City awarded $50,000 for plan to support diverse entrepreneurs
Oakland, CA – Today, Mayor Schaaf announced that Oakland is one of 10 new
TechHire Communities, identified by President Obama, committed to taking action to
expand access to tech jobs and support local employer demand through an initiative
known as TechHire. The announcement came during a first-ever Demo day hosted by
the White House, at which it was also announced that Oakland has been awarded
$50,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for winning the National
Start Up in a Day competition for its plan to create online local permitting.
While the TechHire Initiative supports expanded access to training and hiring for
Oakland residents, the winning proposal for Startup in a Day will support the City’s
diverse entrepreneurs by allowing most businesses to get their necessary local permits
online in 24 hours. The city has also pledged to deliver, in one year, a multi-lingual
online portal that will save business owners trips to City Hall and city resources.
Both announcements reflect Mayor Schaaf’s goal of making Oakland a center for
innovation and creativity in tech while also providing equitable employment and
housing opportunities for Oaklanders of every skill and education level.
“I am committed to bringing tech-quity to Oakland which means providing equitable
access to top-notch technology training and jobs for our residents and fostering our
local technology sector’s growth so it leads to shared prosperity,” said Oakland
Mayor Libby Schaaf. “The TechHire initiative will accelerate access to good-paying
technology jobs, particularly for underserved communities, unlock new bastions of
talent for those who do business in Oakland, and further guarantee that Oakland's
growth will continue to be founded upon the relentless ingenuity and creativity of our
residents. This partnership will help ensure that the rich diversity at the heart of cities
like Oakland is better reflected in the halls of the technology companies that are
driving our global economy.”
The President’s TechHire Community program is a bold multi-sector initiative and
call to action to empower Americans with the skills they need, through universities
and community colleges, but also nontraditional approaches like “coding boot
camps,” and high-quality online courses that can rapidly train workers for a wellpaying
job, often in just a few months. Employers across the United States are in
critical need of talent with these skills. To give Americans the opportunity they
deserve, and the skills they need to be competitive in a global economy.
As a TechHire Community, Oakland has committed to placing 400 individuals in paid
internships or full-time jobs by the end of 2015. The city will achieve this
commitment through several accelerated pathways.
“I am pleased to see Oakland become a TechHire Community. The city’s commitment
to empowering people with work based on their skill set and advance tech training is
remarkable and vital to the continued economic growth of our community,” said
Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “I am proud to have been a part of this tremendous
effort and I look forward to working with city officials to expand this program and
others that link community members with resources, workforce training and goodpaying
jobs.”
Key Oakland TechHire Partners Include:
• Peralta Community College District
• Oakland Unified School District
• Oakland Workforce Investment Board
• East Bay Works
• Hack the Hood
• California Emerging Technology Fund
• Hidden Genius
• Stride Center
• #YesWeCode
• Kapor Center for Social Impact
• Urban Strategies Council
Oakland partner #YesWeCode is providing low-cost access to coding bootcamps as
well as securing 300 apprenticeships and job commitments over the next five years
from over 200 partners including Square, Lyft, Pinterest , and Twitter in the Silicon
Valley Region. In addition, Intel has invested $5 million into the Oakland Unified
School District to support engineering and computer science programs at Oakland
high schools that will reach 2,400 students. Intel has committed to continue this
support for these students through college and onto placements within the company.
Companies including Pixar and SAP are also investing in computer science programs
in Oakland schools to expand their hiring pipelines and student access to tech jobs.
The Small Business Administartion’s Growth Accelerator Fund also celebrated
Oakland’s own Impact Hub for its role in helping the start-up community grow and
have a real and sustained economic impact.
Media Contact:
Erica Terry Derryck
(510) 238-7072
ederryck@oaklandca.gov