East Oakland Youth Development Center
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| Abbreviation | EOYDC |
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| Motto | "Building character to build community" |
| Formation | 1978 |
| Founder | Robert B. Shetterly |
| Location |
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| Leader | Regina Jackson, President & CEO |
| Website | http://eoydc.org/ |
East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Oakland, California, United States. EOYDC develops the social and leadership capacities of youth and young adults (ages 5 to 24) so that they are prepared for employment, higher education, and leadership opportunities. EOYDC is a community-based solution for solving social injustice and inequality, and is a national model for youth development.
EOYDC was founded in 1973 and opened its doors in 1978 by Robert B. Shetterly, then-CEO of Clorox. Shetterly served as CEO during Clorox’s transition in 1969 from a subsidiary of the Procter & Gamble Co. to an independent company and set the stage for Clorox to become one of America’s leading manufacturers and marketers of consumer household products.
Although Shetterly was a prominent businessman and a long-time resident of Orinda, he had a great vision and passion for Oakland. He was aware of, and strongly opposed to, the plight and social inequalities of ethnic minorities in the city and believed that access to education and opportunity should not be based on skin color. Shetterly convinced many businesses to settle in downtown Oakland as opposed to other local cities. He knew that without the investment of businesses, there would be a future of instability and poverty in Oakland.
As an activist, Shetterly became involved with various organizations with significant causes including the Black Panthers, providing financial support to help run their Free Breakfast Program, and used his influence and wealth to give back to the community. During the early 70’s he began to promote his vision of a community-based program that helps underprivileged youth; this vision became the East Oakland Youth Development Center. Since 1994, EOYDC has been under the leadership of Regina Jackson.
The mission of EOYDC is to develop the social and leadership capacities of youth so that they achieve excellence in education, career, and service to their communities. The mission is based on solid research, which demonstrates that interventions that foster relationships with caring adults and mastery of technical and social skills, can lead to increased well-being and civic engagement among youth from high-risk environments.
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