I have never been comfortable talking about what we do in the community. My parents taught me two important lessons about charity/philanthropy. First, you help those in need, full stop. Second, you don’t run around telling people how great you are for helping. Those have been my marching orders.
A decade ago, our advisory council told me I had to put the groups we support on our website, so I did – HERE. Last quarter, our Advisory Council let me know that I should be more vocal about our work. So, here is a quick summary of our last year…
In 2021, Mindful Money completed a long-term pledge commitment to Berkeley Food and Housing Project’s Hope Center on Berkeley Way in Berkeley, CA before we shifted most of our giving towards bridging the Wealth Gap. Our focus is threefold:
- Financial Education: Free for Bay Area Groups serving the BIPOC community. We gave thousands of students, as well as church groups, athletics organizations, and entrepreneurial cohorts access to the Mindful Money Courses for free. In a few cases (for larger groups) we hosted a 90 Minute ZOOM kick-off event.
- College Access: We launched an annual 4 year scholarship for Berkeley/Oakland Youth from lower income families through Berkeley Community Scholars.
- Small Business & Entrepreneurship Support for BIPOC founders through ESO Ventures in East Oakland. Jonathan has served as an advisor to the founders who were just awarded an $8 Million grant from the state of CA to expand the project across the Bay Area.
You can help by sharing your network. ESO Ventures is putting that grant to work immediately by hiring for two key roles – A Director for their Capital In Community Fund and a Director of Programs. Go HERE for more info and share widely so they get the very best applicants.
ESO is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages people of color, women, and LGBTQ applicants to apply.
