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How I Accidentally Met (And Spoke With) Rep. Barbara Lee and Survived

When Lee arrived, I could only stand and stare. I’ve never seen her before, yet the moment my mentor, Mrs. Wanda, introduced me to her, that feeling of meeting a stranger faded away. She was so bright, smiling at everybody and cracking jokes. To be in the same room as her was being able to see and appreciate her charisma up close. I complimented her suit (I’ve never seen someone pull off a bright blue suit the way she did) and we took a couple pictures together.

Published

1 year ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee with Oakland School for the Arts student Anka Lee, who is an intern at The Post. Photo by Kevin Hicks.

By Anka Lee
Post Intern

Last Wednesday, I was in no hurry to get anywhere. I had yet to readjust to waking up early and arriving at places on time after winter break. After school, I walked to the Post News Group building, ready to tune back into my ‘journalist’ mentality after a two-week hiatus from socializing. Little did I know, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee would be visiting… to be interviewed.

We went upstairs to prepare for the interview about her mayoral campaign and what she strives to accomplish as mayor of Oakland. She and a couple other Post News Group members, as well as the interviewer and cameraman, sat around a long table. Mr. Cobb, the publisher of The Post, asked Mrs. Wanda and I to prepare questions for Lee before he headed inside. I was going to sit in on the interview and contribute to it. I would have never expected this in a million years.

They began the interview immediately, which I found incredibly productive but also insanely stressful. How was I going to interview Barbara Lee when I was barely accustomed to interviewing people on a regular basis? Mrs. Wanda saved me from a near meltdown when she helped me write down the questions. Once I wrote them down, she gently urged me to enter the room.

The first thing I noticed when entering the room was the formality in the air. It felt like too important of a moment for me to witness. Lee was answering the interviewer’s questions animatedly and with conviction to every word she spoke.

Each person chipped into the conversation, and it was near the end of the interview that Mr. Cobb made a gesture at me. All eyes suddenly turned to me and I tried my best not to seem as scared as I felt. I told myself to treat this as any other interview I’ve done.

I asked about the youth involved in her campaign. She said that already some young people are volunteering and helping, and she intends to bring a couple people in to get trained in campaigns and have meetings with young people about their policy agenda.

There are young people attending college while some are living in the streets, she observed. She wants the “input and involvement” of the youth to better understand how she can fix that situation the best she can.

The second question was about her plans to address racial and ethnic division in Oakland. She emphasized that although Oakland may be ahead in some ways compared to other cities, during a meeting with leaders among different communities she noticed “none of them had ever met each other.”

It was then that she realized unity is the key to creating a more diverse and equal city—to have discussions outside of the mayor’s office in order to empower people of all communities to work together, especially those in the Black community: “I’m going to make sure every single community has input, a seat at the table, and work together.”

Anka Lee is a student intern at The Post from the Oakland School for the Arts.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.