A warm congratulations to this year’s Youth Advisory Board cohort for wrapping up the year! Under the guidance of teaching artists Marabet Morales and Duane Horton, the inaugural Youth Advisory Board cohort had a prolific year of leadership development.

Come visit Chapter 510’s Youth Booth at the Bay Area Book Festival this Sunday June 2 from 11am-5pm!

At the Spring Lit Fest on Saturday May 18, Chapter 510 celebrated the release of two new youth written anthologies, Hello From Somewhere and House Where the Earth Quakes, as well as Hoover Elementary School’s MEGALAND virtual theme park.

We are so excited to share highlights from the 2022-2023 school year, including the results of our first-ever external impact evaluation, program accomplishments, student and teacher spotlights, and where we’re headed next!

WELCOME TO THE BOARD APUR PATEL, JAMES “JAMIE” SAMPSON, AND TOVA RICARDO!

Did you know that Chapter 510 holds creative writing workshops at several Oakland public schools? Our school-based projects are ongoing partnerships with OUSD teachers, administrators, and students.

Here is an interview with Janet Heller, Executive Director, about Chapter 510’s impact on a classroom at Hoover Elementary School.

Our very first set of book reviews! Oakland Voices correspondents read and reviewed newly published books by Chapter 510. This is part one, so more reviews are forthcoming!

We met Aniya Butler in 2017, when she was 10 years old.

She enrolled in a poetry workshop in partnership with House/Full of Blackwomen. The workshop culminated in a book and an evening of performances by local Black women healers, makers, dreamers, and leaders.

On Friday, February 3, we partnered with Youth Vs. Apocalypse to host our very first youth open mic at our new home (the last open mic we hosted was in March 2020!).

“Chapter 510 could be a model for what other communities can do and should be doing; to really bring people together - and to brin them together in a creative way that’s going to allow them to tap into who they are.”

- Charity Chandler-Cole, CEO, CASA of Los Angeles

The Oaklandside covers Oakland Belonging and publishes the audio as a podcast on Spotify.

Led by teaching artist and audio producer Elena Botkin-Levy, students used audio storytelling as a method of collecting and archiving stories about Swan’s Market, site of Chapter 510’s new writing center and much more. This film captures this powerful program from beginning to end. Thanks to video producer/documentarian Miles Lassi and to the Kenneth Rainin Foundation for underwriting this film.

Dear Oakland Allies,

As co-chairs of the Board of Directors, we are pleased to share Chapter 510’s 2021-22 Impact Report with you. This past year has been momentous for the organization: we opened a stunning new writing center in downtown Oakland. Our center is providing a post-shutdown space for youth to reconnect, create, and write with confidence and joy.