Feel Good Friday - Youth Impact Hub Oakland

I like to use Feel Good Friday as a reason to explore positive projects happening in my new neighborhood. Today, Youth Impact Hub Oakland!

You can get a great overview of the program by watching the video in this KPIX article or by reading my summary below.

Youth Impact Hub Oakland was founded in 2013 with a mission "to support the leadership of low-income youth of color in creating an equitable, life-affirming economy by providing socially innovative training, collaborative co-working space and access to networks and resources." In short, an incubator for entrepreneurs.

Programs run at the Hub include a one-hour "Intro to Social Entrepreneurship" workshop that teaches participants "how to use business as a tool for positive social change", a "Passion Purpose Project" workshop focused on creating business plans, and an 18-hour "Lean Accelerator" that allows participants to test their ideas using processes such as design thinking and rapid prototyping.

The most in depth program is the Youth Hub Fellowship, "a year-long social enterprise incubation training program for low-income youth ages 18-24 to create enterprise projects that increase personal income and directly address problems in the communities." Every year, fifteen fellows are accepted and another hundred students help on the projects they create.

Since it's founding Youth Impact Hub has reached over 500 underserved young people in the Bay Area. Some of the 2017 enterprises include a DevOps team teaching IT skills to even younger people, a group connecting communities through the sharing of cultural soups, and a taxi service that will drive you home in your own car post-party. You can read more about all of the Youth Impact Hub enterprises here.

To help keep these programs going, you can volunteer to be a mentor, make a donation and show your support on social media by liking the Facebook page and following them on Twitter @YouthHUBOakland.