Bay Area

Higher Ground, Spikeview Team Up to Help Youth Get Head Start in Life

“Ours is an important mission in the development for youth. Kids are learning skills and becoming better members of their community. And our partnering with spikeview helps to document their learning journey and organize their interests, skills, and experiences.”

Published

5 years ago

July 1, 2021

Isabelle Price

"Thomas, (center) a graduate of Higher Ground's programs, practices public speaking during a community meeting." Photo courtesy of Higher Ground.

People of all ages are faced with a huge question: “Who are you?” When you’re six years old, you can answer that question without any hesitancy. But when you get older, high school and beyond, the answer to “who are you” gets more important.

That’s the philosophy behind Higher Ground Neighborhood Development Corporation (NDC) and spikeview’s goal to help young job applicants prepare themselves for landing a job after high school or getting ready to attend college. Potential employers and college admissions personnel want to know who you are in real life.

Higher Ground (HG) is a multi-service nonprofit designed to provide elementary education and supportive to schools, districts and county offices of education throughout the East Bay. HG acts as an information storehouse on school/community-based service coordination for youth and the organizations that serve them.

HGs mission is to provide services that address intellectual development of young people by providing comprehensive after-school programs; career to college workforce programming and professional development, among other services.

The spikeview platform was created for young people to own their own narrative and maximize their potential. The centerpiece of spikeview is a portfolio that helps teens organize their interests and accomplishments. Employers and colleges are using spikeview to evaluate teens, rather than resumes and essays, because spikeview demonstrates soft skills that are impossible to present in old formats.

“Although most applications always ask for a resume, over 90% of employers say they don’t care about what’s on a resume,” said Khariyyah Shabazz, HG’s Workforce Development director. “What employers are actually interested in are answers to: what inspires you; how do you interact with a team; how do you treat people around you and what kind of things are you learning.

“Youth unemployment doubled in 2020,” added Shabazz. “An astonishing number of high schoolers are looking for skills training, internships, and tips to get into college. School is winding down, and time is of the essence for teens. Partnering with spikeview will help young people hear ‘Yes!’ from colleges and employers. It’s an online platform that shows the whole person behind an application.”

“Teenagers need to get a jump on this,” said Ekta Sahasi, founder and CEO of spikeview. “They need a way to catalog their interests and experience in a way that they can create focused stories about themselves.”

Sahasi is a mother of teenagers and wanted to be sure they had a secure way to organize their data without sacrificing privacy. She added, “Our users control their data, and we’ll never sell personal information to third parties.”

“At spikeview, we say ‘Own Your Narrative,’” continued Sahasi. “That means taking control of the type of questions related to ‘who are you.’ Don’t let your personal story be defined by some random social media posts or boring resume. We want to help youth organize their thoughts so they will be able to present themselves professionally when pursuing work of educational opportunities.”

The spikeview platform is free to use. It’s available in the Apple Store, Google Play Store, and was a web app.

For more information on Higher Ground, visit their website at www.highergroundndc.com or call 510.415.9271. For more information on Spikeview, visit https://spikeview.com/.

Isabelle Price

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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

5 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

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Activism

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.