East Bay Community Foundation: Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund

East Bay Community Foundation: Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund is sponsored by East Bay Community Foundation. Invests in small businesses across Oakland, California, focusing on those facing barriers to capital and resources.

Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund | East Bay Community Foundation Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund RESILIENCY FUND 2. 0 IS READY TO LAUNCH AND OPEN FOR GRANT INVESTMENTS Email us to support the fund Small businesses are not just economic engines—they are the heart and soul of our neighborhoods.

Last year, EBCF’s Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund provided critical funding to diverse small businesses in Oakland neighborhoods that have historically faced disinvestment and barriers to capital. When EBCF launched the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund, nearly 500 businesses applied, with requests totaling over $11 million. With only $2.

2 million available, only 170 businesses could be served. Now we hope to build upon the lessons from the first fund and pilot site of Oakland and expand this successful model to support small businesses across the East Bay through a Resiliency Fund 2. 0.

EBCF already has the systems in place to administer grants to small businesses—designed with community, proven in practice, and ready to scale with additional investments from financial institutions, funders, and donors. The Resiliency Fund is part of EBCF’s larger vision of an inclusive and just economy where all East Bay residents have the economic power and freedom to dream, heal, and belong.

EBCF created the Fund to boost small businesses’ resiliency and ability to withstand and recover from economic and community safety challenges and build their capacity and readiness to take on other forms of capital and investments.

Grantees from the first fund represent a wide range of industries, including restaurants, retail, and health and wellness, all of which contribute to the health and cultural and economic vitality of the community.

Access this page in other languages Small Business Resiliency Fund in the News Key Statistics for 2024-2025 Grantees 96% of business owners identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color; almost half identify as Black, African-American, or African. Over half of business owners identify as women, transgender, or non-binary/gender variant/non-conforming.

More than 50% of grantees have been operating in Oakland for 10 or more years, with 20% serving the community for more than 20 years. We invite more funders and donors to join us in our commitment to providing much-needed grant resources to small businesses. For more information, please contact SmallBusinessResiliencyFund@eastbaycf.

org . Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund Grantees: 4OurFamily LLC dba Sobre Mesa A Little Off The Top Barber Shop A. M.

Kidd Holding Inc dba CoCo Noir Wine Shop & Bar Acumen Building Enterprise, Inc. African Caribbean Food Market API Unity Community Services Arab Recreational Center and Hall LLC Community Care Services Inc. Construction Resource Center D&M Hauling and Recycling Dorado Tax & Bookkeeping Service LLC Eden Professional Services El Palacio de Novias y Quinceañeras Entrepronego Growth Movement Gloria Kamil Total Fitness Good Company Oakland LLC dba 7th West Hai Huang DDS Professional Corporation DBA Lake Merritt Dental Hasta Muerte Coffee Cooperative Healthy Potter LLC dba Raw and Roasted High Street Hand Car Wash HS Oakland LLC dba Sessions on 15th International Coin Laundromat La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant Lamumba Inc dba Geoffrey’s Inner Circle Mandela Foods Cooperative Inc. Marcus Books of Oakland Inc. Nature Vegetarian Restaurant Opportunities in Urban Renaissance Television OurTime2 LLC dba Fantasic Cleaners Posh Living, LLC DBA Stash Candle Co.

Pro Copy and Printing, Inc. Professional Eco Cleaning Proud Asian Parents LLC dba This is Baba’s House Renaissance Culinary Partners Shoebox Financial Solutions Skyline Community Market Corp (Chapala Market) The Modern Hanger Boutique LLC The Pinkney Foundation dba Primetime Golf TLJ Professional Services Tune Up Community Acupuncture Understory Worker Collective Urban University/Urban Furniture & Boutique Wing Wah Pho Gah Restaurant Zapateria D’Chicas Chimb’al As part of EBCF’s commitment to shifting power in funding decision-making structures and sharing power with community, we co-created and collaboratively implemented the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund with a diverse ecosystem of partners who are committed to supporting and uplifting Oakland’s beautiful small business community.

A Community Advisory Committee serves as a group of thought and action partners to EBCF in the design and implementation of the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund, including co-design of application, marketing, and evaluation materials and advising on funding decisions.

