student Leaders® Program is accepting applications for the 2014 Student Leaders® program through January 31, 2014.  

Since its inception in 2004, the Bank of America Student Leaders Program has recognized more than 2,000 exemplary high school juniors and seniors who have a passion for improving their communities.  The program helps students gain a greater understanding of how nonprofits create impact in the community and helps develop them as the next generation of community leaders through two components:

·        A summer eight-week paid internship with a nonprofit organization selected by the bank. This internship is designed to provide opportunities for the students to develop and apply leadership skills through hands-on work experience, while raising their awareness of community issues addressed by their Host Organization. 

The week-long, all-expense paid Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. from July 13-18, 2014. Conducted in partnership with the Close Up Foundation, the Summit introduces students to aspects of civic, social and business leadership and provides them with knowledge and skills they will use throughout their life to create positive community change.

Students can apply for the program by going to www.bankofamerica.com/studentleaders. Please note the application opened on October 28, 2013 with a deadline of January 31, 2014.

For more information on the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

Bankers shared their products and options at the May Non-Profit Roundtable

Banking. We all do it--as individuals, couples and at our companies and organizations. Who we utilize for our banking services and how we bank is critical to sound financial management. At its May 21 meeting, the Oakland Chamber's Non-Profit Roundtable hosted several representatives from chamber member banks and credit unions, who shared their particular institution's products and opportunities for non-profit organizations.

As is our practice, we started our conversation with those attending sharing their earliest banking memories. Several recalled using quarter folders in school while others remembered having passbooks either at school or at a bank. A few recalled that their first time using a bank occurred when cashing their first paycheck. And, of course, everyone remembered getting lollipops.

Following the introductions, the panelists introduced themselves and gave a brief summary of their institution's services. The panelists were Jeremy Williams, VP & Community Relations Manager of Bank of America (jeremy.williams@bankofamerica.com); Anthony Thompson, SVP & Relationships Manager of Bank of Alameda (thompsonA@BankofAlameda.com); Alex Nguyen, Assistant VP & Banking Center Manager of Comerica Bank (anguyen@comerica.com); Claudia Gomez, Branch Sales Manager of Golden1 Credit Union (cgonzalez@golden1.com); and Dale Marie Golden, VP & Private Banker of Torrey Pines Bank (dgolden@torreypinesbank.com).

A lively Q&A period followed. Attendees learned, significantly, that while many banks and branches provide special services and amenities to their own clients, formal grantmaking was not connected to banking with them. All of the banks provide or participate in financial management training, which is crucial for organizations serving youth and low income populations, in particular.

One participant noted that a child with a savings account is seven times more likely to go to college than one without.

Perhaps the most significant recommendation was for organizations (and individuals) to not only develop a relationship with a bank, but also form a relationship with a personal banker. All of the representative banks provide that important service and further welcome non-profit professionals and anyone who would like, to contact them for further conversation.

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Please join us for he next Oakland Chamber Non-Profit Roundtable meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, from 2:30-4:30pm in the Chamber Boardroom. It’s Hospitality Month at the Chamber, so we’ll be uncovering and sharing Oakland’s hidden gems. All Chamber members and non-profit organizations interested in networking are welcome.

Contacts:
Co-Chair Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD (AMJ@CARDcanhelp.org)
Co-Chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Marketing Manager of Biotech Partners (jerry.metzker@bayer.com)

Chamber Liaison Nikki Mendez, Membership Director (nikki@oaklandchamber.com)

Oakland Mayor’s summer jobs program kicks off with $50,000 grant from Bank of America

Kudos to Oakland Chamber member Bank of America which made a $50,000 grant to support the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program.  The $50,000 grant will create 31 jobs for local teens, working with the City of Oakland, non-profit organizations, and local Oakland businesses.

Martin Richards, Bay Area Market President, Bank of America, talked about why they are supporting this program, “Teens have been disproportionally impacted by the recession, with unemployment rates exceeding those of any other age group and at an all-time high.  We are pleased to once again support the Mayor and the East Bay Community Foundation in providing jobs this summer that will provide youth with valuable skills to develop into self-sufficient adults”.

Mayor Jean Quan expressed appreciation for the financial support, “I want to thank Bank of America for again being a corporate leader in giving back to the Oakland community and stepping up to make a difference, I’m hoping other corporations and businesses will continue to work with us to lift up some of our most deserving youths and improve the quality of life for all Oaklanders”.

Quan continued, “A summer internship gives kids experiences and connections that will help them access the critical jobs pipeline later in life. Kids who get these internships are more likely to graduate high school, more likely to go to college and more likely to find productive employment.

To help connect unemployed and underemployed people, including young adults, with training and educational opportunities, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation has made workforce development and education among its top philanthropic priorities. Grant funding supports job training programs, such as community college access programs for middle and high school students, technical assistance and training for small businesses as well as nonprofit organization programs that connect unemployed workers with available job opportunities.

This year, the City of Oakland intends to train and place over 1,000 youth into summer jobs. To meet this goal, they are looking to the private sector to create over 2,000 jobs. To support the jobs program and hire a youth for summer 2013, please make a tax-deductible contribution to support local youth by contacting the Mayor’s Office at (510) 238-3141 or meverhart@oaklandnet.com.