The San Francisco 49ers are welcoming five new nonprofits to its existing cohort of organizations receiving social justice grants, totaling $1,000,000 over the next two years in support of their work creating measurable societal change in the Bay Area. Kingmakers of Oakland, East Oakland Youth Development Center, Alive & Free, OK Program & Community Education Partnerships and Urban Peace Movement were selected out of a pool of 90 grant applicants along with two returning organizations: Operation HOPE and Urban Ed Academy.
As part of this grant announcement, the 49ers hosted youth from Kingmakers of Oakland, East Oakland Youth Development Center, Alive & Free and Urban Peace Movement at a mentorship session alongside select 49ers players on Tuesday, September 24th. The students and players spoke about what Social Justice means to them, how to be leaders in the community, and shared practical life advice. Participating players included Brandon Aiyuk, Kevin Givens, Isaac Guerendo, Javon Hargrave, T.Y. McGill, Mason Pline, Curtis Robinson, Patrick Taylor Jr. and Jake Tonges.
After issuing an initial $1M in grants to 10 Bay Area and California-based social justice organizations in 2020, the 49ers announced the extension of their grant program to commit $5M over 10 years focusing on improving racial equity, with a focus on the Black community, in these three key areas: improving community-police relations, criminal justice reform, and education and economic advancement. The organization, including members of the Black Employee Resource Group, recently completed its annual RFP submission and review process with the final election of funds being determined by the 49ers representatives on the Players Social Justice Council: T.Y. McGill, Taybor Pepper, Curtis Robinson and Charvarius Ward.
The new organizations have significantly impacted the Bay Area by matching volunteer tutors with 400 underserved children, impacting more than 4,000 youth across their portfolio of targeted school supports and place-based programs and helping 40 males of color achieve a 100% on-time high school graduation rate and 100% college acceptance rate. These organizations have also awarded over $400,000 in college scholarships to Black and Brown students and have placed Black male teachers in nine schools in the San Francisco Unified School District and 13 in the Oakland Unified School District, impacting approximately 875 students.
While continuing the impactful work of the two returning grant recipients, the 49ers chose the new nonprofits based on their ability to reach new individuals across the region:
OK Program and Community Education Partnerships - Community Education Partnerships increases the learning opportunities and enhances achievement of students who are experiencing homelessness and housing instability. They offer individualized tutoring and mentoring, school supplies, and opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. The OK Program works to reduce the homicide rate among Black men and boys. They establish partnerships between their affiliates and their local police department, present leadership, and critical thinking skills curriculum, and are a consistent support presence to the affiliates. OK Program and CEP have successfully matched over 400 volunteer tutors with underserved children, providing personalized support and academic enrichment.
Urban Peace Movement – develops youth leadership in Oakland to transform the culture and social conditions that lead to community violence and mass incarceration in communities of color. Their goal is to make young people self-confident and hopeful while empowering them to work for social justice and a brighter future for all. Youth members work towards policy and systems change, movement building, and healing and culture change.
"We are deeply honored to have received a grant from the San Francisco 49ers to support Urban Peace Movement's work to build youth leadership for social justice. We do this work because we believe in a future where young people and communities of color receive the care and investments that they deserve."
– Nicole Lee, Executive Director of Urban Peace Movement
Kingmakers of Oakland – focuses on Black boys to engage, encourage, and empower children and families of all backgrounds as a leadership development and systems change organization. They facilitate building collective will, strategic planning and transforming practices with Multi-racial, Inter-generational, Cross-functional (MIC) equity teams in schools, districts and communities across these programs and services. Kingmakers of Oakland programming directly impacted more than 4,000 youth across their portfolio of targeted school supports and place-based programs.
"We believe the Bay Area is at a pivotal moment in social justice and we are honored that the San Francisco 49ers have chosen to recognize and advance the work Kingmakers of Oakland does centering Black and Brown boys in the education system. We intend to further cultivate the team's legacy of serving our communities through the life changing experiences we offer those who need help, and hope, the most."
– Chris Chatmon, CEO and Founder of Kingmakers of Oakland
East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) – leverages connections to relatable and invested peers to nurture the holistic development of youth from kindergarten through adulthood so that they can live a life of prosperity, integrity, and purpose. They emphasize character, readiness, access, social emotional learning and social justice. Over the past three years, EOYDC has served over 2,000 children and youth, awarding over $400,000 in college scholarships to Black and Brown students and distributing over $1 million in compensation to youth participating in EOYDC internships.
"EOYDC is tremendously honored to receive the 49ers Social Justice Grant. As a Black-led organization that centers around Black and Brown youth, it is tremendously meaningful that the 49ers continue to demonstrate their commitment to furthering racial equity and are courageous enough to explicitly recognize the disproportionate impact that inequities have had on the Black community in an era when the idea of racial equity is under attack."
– Selena Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, East Oakland Youth Development Center
Alive & Free - aims to keep young people unharmed by violence and free from incarceration by providing young people with opportunity and support to build positive lives for themselves. They provide an "Alive and Free Prescription" that works to counter risk factors that put young people at risk of violence and the commandments of violence. Alive & Free has put approximately 300 primarily African American youth through college. In 2023, the Alive & Free Leadership Academy served 400 total participants through our Tuesday Class, College Prep, Collegians and Alumni supports.
Returning 49ers-backed social justice organizations continuing their work in the Bay Area include:
Urban Ed Academy – builds equity in education by increasing Black male teacher representation in San Francisco. Urban Ed Academy has successfully recruited more fellows, bringing the total to 22 fellows across three cohorts currently in program. Fellows are currently serving in nine schools in the San Francisco Unified School District and 13 in the Oakland Unified School District, impacting approximately 875 students through their SMART+ programming and partnerships with 15 schools and community organizations.
Operation HOPE – serves adults, youth, disaster survivors and employees with financial dignity programming and coaching to equip them with the financial knowledge and tools at no cost to the client in order to create a secure future.
The impact from grant funding since 2020 saw 49ers-backed social justice organizations block more than a dozen bills that would have increased mass incarceration and reversed key criminal justice re-forms, reduced the statewide inmate total by 22,000 to the lowest number in three decades, and supported over 35 Black male teaching fellows between San Francisco and Oakland. The grants from the 49ers have also provided food and essential supplies to 15,000 individuals, distributed temporary housing assistance to 285 families, gave Economic Empowerment coaching to 805 individuals and provided mental health services for 485 individuals through workshops and webinars.
For more information on how the 49ers Social Justice grant has impacted the Bay Area since 2020, visit https://www.49ers.com/community/socialjustice.
