Six 0akland organizations received the original request for proposals from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation: People’s Grocery, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, City Slicker Farms, the City of Oakland, the Alameda County Public Health Department and the Alameda County Community Food Bank. An important part of our history is the fact that there was a community process to select the original three co-convener organizations.
Over 20 organizations, including many grass-roots organizations, selected the original three and now two co-convener organizations. The co-conveners are the Alameda County Public Health Department and the Alameda County Community Food Bank. The Alameda County Community Food Bank became the fiscal sponsor for the Collaborative.
The first step in building the HOPE Collaborative was the installation of the Temporary Advisory Team. The 23-member TAT included co-conveners and partner representatives. In the Summer of 2008 the TAT transitioned to the HOPE Steering Committee.
The 21-member Steering Committee serves as the decision-making body for the HOPE Collaborative. The Steering Committee includes the two co-convener groups, each with one vote; two representatives from each action team; two youth; a representative of the Oakland Food Policy Council; and eight members at-large representing themselves and their neighborhoods.
A formal agreement governs the relationship between the Steering Committee and the Co-Conveners.