For the 9th year in a row, Essie Justice Group worked to secure the release of Black Mamas held in pretrial detention, unable to spend Mother’s Day at home simply because they were not able to pay. The dedicated Essie team was able to bail four Black Mamas out in 2025, and 21 total since they took on the role of California Lead of the National Bail Out annual Mother’s Day action. This year, Essie released The Hidden Heart of Reentry in partnership with National Black Women’s Justice Institute, a study of the women with incarcerated loved ones who have led Essie’s Black Mama’s Bail Outs for the last 9 years, tracking powerful learnings on why investing in the leadership of system-impacted women is critical for successful reentry. Read the report at Essie’s website and hear from one Mama whose life was changed when her public defender connected her with Essie on KQED’s California Report.

When Ersula Capers lost two sons to gun violence in Oakland, she found herself unable to find the strength to live through each day. All that changed when she was connected with Brianna Manning, Community Healing Program Coordinator at Urban Peace Movement. UPM provides resources and support for families impacted by gun violence as part of its work to transform the culture and social conditions that lead to community violence and mass incarceration in communities of color. For Ersula, that meant food assistance and help paying rent and electrical bills, as well as mental health resources. Brianna hopes to work with more mothers like Capers, who have “so much love, so much light…I wish we could document that more instead of saying Oakland is a bad place, when it’s not.” Learn more about Ursula’s journey and UPM’s work in this feature for CBS Bay Area.

“The updates we’ve made to all of our grantmaking and partnerships over time weren’t part of a ‘trust-based’ branding or any other trend in the sector…they were made as a result of authentic curiosity and a practical understanding of what we actually need and don’t need to achieve our goals in partnership with the community,” said Allison Magee, President and Executive Director of Zellerbach Family Foundation. Last year, Zellerbach replaced their traditional outcomes-based evaluation model with a “Learning Agenda,” an adaptive approach that evolves in response to community needs and changing circumstances. Read more about how Zellerbach transformed its giving to better support grantees at Inside Philanthropy.

On Wednesday, Asian Health Services participated in the Medicaid Day of Action, launching a webpage with resources on how community members can take action to protect Medicaid. They rallied supporters to email and call their representatives using this action tool from CPCA. Jessie, a member of the Oakland Chinatown Elders Organizing Collective, voiced concerns for his community: “I strongly oppose the cutting of funding for Medi-Cal, and it is imperative to maintain the benefits elderly folks have. We are all deserving of a healthy life.” Learn more at the AHS Stand with Medicaid webpage.

Ahead of her inauguration on May 20, Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee is already working hard with her newly appointed transition team to address The Town’s most pressing issues: public safety, affordable housing, homelessness and encampments, and economic development. Integral to her 100 day plan is assembling working groups of “community members, nonprofit leaders, people who have the pulse of Oakland and what needs to be done…These working groups are going to be essential to how we govern in a new way.” More on Mayor-elect Lee’s plan in this interview with KQED.

We know that Oakland’s small businesses community is the backbone of our local economy. That’s why the East Bay Community Foundation launched the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund as part of EBCF’s larger vision of an inclusive and just economy where all East Bay residents have the economic power and freedom to dream, heal, and belong. As part of the program, 170 small businesses received grants of $5,000 to $25,000 based on need. Charles Farrier of Crumble & Whisk, a grant recipient, explains the outsized value of a thriving small business community: “We are still a core part of Oakland and we are the people that actually help make the city more profitable, help bring together communities, and help bring people together.” More in this feature from ABC 7.

All pregnant Texans deserve immediate, evidence-based emergency care – including access to abortion. Dangerous legislation moving through the Texas house and senate makes the false promise of health and life exceptions by omitting a statutory exception to prosecution. Kamyon Conner, the executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund and a partner organization of the Trust Respect Access Coalition, recently penned this piece for the Austin American Statesman advocating for Rosie’s Law, which would require all insurance plans, including Medicaid, to provide full coverage for legal abortion care.

This Sunday, Californians for Safety and Justice and Bay Area Community Resources will partner with A1 Barber Shop to host the 4th Annual Bay Area Student Barber Expo and Expungement Clinic. The high-energy competition will showcase the talents of barbers and braiders from across the Bay Area while offering people with criminal convictions to expunge their records. Tinisch Hollins, Executive Director of Californians for Safety and Justice, was recently featured on KRON4 and KTVU to promote the event and talk about the importance of providing support for system impacted people to stabilize their lives and help build their careers. For more information, visit the Bay Area Student Barber Expo on Instagram.