Community

Marin City’s Malachia Hoover Awarded Ford Foundation Fellowship

Published

6 years ago

May 2, 2019

Malachia Hoover, who grew up in Marin City, recently earned her Master’s degree in Biology as part of California State University Northridge’s (CSUN) Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program. She is currently a second-year graduate student and research assistant studying at Stanford University’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

She has also been named a recipient of the prestigious fellowship from the Ford Foundation, whose mission is to “increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, (and) to maximize the educational benefits of diversity…”

While studying at CSUN’s Developmental Oncogene Laboratory, which studies how a normal cell changes into a cancer cell, Hoover worked under Dr. Jonathan Kelber and addressed important questions in cancer and tissue regeneration. Kelber mentored Hoover for more than four years, and said that she stood out as a student because of her numerous publications.

“Malachia has already had co-authorship on one paper, she’s had first authorship on another paper, she’s got a second first-author paper that we’re working [on], and she’s going to be on at least two [more],” Kelber said. “She’s been very prolific in terms of research productivity, which made her an outstanding applicant.”

Hoover credited CSUN’s RISE programs for providing opportunities to help her achieve her goals.

Hoover said that RISE helped her financially during her work as a graduate student, and her community in Marin City played an integral role in supporting her dreams.

“Being part of the RISE program was a huge help,” Hoover said. “They were able to support me, so I didn’t have to [be a teacher’s assistant] as much or work off campus. This helped a lot because it allowed me to focus on my research.

“My community (including family, friends, and community members) played a big role in my Ph.D. application process,” she added. “They helped me raise $1,500 through GoFundMe. That helped me pay for all the application costs.”

Hoover was also awarded scholarships from the Sausalito Woman’s Club in 2014, 2015 and 2017, and was honored by the Hannah Project in 2015.

Hoover participated in Felecia Gaston’s “Enlighten” program in 2017, where 75 young girls of color gathered in Marin City to meet with working women, such as Hoover, and hear about the worlds of science, technology, engineering and mathematics — areas of study that have sometimes been out of reach for minority women.

“There has been a lack of women and a lack of women of color in these fields,” said Gaston, executive director of Performing Stars, to the Marin I.J. “It’s people like Hoover who are their role models.”

“We need more scientists that come from minority backgrounds,” Hoover said.” [Anyone] can be a scientist through hard work and mentorship.”

Godfrey Lee

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

20 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.