This weekend, Impact Hub Oakland kicked off with Oakland’s first Startup Weekend Black Male Achievement (SWOBMA). Van Jones gave the keynote at Saturday’s evening reception and shared his vision for Rebuild The Dream’s latest program, #YesWeCode, a major initiative to help train 100,000 low-opportunity youth become the next generation of world-class computer programmers. The packed house also saw a panel: “Building a Silicon Valley that lives up to Dr. King’s dream” with Kimberly Bryant (Black Girls Code), Obai Rambo (Black Young Democrats of San Francisco), Marc Philpart (PolicyLink), Shaun Tai (Oakland Digital), Nicole Sanchez (Kapor Center for Social Impact), and Dan Portillo (Greylock Partners). We’re covering this story, but for now, wanted to share some of the photos participants took at the event; all images are credited to their posters and are owned by them. Click on a photo to trigger the carousel. @SMAC_CCSF Courtdate app pitch, which will notify youth of upcoming court dates. It could possibly prevent detention. #SWOBMA pic.twitter.com/nqSiffBxYO Marissa Louie @malouie Here with @Ngongang at #swobma. We’re impressed with how the hacks are aiming to solve local problems. @swoakland pic.twitter.com/n5rkPR86H5 First group “RXEasi.ly” a web portal & app making buying meds easy for the uninsured #SWOBMA #BMAWeek pic.twitter.com/4ISA7hqlR0 Cheryl Contee @ch3rylPacked house for oakland’s 1st startup wkend pitches. Smtg is happening at #swobma y’all’ pic.twitter.com/VyGZAmhYg6 Adam Stiles @adstiles Ready to launch beta of our job-search app for people w/ criminal records http://www.2ndimpression.co #SWOBMA #yeswecode pic.twitter.com/U939Spb1uf Phil Wolff @evanwolf Marguerite quietly engineering #CourtDate on the edge of the room while others lunched today #swobma pic.twitter.com/Orz42O5p9X Phil Wolff @evanwolf Startup Weekend OAK @swoakland 6h Some of our teams are taking a hack break to do some team building before pitching #SWOBMA #BMAweek #Hack #YesWeCode pic.twitter.com/Hi3g0wvDhq College Bound Bros @Collegeboundbro @mkapor addresses the audience at #SWOBMA @LPFI @anadiazhernandz @mlittles @DoveSoars @cedbrownsaid @CalEndow pic.twitter.com/pMfzqwVPWt College Bound Bros @Collegeboundbro #SWOBMA Great food! Great people! Great conversation! So proud of Kalimah Priforce for his vision and his bravery. pic.twitter.com/BH4pSnS62k Cedric Brown @cedbrownsaid SOO honored to receive award from @swoakland & @priforce 2nite! Also very proud of the youth participants!! #SWOBMA pic.twitter.com/vUJVnYvfqW Peggy Reskin @preskin #SWOBMA. From idea to getting it done: StartUp Oakland Black Male Achievement / work in process pic.twitter.com/KMZ4piWY3e BMAchievement @BMAchievement Hackathon coders getting the rules and regulations for the weekend! #SWOBMA #YesWeCode pic.twitter.com/1cJk2wcVox TDL @tdlove5 .@VanJones68 to young black coders. “We aren’t gonna fight the power, but BE the power” #SWOBMA #yeswecode pic.twitter.com/JFItQQyRWt Jenn Yoo @jooy8 24h Diversity is happening: #swobma is happening. So much passion and action and support in the room! #yeswecode pic.twitter.com/fBIB7QyFXU Kapor Center @KaporCenter 4h @iayori closing out #SWOBMA great job done by the organizing team! pic.twitter.com/2MgzMxUzrg One Response livegreen February 10, 2014 Susan, I want to commend you & your team about the excellent series of articles about positive things happening in Oakland and the positive Tech happenings. Many of these are not being covered in the traditional press. & many of these events shows practical progressivism with a “can do” spirit, going beyond the “can’t do” spirit of protest, so we can work together to find solutions for both our city, the poor & other groups historically discriminated against. Working with those who haven’t been discriminated against, who are willing to “give back” and assist in positive change. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website
livegreen February 10, 2014 Susan, I want to commend you & your team about the excellent series of articles about positive things happening in Oakland and the positive Tech happenings. Many of these are not being covered in the traditional press. & many of these events shows practical progressivism with a “can do” spirit, going beyond the “can’t do” spirit of protest, so we can work together to find solutions for both our city, the poor & other groups historically discriminated against. Working with those who haven’t been discriminated against, who are willing to “give back” and assist in positive change. Reply