Oakland Starting Smart and Strong
  • About
    • Our Purpose
    • Our Team >
      • Staff & Consultants
      • Supporters
      • Lead Planning Team
      • Committees and Task Force
      • Featured Leaders
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Racial Justice >
      • Promising Practices
      • ROCK >
        • ROCK TOOLKIT
    • Community Leadership >
      • Early Learning Symposium
      • Family Child Care Policy Program
    • Systems Change >
      • Developmental Screening
      • Strategic Plan
    • Data, Policy & Advocacy >
      • Policy & Advocacy
      • ECEcosystem Data Portal
      • Early Development Instrument
    • Collective Impact >
      • Year in Review
      • Results & Impact
  • RESOURCES
    • Reports
    • Tools
    • Presentations
    • Public Meetings
  • EVENTS
  • NEWS
    • Blog
    • Newsletter
  • GET INVOLVED

About
​Oakland Starting Smart and Strong

Two young children sit on low benches outside, one of them looks up while the other is drinking from a cup
Oakland Starting Smart and Strong is a broad, active and diverse collaboration with core leadership of parent advocacy groups, early care and education providers, city and county systems leaders and representatives of elected officials, community based organizations, philanthropy, and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).

Our collective vision of success is that:
  • Every young child in Oakland has access to high quality early learning experiences;
  • Every adult in that child’s life has the resources, tools and information necessary to support them; and
  • Schools and communities are designed and operated to support the healthy development of every child, regardless of race or family income level.

We focus our resources and systems-building efforts towards children and families most impacted by social, racial, and economic inequity.

Over our history, we have moved from a focus on kindergarten readiness to a broader framework that: 1) prioritizes equity gaps in early learning, healthy development and family support and leadership resources and; 2) seeks to address root causes for those disparities (eg. trauma and racism).

Read an overview of our work here. 

2022-25 Strategic Plan

Young girl smiles with her head turned while standing at a fence by a garden

OUR PURPOSE

A young child plays with colorful toys while sitting on the grass outside

OUR TEAM

An educator kneels down to be eye level with a young child while they play with bubbles together

CONTACT US

A young student builds a structure with large blocks outside
Many of the photos on this site appear courtesy of Hasain Rasheed Photography
  • About
    • Our Purpose
    • Our Team >
      • Staff & Consultants
      • Supporters
      • Lead Planning Team
      • Committees and Task Force
      • Featured Leaders
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Racial Justice >
      • Promising Practices
      • ROCK >
        • ROCK TOOLKIT
    • Community Leadership >
      • Early Learning Symposium
      • Family Child Care Policy Program
    • Systems Change >
      • Developmental Screening
      • Strategic Plan
    • Data, Policy & Advocacy >
      • Policy & Advocacy
      • ECEcosystem Data Portal
      • Early Development Instrument
    • Collective Impact >
      • Year in Review
      • Results & Impact
  • RESOURCES
    • Reports
    • Tools
    • Presentations
    • Public Meetings
  • EVENTS
  • NEWS
    • Blog
    • Newsletter
  • GET INVOLVED