Non-Profit Dedicated To Improving Economic Conditions for Low-Income Communities in Oakland Achieves Milestones

December 31, 2011 – Oakland, Calif. – Oakland Digital (www.odalc.org), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that educates and inspires low-income communities through technology, brought the Hammer down on Oakland, wrapping a successful year with educational classes and capping it off with its second annual Inspiration Awards, honoring MC Hammer, singer/artist Goapele and technology leader Alex Bernstein of North Social.

With the City of Oakland often in the news this year, Oakland Digital worked quietly in the background to achieve progress for many of the city’s economically disadvantaged communities. Operating several classes teaching community members the tools needed to survive in the digital age, Oakland Digital’s efforts to educate and inspire community members using technology has been recognized by the City, the Mayor’s office and through sponsorships from local technology giants including Yahoo! Small Business and Pandora.

“Oakland is a city that inspires passion and commitment from its dedicated community members who know that there is a better Oakland for its people, and who are willing to devote their energies to this cause,” said Shaun Tai, Executive Director at Oakland Digital. “This year showed how much we can achieve together to improve the lives of people in Oakland and level the economic playing field. Oakland Digital is committed to continuing the momentum from this year and we are especially grateful to our sponsors, supporters and volunteers.”

Oakland Digital’s 2012 programs will include “Inspire Oakland” for students and “Digital Equity” for small businesses assisting underserved individuals with training and educational opportunities to become effective members of the digital economy.

In December, Oakland Digital held its second annual Inspiration Awards ceremony.  Attended by nearly 200 influential community leaders and with sponsorship from Yahoo! Small Business, North Social, Comcast, Pandora and Social Data Lab, the event achieved fundraising goals for the non-profit that will be used for 2012 programming.  Local Bay Area broadcasting legend Barbara Rodgers emceed the event and hip-hop artist Malki Means King closed the evening with a rousing, inspirational rap celebrating Oakland Digital and the beauty of Oakland that had the audience on their feet.

In his acceptance speech, Oakland-raised MC Hammer stated, “There has been a certain level of frustration watching technology evolve and watching new economies being made and not seeing enough participation from the underserved…The entire Oakland Digital team should be very proud of what they’ve created… it’s not only successful, but it’s encouraging hope. Hope is the missing element.”

The scene at the Inspiration Awards visibly moved its many attendees. As observed by Oakland Digital board member Norman Weekes, “This is the Oakland, where hope never dies and this is the Oakland that inspires us all.”

Thanks to your support – the Oakland Digital (ODALC) team is deeply grateful for all we’ve been able to accomplish in 2011 due to our great friends, supporters and volunteers.

Happy Holidays and wishing you a healthy, prosperous year ahead!

Best,

Volunteer staff at Oakland Digital

PS. Donate before December 31st to make your contribution tax-deductible on your 2011 return. A big thanks to those who’ve donated already this year!

Ways to give:

1) Snail Mail: send a check or money order, please list “Oakland Digital” as the recipient and mail it to:

Oakland Digital (ODALC)
1224 Harrison Street
Oakland, CA 94612-3913

2) PayPal: send your donation to donate@odalc.org.

3) Credit Card: call 510-435-2945, press 0 to make your pledge!

‘Like’ Oakland Digital @ www.facebook.com/odalc and Follow Oakland Digital @ www.twitter.com/odalc – do your part to Inspire Oakland!

Web Marketing Training Session presented by LocalOn and Oakland Digital (ODALC)

Web Marketing for Your Small Business Simplified – A Free Session

Merchants will learn how to:

• Advertise for free on the East Bay Express
• Leverage Social Media to bring in customers
• Kickstart a web marketing campaign on a budget
• Edit their LocalOn websites

When:
Saturday, December 17th, from 2pm-4pm

Where:
Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center
1224 Harrison Street
Oakland, CA 94612-3913

All merchants in attendance will be given a free LocalOn account to simplify their web marketing campaign and manage their social media presence.

Lines of Communication Mural Inauguration at Oakland Digital
Saturday, November 12, 2011, 3:00pm

Mixed-media artist Laila Espinoza unveils mural Nov. 12th at 1224 Harrison Street in downtown Oakland. The event is open to the public and prints of the mural will be available for purchase.

Lines of Communication commenced in August 2010 and was completed in September 2011. Creating the mural was both a beautiful and challenging process. “The mural began during my pregnancy,” says Espinoza. “There was a time walking to Oakland Digital when I said to myself, I’m so exhausted – I can’t do this. But each time I started working on the mural, it gave me inspiration to keep going.”

“The sudden increase of human’s reliance on technology… the direction where we seem to be headed, as far as how people are losing their human connection, the human touch,” is what inspired Espinoza to create this piece. The mural represents the unique relationship between humans and technology; the inevitable impact and responsibility to use technology as a tool for improving life.

“I learned that technology is similar to life, not everything is perfect. Technology is evolving and as long as we are conscious of how we use technology, how it affects our community and the way we communicate, both can live and thrive in harmony.”

Tax deductible donations collected at the Lines of Communication Mural Inauguration will raise funds to maintain the mural and support local artists.

Download the press release. For more information visitwww.lailaespinoza.org and www.odalc.org.

Cultivate is giving away $25,000 per month to non-profits via a democratic voting system. The winner will receive $10,000, and the three runners-up will each receive $5,000. Help Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center (ODALC) by voting at http://www.cultivatewines.com/cause/236!

WHY SHOULD YOU SUPPORT OAKLAND DIGITAL’s CAUSE

Inspire Oakland students enter the workforce with a tangible, professional portfolio piece that is featured on a commercial billboard.

HELP SPREAD THE WORD (via Facebook, Twitter, etc.) AND VOTE TODAY!

Oakland Digital featured on Peralta TV!

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Oakland Digital featured on 9th Floor Radio!

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Register for Oakland Digital’s Oct. 27th event at Laney College!

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Oakland Digital (ODALC) is a 501(c)(3) grassroots not-for-profit organization that provides digital skills training and Internet education to economically-disadvantaged Oaklanders. For more information, visit www.odalc.org.

Oakland Digital (ODALC), Constant Contact & Laney College present "Social Media Marketing Made Simple"!

To learn more about Oakland Digital (ODALC), please visit the following pages: www.odalc.org, www.facebook.com/odalc, www.twitter.com/odalc.

More info @ www.oaklandnet.com/firestorm20 and www.facebook.com/firestorm20 where survivors can share memories, current thoughts and a special page for survivors who were under 18 years of age 20 years ago.