Youth & Education

Youth & Education
Gifts at The Berkeley Baby Book Project (BBBP)
Gifts at The Berkeley Baby Book Project (BBBP)
Gifts at The Berkeley Baby Book Project (BBBP)

The Berkeley Baby Book Project (BBBP)

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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.

Gifts at Berkeley Public Schools Fund
Gifts at Berkeley Public Schools Fund
Gifts at Berkeley Public Schools Fund
Gifts at Berkeley Public Schools Fund

Berkeley Public Schools Fund

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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

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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.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS)

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About the Organization BOSS helps people in crisis to build skills and social connection, access services and resources, and turn their lives around — people impacted by homelessness, disabilities, generational poverty, community or domestic violence, former incarceration and other crises. BOSS provides emergency shelter, housing, health/mental health services, education, training and employment services, child/family services, violence intervention/prevention, trauma recovery support for survivors of violence, and civic engagement. Our mission is two-fold: helping people in need right now, while working to end the root causes of inequity and injustice.

Nia House Learning Center

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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

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About the Organization Scientific Adventures for Girls (SAfG) provides year-round, hands-on STEM education for transitional kindergarten through 6th-grade girls. We break down systemic barriers to STEM participation by offering culturally-relevant curricula, pairing young learners with diverse female and BIPOC role models, and fostering both 21st-century skills and lifelong engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The UC Theatre (Berkeley Music Group Inc)

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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

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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.

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