Centro Community Partners Arturo is the Founder and CEO of Centro Community Partners (Centro), an Oakland-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved entrepreneurs and promoting economic opportunity and equity. is an author and social impact leader with over 30 years of work experience as a nonprofit leader and management consultant.

As the author of “In Pursuit of a Noble Cause, A Social Justice Leadership Journey” , he provides a perspective on community-based innovation, racial equity, and social justice in nonprofit development. He specializes in economic development, strategy, risk management, finance, and organizational change management. In 2023, he was a visiting social entrepreneur at the Centro of Social Innovation at Stanford University.

He earned a Leadership Certificate from the Stanford School of Business, an MBA in Strategic Management and Leadership from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Economics and a concentration in Finance from the Haas School of Business of U. C Berkeley.

Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative Cairo Person is the Oakland Director at Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative , a cooperative community for and by entrepreneurs providing holistic and culturally relevant education, advising, and community to support diverse entrepreneurs in creating thriving businesses in service to their communities. Cairo is a multifaceted businesswoman and a dedicated advocate for entrepreneurs.

As the co-founder of a non-profit, she has firsthand experience with the challenges of starting and growing a business. Cairo is passionate about sharing her knowledge and insights with fellow entrepreneurs, helping them build valuable connections and access essential resources, fostering a community where everyone can thrive.

Alliance for Community Development Collette Hanna has 20+ years of experience in economic and community development, with an emphasis on advancing economic equity. Working throughout California, in municipalities and nonprofits, her work has resulted in livable-wage job creation, advancement of small businesses, and work in multiple industries.

Accomplishments of which she’s most proud are the launch of an economic development plan to address poverty and underrepresented communities, launch of a city’s first civic hackathon to engage tech start-ups on community issues, and leading a city’s first DEI task force to advance a culture of belonging within the organization.

She has been a volunteer with Oakland Education Fund and EmpowHer Institute – mentoring high school girls, and has served on the boards of TeamCA and YMCA Santa Monica. She also served on the Culver City Committee on Homelessness to ensure services and advancement of housing. Collette holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from San Diego State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Trevor Parham is an award-winning artist, activist, and entrepreneur. He is the Founder of Oakstop ; a Black owned and operated business that uses commercial real estate as a platform for community empowerment by providing workspace, meeting/event space, and creative space for entrepreneurs and communities of color.

As part of his work with Oakstop, Trevor co-founded the Oakland Black Business Fund, a Black-led grantmaking program, providing capital, technical assistance, and growth strategy to Black businesses in Oakland, California. Trevor was named Executive of the Year (2020) by the San Francisco Business Times and Pacific Community Ventures Good Jobs Entrepreneur Fellow (2023).

Oakstop also received the Small Business of the Year Award (2020) from State Assemblymember Rob Bonta for its consistent track record for serving community and local nonprofits with affordable culturally competent space.

City of Oakland – Business Development Division Yanira Cortez is an Urban Economic Analyst at the City of Oakland – Business Development Division with a background in business, real estate, education and community organizing. Prior to this role, Yanira was the Education Director for Frontline Catalysts, a youth development organization rooted in Ethnic Studies pedagogy in Oakland, CA.

Yanira create Eco-Summer youth development summer program focused on expositing youth to local government. She was also a local Real Estate professional serving many non-English speaking clients in the Bay Area. Having witnessed the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, Yanira focused her working with people vulnerable to predatory lending improving outcomes for those she came into community with.

Yanira earned her BA in Ethnic Studies from U. C. Berkeley, while serving as lead facilitator and mentor for NavCal, an organization empowering first generation students to increase their financial and social capital.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Cre9Innovations, an organization that focus on higher education, housing and financial wellness. She was born and lives in Oakland with her husband Jesse, two daughters ages 9 and 12, and Louie and Clover (dog and cat). A broader network of Community Partners promotes the Fund to the small business community.

Thank you to our anchor funder, Kaiser Permanente, for seeding the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund. For more information about the Fund or if you need support with your application, please contact SmallBusinessResiliencyFund@eastbaycf. org The East Bay Needs You Today The government shutdown is threatening vital services like food assistance, leaving our most vulnerable neighbors at risk.

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