Juma Crawford
Chief Executive Officer
Juma Crawford is the incoming CEO of the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation. He has been a leader in the philanthropic, non-profit, and education space for over twenty years. He was President of the Lewis Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Kensington Investment Company, one of the leading private real estate development and investment firms in Boston, where he oversaw a $75.2M pledged dollar investment portfolio of both private and corporate giving. In this role, Juma oversees the dissemination on average of $9.8M new grant monies every year to high performing non-profits, schools, and institutions of higher education.
As President, he launched a $14.4M dollar CollegeWorks Campaign that has produced over 1,000 first-generation 4-year college graduates and a tri-sector jobs action tank, a coalition of private-sector businesses, local and state government, and non-profits that have created over $28M worth of full-time, competitive wage jobs for 700+ disconnected youth of color. In 2017, under his leadership, the foundation launched the Strong Leaders Program, which provided over $2M dollars of funding and executive coaching to non-profit and school leaders of color to increase leadership diversity in the non-profit and education sectors.
Juma Crawford
Alaina Long
Alaina Long
Director of Operations & Communications
The Oakland Fund for Public Innovation welcomes Alaina Long as their new Director of Operations and Communications. Alaina has extensive experience in the public sector, and most recently served as Special Assistant to the Senior Advisor and Director of the New York City (NYC) Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs). In that role, Alaina managed the agency’s operations and constituent affairs unit. Prior to that, Alaina served as the Community Education Supervisor at the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, where she managed a youth program that developed healthy relationship workshops in coordination with youth-serving organizations and with young people directly.
Alaina has worked in the public sector for most of her career, focusing on addressing economic inequality, violence prevention, and education. She views these issues as being inextricably linked and solutions to these challenges must be viewed through an intersectional lens in order to address them successfully. Alaina holds a MPA from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a Bachelor of Arts in comparative women’s studies from Spelman College.
KEEP OAKLAND HOUSED
The Oakland Fund is proud to partner with KOH in supporting our communities.
Keep Oakland Housed is a unique program that focuses on preventing homelessness before it starts. It’s a partnership with direct service providers, in collaboration with Mayor Schaaf’s office, that offers legal services and emergency financial assistance. Keep Oakland Housed is one of the brightest spots in the fight to end homelessness in the Bay Area. This virtual press conference discussed highlights from a new report detailing the program’s first two years, including data that gives a picture of housing insecurity during the pandemic.
This virtual press conference discussed highlights from a new report detailing the program’s first two years, including data that gives a picture of housing insecurity during the pandemic.
(Above copy from “Keep Oakland Housed” youtube channel)
CIVIC DESIGN LAB
Oakland’s Departments of Transport and Race and Equity use a design approach
to reduce fines and fees for low income residents
In collaboration with government agencies, local businesses and communities, the Civic Design Lab improves public services by applying a racial equity lens, human-centered design and systems thinking to public sector problems. It uses a data-centered approach to make government more accessible to residents and employees by designing solutions that meet the diverse needs and values of the people and government it serves.
The Civic Design Lab is the methodology the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation uses to assess and develop new initiatives. In 2019, Oakland’s Department of Race and Equity and the Department of Transport used a design approach with City staff and local communities to examine Street Sweeping, Parking and Towing services. These sessions suggested ways to eliminate and reduce the service fines and fees which disproportionately affect low-income residents.
OFPI has partnered with Citibank to fund a program of service design projects across the City:
- Rent Adjustment Program: a redesign of the online process to make it more user-friendly for both tenants and property owners, improving the Healthy Housing inspection process, and streamlining partnerships.
- Oakland Promise children’s savings account parent liaisons to redesign their role in sign up, marketing and ongoing parent engagement.
- Alameda County workforce development and the City of Oakland Health and Human Services to map the prisoner re-entry journey identifying opportunities for service collaboration.
To date, over 100 staff and community members have used the City’s design services across seven different service areas.
COVID-19 RELIEF FUND
Report and Recap
The number of people affected by the COVID-19 virus across the country continues to grow. We are proud of the steps we are taking in Oakland and across the Bay Area to flatten the curve and to support our most vulnerable communities, such as seniors, children, people experiencing homelessness, first responders, local businesses and low-wage workers, to name a few.
How you can help
You can make a secure donation online now. Grants will be made rapidly to meet our community’s most pressing needs. The Fund cannot make grants to individuals or for-profit entities.
