Youth & Education

The Berkeley Baby Book Project (BBBP)

About the Organization Making Books a Birthright is our mission.

We partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to make their free books by mail for 0 to 5 year olds available to all children in 4 cities we serve: Berkeley+Emeryville and Richmond+San Pablo. Children may be enrolled from birth until age 4.5 years; their age and home address are the only eligibility criteria. Enrolled children receive an age-appropriate quality book every month until their 5th birthday, addressed to them - a detail of great interest and importance for toddlers. Imagination Library participation is shown to improve Kindergarten Readiness levels for that One Child, and whole communities of them. IL is the most joyful, efficient, and economical way to ensure children own books from the start. Research from around the world shows conclusively that ownership of books from birth predicts Kindergarten Readiness more accurately than any other metric.
Help us get more books to more children: Donate today! It costs us less than $50/year to have 12 books delivered to a child.
A gift book in the mail is just one small thing, but, it is a powerful thing, it is a Joyful thing. In our annual survey Joy at the mailbox is a top comment, along with words of gratitude. Imagination Library is funded by the Dollywood Foundation, no gov’t $’s are involved.
The BBBP pays IL for books mailed to children we enroll; all other costs - books selection, publishing, printing, the Bulk Mail facilities IL has built to serve our entire Country, and live staff available for help every weekday are all value left on the table if there is no IL Partner serving an area. It’s a literacy boosting bargain.

Berkeley Public Schools Fund

About the Organization With your support, we annually invest $1 million into grant, volunteer, and STEM programs that directly benefit our school community by meeting essential needs of students and families (including food security in schools), fostering safety & belonging, and a love of learning in students.

Berkeley Youth Alternatives

About the Organization Berkeley Youth Alternatives is a community based organization. Our vision is to provide a secure and nurturing environment for all the children, youth, and families of our community. We desire to promote, to their fullest potential, the freedom to develop individual skills and visions of the world. BYA’s holistic services are designed to shift so-called “individuals at-risk” into “individuals with promise” by utilizing a continuum of care approach that emphasizes 3 core areas: Education, Health and Well-Being, and Economic Self-Sufficiency. To do this work, we create teams of diverse professionals from the fields of education, mental health, workforce development, and recreation that work collaboratively to meet the psycho-social, emotional, and economic needs of those most vulnerable in our community. We meet individuals where they are and build upon any gift, talent or ability that they possess. We inspire them to reach their full potential with staff who act as coaches and mentors that help individuals captain their own ships.

Community Resources for Science

About the Organization CRS enlightens, engages and empowers elementary and middle school students to explore and discover through STEM, and to envision their own bright future career pathways with guidance from diverse, caring STEM mentors and role models and well-supported teachers. We provide direct support services and training to elementary and middle school teachers across Berkeley and the East Bay (serving nearly 2,000 educators); we engage 1,000+ STEM professionals from UC Berkeley and local companies to go directly into classrooms to serve as role models and mentors and lead exciting experiments and run fun STEM festival stations reaching 17,000 kids each year.

We welcome local businesses and employees to participate in our outreach programs — inspire thousands of future innovators, problem solvers, leaders and environmental stewards! We welcome local businesses to donate in-kind goods and gift certificates to help us celebrate and give prizes to awesome teachers and students. Direct, long-lasting impact in our community!

Luna Dance & Creativity

Address 931 Ashby Ave., Berkeley CA 94710

Phone (510) 883-1118

About the Organization Luna Dance & Creativity is a nationally recognized arts organization and the most comprehensive dance education provider on the West Coast. Founded in 1992, Luna promotes creativity and self-determination through the transformative power of dance, with a focus on serving children and families who are least likely to have access to arts education—including those in the dependency system, living in poverty, or with disabilities. As California’s only dance school grounded in a creativity-based pedagogy, Luna partners with schools, social service agencies, and cultural organizations to reach youth and caregivers across diverse communities. Luna’s unique approach integrates research in play, neuroscience, child development, and cultural responsiveness, fostering the choreographer in every child and nurturing the artist in educators, caregivers, and dancers. Through movement and creativity, Luna nourishes familial bonds, deepens community connections, and inspires life-long learners and future creative thinkers.

