Akonadi Foundation recently awarded Oakland Voices a $10,000 grant to support local journalism focused on local movement-building organizations.
“Oakland Voices is grateful that the Akonadi Foundation continues to support our work to amplify the voices of storytellers in the Town,” said Rasheed Shabazz, director of Oakland Voices. “This investment in local journalism will support graduates of our program to tell original stories about community organizers, healers, and culture-bearers in Oakland.”
Akonadi is an Oakland-focused foundation focused on racial justice. This year, Akonadi’s So Love Can Win Fund awarded a total of half a million dollars to 49 projects and organizations focused on healing, cross-racial solidarity, and creating a multiracial democracy.
“More than ever, it is critical to ensure the voices of Oakland’s Black, Indigenous and all people of color communities are heard and documented as a strategy to reclaim the narrative and shape the future of our city. The So Love Can Win fund intentionally invests in grassroots journalism and storytelling to inspire civic engagement and cultural discourse.”
Akonadi first awarded a grant to Oakland Voices, a program of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, in 2020.
“More than ever, it is critical to ensure the voices of Oakland’s Black, Indigenous and all people of color communities are heard and documented as a strategy to reclaim the narrative and shape the future of our city. The So Love Can Win fund intentionally invests in grassroots journalism and storytelling to inspire civic engagement and cultural discourse,” Demetria Huntsman, senior program officer with Akonadi Foundation said. “We are thrilled to support Oakland Voices as they lead this charge.”
While Oakland Voices’ editorial independent policy makes clear that donors do not have input on what news is covered or how news is reported, many of the stories this grant will produce will emerge from building relationships with other grantees, and other community engagement efforts next year.
Grantees included organizations that Oakland Voices community correspondents have previously told stories about, like Arab Resource Organizing Committee, Bay Area Woman Against Rape, Oscar Grant Foundation, the Village in Oakland, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, and the West Oakland Mural Project.
Other journalism programs that received grants include Oakland Voices partners the Oaklandside, a newsroom of the Cityside Journalism Initiative, and El Tímpano, an Oakland newsroom that amplifies the voices of the Bay Area’s Latino and Mayan immigrants. We’ve co-published stories with both outlets.
Oakland Voices will use the grants to provide stipends to alum of our program to produce stories and provide honorariums to guest speakers and trainers at workshops.
Since 2010, nearly 80 residents have completed Oakland Voices’ community storytelling program. In 2020, Oakland Voices postponed our Academy during the Covid-19 pandemic and focused on engaging program alumni to create health-focused stories for our website. Since 2023, 13 residents have completed the Community Journalism Academy. Our 2024 class graduated on November 22.
Each year, between 12-16 alumni are paid to contribute the stories published on Oakland Voices website. Some may only contribute once, while others are more prolific, helping to fill the gap in local news coverage.
In 2025, Oakland Voices will not seat a new class. Instead, we have developed a refresher course for alumni that will focus on producing stories focused on health, arts & culture, and movement building, with a focus on current and past grantees.
Be the first to comment