OAKLAND, Sept. 22, 2022
SPAAT is elated to announce that it is a recipient of a social justice grant worth $100,000 from the San Francisco 49ers. This grant will be used to support SPAAT’s cause of advancing racial justice through education throughout Oakland.
Funds from the 49ers will be deployed to hire academic case managers, tutors, and college advisors. These operation enhancements will support the expansion of SPAAT’s College and Career Sports Performance Initiative (CCSPI), a district-wide collaborative initiative spanning across 5 middle and high schools in the Oakland Unified School District. Because ninety percent of the students in CCSPI are African-American and receive free-and-reduced lunch, the funding from this grant will advance SPAAT’s continuing efforts to promote social, racial, and educational justice.
With this grant, SPAAT will join a cohort of other nonprofits supported by the 49ers that have significantly impacted the Bay Area over the past year by providing an array of services to Bay Area residents. SPAAT is proud to join the ranks of these other worthy organizations working to improve the lives of those living in the Bay Area. With these funds, SPAAT will be able to continue to expand its efforts to enhance the educational and social justice for Oakland youth.
SPAAT’s CEO Harold Pearson says,
SPAAT Board Member, Fatai Oshi-Ojuri Quote:
It is an honor to be recognized by the San Francisco 49ers as a high-performing, mission-driven organization here in the Bay Area. It is an even greater honor that we get to continue providing high-end academic coaching, support, and encouraging environments for the young men and women of Oakland.
As we approach two decades of service to our community, we are just getting started and looking forward to deepening our partnership with the 49ers organization and continued success of our mission: helping every student-athlete transition from their secondary education to the world of college, careers, and adulthood. With too many student-athletes in Oakland headed toward academic failure, SPAAT’s mission is critical to their future success. Thanks to this funding from the 49ers, this important work can continue to support Oakland area students.
About SPAAT
The Student Program for Athletic & Academic Transitioning (SPAAT) is an Oakland-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that leverages the power of sports to systematically transform lives at the individual level and to create positive change in the greater community. SPAAT’s is to increase the number of students and athletes prepared for success in college, careers, and life after sports. The organization’s programs serve students ages 12-19 who are passionate about their sport but struggle academically. Its innovative curriculum creates a college-environment culture and provides student-athletes with the knowledge and support they need to make informed decisions
about their academic futures. Each year, SPAAT makes a life-changing difference to hundreds of Bay Area student-athletes, and since 2003, has assisted student-athletes in securing millions of dollars in collegiate academic and athletic scholarships.
About the San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers, owned by Denise and John York, currently play in the NFC West division and have won five Super Bowl trophies including Super Bowl XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX. The franchise also has seven conference championships and 20 divisional championships and was the first major league professional sports team to be based in San Francisco more than 70 years ago. In recognition of their unparalleled commitment to the community, the 49ers were the winners of the ESPN Humanitarian
Sports Team of the Year in 2017 and the Beyond Sport 2015 Sport Team of the Year. The 49ers objective is to provide support to national and local Bay Area nonprofit organizations who are currently engaged in effective strategies for improving racial equity, with a focus on the African-American community, in three key areas: (1) policing, (2) the criminal justice system beyond policing, and (3) education and economic opportunity.
SPAAT Media Contact: Ericka Jenkins, admin@spaat.org; 510.836.9999
Facebook/Instagram: @spaatup