Last year, 130 families, 1,894 teachers, artists, and caregivers, at least 28,975 students, 4,056 with disabilities and special needs, from eleven counties across the country (Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Shelby TN, Honolulu HI, and Kings NY), twelve public school districts (Berkeley, Fontana, Los Angeles, Miller Creek, Novato, NYC District #13 & #32, Oakland, Reed Union, Ross Valley, San Rafael, and Sausalito), six independent schools, and three universities (Cal State East Bay, University of San Francisco and College of Marin) received Luna’s programs and resources. Discover more at lunadancecreativity.org.

Nia House Learning Center

About the Organization Social Justice & Equity in Early Childhood Education

Nia House is a non-profit Montessori School in the heart of West Berkeley. We are committed to providing children between the ages of 18 months and 6 years with an education centered around peace, understanding, acceptance, independence, community, and truth.

Our mission is to bring together children from different socio-economic backgrounds to grow and work in harmony and cooperation, and to actively work toward all of Dr. Maria Montessori’s concepts, especially that of peace through education.

Scientific Adventures for Girls

About the Organization Where Girls Discover Their Power in STEM

Every girl deserves the chance to see herself as a scientist, engineer, creator, and problem-solver. Scientific Adventures for Girls removes the barriers that keep girls—especially girls of color and girls from under-resourced communities—out of STEM, and replaces them with confidence, curiosity, and opportunity.

Through fun, hands-on STEM experiences in East Bay schools and community spaces, girls build robots, design circuits, explore nature, code stories, engineer solutions, and meet BIPOC women STEM professionals who show them what’s possible. Our Near Peer Leadership Program brings older SAfG alumni back as mentors and role models, proving that STEM is a place where girls belong and can lead.

Our mission: remove systemic barriers, spark lasting interest, and equip girls with the skills they need for the future.
Our vision: a gender-equitable world where girls grow into women free to pursue the STEM paths that bring independence, purpose, and the power to shape tomorrow.

Invest in girls. Invest in STEM. Invest in the future.

The UC Theatre (Berkeley Music Group Inc)

About the Organization The Berkeley Music Group (BMG) was founded in 2012 as a 501 c3 non-profit organization. We operate The UC Theatre as a community-minded multi-tiered independent live music venue with culturally diverse music programming featuring Local, National, & International Touring Artists, as well as transformative workforce development programs removing the barriers of entry/advancement for young adults from marginalized communities. We’re sustained by a blend of earned revenue (tickets and ancillary revenue sales) and contributed support from generous donors and local, city, and state grants.

The UC Theatre’s Concert Career Pathways workforce development program (CCP) (now in it’s 10th year) is a comprehensive workforce development training program designed to remove barriers to entry and provide to provide participants from marginalized communities with industry-relevant training, work-based learning experiences, and career placement support in the live music, performing arts, and nonprofit sectors. CCP is a nine-month workforce development program for young people ages 17 to 25, centered on hands-on, experiential learning that cultivates critical thinking, creativity, and the career skills essential to thrive in today’s job market. From training to job placement, we collaborate with Industry professionals who not only to teach/train/mentor the nuanced skills for a successful career, but also participate in our Profession Partner Network to drive job placement. In many cases our program gets a foot in the door for CCP Grads where a college degree could not.

Waterside Workshops

About the Organization Waterside Workshops empowers youth through hands-on, paid learning in bicycle mechanics, wooden boatbuilding, and climate action. Complemented by year-round outdoor education, Waterside provides a safe, supportive environment where young people are heard, build confidence, develop job skills, and access the resources they need to lead healthy, sustainable lives.