Activism
OCCUR & SF Foundation FAITHS Program Presents Year-End Celebration: Taking Our Impact Higher!
Even in an era of tumult as we’ve rarely seen before, individuals in great need today are still looking to faiths and nonprofit organizations for answers and support. Many are asking if these institutions can still meet the challenge. Yes, they can.
By Carmen Bogan
Even in an era of tumult as we’ve rarely seen before, individuals in great need today are still looking to faiths and nonprofit organizations for answers and support. Many are asking if these institutions can still meet the challenge. Yes, they can.
On Wednesday, Sept. 27, OCCUR and the San Francisco Foundation FAITHS Program presents the year-end celebration of A Model Built on FAITH Impact Series called the Power of Faith and Community. It will be held virtually from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
In the 2023 series finale, four extraordinary, noted Bay Area, national and international leaders Pastor Paul Bains, St. Samuel COGIC Church and founder of United Hope Builders in East Palo Alto; Dr. Jonathan Butler, associate minister, S.F. Third Baptist Church, executive director of the San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition; and DeVone Boggan, founder of Advance Peace in Richmond, will discuss how the unique power of Bay Area faiths and non-profit leaders can meet the challenges we all face now, and even elevate their call to bring change, hope and healing to individuals and communities when we need it most.
The session will be moderated by Dr. Michelle Myles Chambers, FAITHS Program Director at the San Francisco Foundation (SFF). “In the Bay Area, we are blessed with faiths and nonprofit leaders that are action-oriented,” says Chambers who is also a community activist. “Somehow, organizations who themselves survive with very few resources have found a way to provide for the people they serve. How? Of course, they need more funding and other resources to sustain and grow. But what drives them is greater. It’s about justice, impact, and faith. These are the necessary resources they will always have in abundance. And that makes the difference.”
Panelists for this celebration session will discuss and answer questions about:
- The essential role of faith and nonprofit leaders as advocates and activists.
- How to build extraordinary organizations and programs from start to finish.
- How these leaders found funding and other resources for sustainability.
- How partnerships can help elevate growth and impact.
- How Bay Area faith-based and nonprofit leaders can use the intensity of these times to level-up impacts.
- Self-care, words of advice, encouragement, hope, and celebration of all faith-based and nonprofit leaders boldly answering the call to take on unrelenting, heavy lifts.
Join Us!
Date: Sept. 27, 2023
Time: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. PST
Location: Virtual training, Zoom Meeting ID: 861 4945 3331
To Register for the Event: Visit AModelBuiltOnFaith.org
Questions: Email info@occurnow.org
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
Activism
IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.
Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.
He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.
He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.
Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.
Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.
Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.
He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.
A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.
His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.
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