Directions to 8200 International Blvd.
East Oakland Youth Development Center
The East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) works to develop and encourage social and leadership skills in youth, ages 5 to 24, to prepare them for employment, higher education, and leadership roles in their community and elsewhere. The EOYDC has been working with the community for nearly 50 years and is one of the city’s most revered institutions that serves youth.
Executive Director Selena Wilson, a lifelong resident of East Oakland, has dedicated herself to improving the lives of the community’s children. She knows how precarious life can be for children growing up in an environment of chaos and neglect. She remembers growing up in the midst of the crack epidemic, gang violence, and police raids of the 1980s and 1990s. What kept her on the right path was “a legacy of empowerment” that was left by the Black Panther Party a generation earlier. The care and mentorship she found as a young girl at the EOYDC gave her the guidance, hope, and community knowledge she needed to not only survive her surroundings, but to return from college with a strong commitment to give back to her community. Selena credits her teachers, too, with imparting valuable, life-affirming lessons in Black history, self-determination, and community engagement.
Mentored by Regina Jackson, who headed the EOYDC for 27 years, Selena sees one of her most important roles for staff is to be “thought partners” with the youth. She believes “kids know best” when it comes to their problems. Given the level of deprivation East Oakland youth see and experience daily, Selena feels that teaching advocacy skills and providing mental health support are things youth need most immediately these days. The EOYDC staff emphasizes five elements of success: readiness, character, access, social emotional growth, and social justice. Selena follows the African philosophy of “ubuntu” that we are stronger when we act in solidarity, with compassion, and respect.
Listen to an interview with executive director Selena Wilson:
Voices of the People:
Listen to Oakland neighbors talk about what they love about their communities, the changes they’ve seen, what they envision for the future of Oakland and ideas on how to get there.