PARENT VOICES OAKLAND

DESIGNED, IMPLEMENTED, AND REFINED AN INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MODEL FOCUSED ON REDRESSING INFANT MORTALITY RATES IN ALAMEDA COUNTY.REINSTITUTED OUR FIRST IN-PERSON LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TRAINING IN FOUR YEARS.EFFECTUATED A TRANSFORMATIVE SYSTEMS CHANGE BY CONTINUING TO FIGHT FOR A COMMUNITY DRIVEN APPROACH TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MEASURE C SINCE ITS VALIDATION BY THE COURTS IN APRIL OF 2024.SECURED OVER $7M IN ARPA FUNDS TO DIRECTLY BENEFIT 1,600 CHILD CARE PROVIDERS THROUGHOUT ALAMEDA COUNTY.STRENGTHENED OUR ORGANIZING PROGRAM BY HIRING AN EXPERIENCED AND PROVEN LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZER AS OUR DIRECTOR OF ORGANIZING.VISION FOR ANTI-RACIST HEALTH POLICY (VFAR) NATIONAL FIELD PARTNER INITIATIVEPARENT VOICES OAKLAND PARTICIPATED AS A FIELD PARTNER IN COMMUNITY CHANGE'S VISION FOR ANTI-RACIST HEALTH POLICY (VFAR) PROGRAM, FUNDED BY THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION. ACTIVITIES INCLUDED CONTRIBUTING LOCAL COMMUNITY INSIGHTS AND DATA TO A MULTI-STATE POLICY ASSESSMENT PROCESS; FACILITATING AN IDEAS LAB SESSION WITH ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS TO GATHER INPUT ON HEALTH EQUITY PRIORITIES; COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY CHANGE AND CORNELL UNIVERSITY ON NARRATIVE CHANGE AND MESSAGE TESTING RESEARCH TO IDENTIFY EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR ADVANCING ANTI-RACIST HEALTH POLICY; ATTENDING TWO NATIONAL STAKEHOLDER CONVENINGS TO SHARE LEARNINGS AND COORDINATE WITH PARTNERS; AND PARTICIPATING IN PROGRAM EVALUATION ACTIVITIES. THE PROGRAM AIMED TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL VISION FOR ANTI-RACIST HEALTH POLICY AND A FIELD-BUILDING STRATEGY GROUNDED IN THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF DIRECTLY IMPACTED COMMUNITIES, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY FOR MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS.PERSONS SERVED: DIRECTLY IMPACTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN OAKLAND AND THE BROADER CALIFORNIA REGION, AS PART OF A NATIONAL MULTI-SITE INITIATIVE.PARENT VOICES CALIFORNIA (PVCA) STATEWIDE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT AND ADVOCACYPARENT VOICES OAKLAND SERVED AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR ON BEHALF OF PARENT VOICES CALIFORNIA (PVCA), THROUGH FISCAL SPONSOR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, TO SUPPORT STATEWIDE PARENT ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS. ACTIVITIES INCLUDED SUPPORTING PARENT VOICES OAKLAND MEMBERS IN PARTICIPATING IN PVCA STATEWIDE ACTIVITIES AND CAMPAIGNS; ASSESSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL ENGAGEMENT IN STATE-LEVEL POLICY AND ADVOCACY WORK; AND ENGAGING COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND RESOURCES TO ELEVATE BOTH THE LOCAL OAKLAND CHAPTER AND THE BROADER STATEWIDE PARENT VOICES CALIFORNIA NETWORK. THE WORK STRENGTHENED THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GRASSROOTS PARENT ORGANIZING AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AND STATE-LEVEL POLICY ADVOCACY, AMPLIFYING THE VOICES OF LOW-INCOME PARENTS AND FAMILIES IN CALIFORNIA'S POLICY LANDSCAPE.PERSONS SERVED: LOW-INCOME PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS IN OAKLAND AND ACROSS CALIFORNIA ENGAGED IN STATEWIDE CHILD CARE, FAMILY, AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE ADVOCACY.UBI/GUARANTEED INCOME PARENT ADVOCACY INITIATIVEBANANAS CONTRACTED WITH PARENT VOICES OAKLAND TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME AND GUARANTEED INCOME (UBI/GI) POLICY SOLUTIONS FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES IN ALAMEDA COUNTY. ACTIVITIES INCLUDED RESEARCHING EXISTING FUNDING STREAMS (INCLUDING ARPA AND COUNTY HOUSING FUNDS) THAT COULD SUPPORT DIRECT INCOME ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES; RECRUITING AND TRAINING PARENT LEADERS FROM HEAD START AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER PARTNER SITES TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC TESTIMONY, MEDIA ENGAGEMENT, AND ADVOCACY THROUGH A SPEAKERS BUREAU; AND FUNDING COMMUNITY-BUILDING AND HEALING JUSTICE ACTIVITIES FOR PARTICIPATING PARENT LEADERS. THE PROGRAM AIMED TO BUILD A SUSTAINED BASE OF PARENT ADVOCATES CAPABLE OF INFLUENCING LOCAL AND COUNTY-LEVEL POLICY DECISIONS AFFECTING LOW-INCOME FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN.PERSONS SERVED: LOW-INCOME PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN THE OAKLAND/ALAMEDA COUNTY AREA.