Grantee Profile

Juma Ventures is a youth development program that uses an innovative social enterprise approach to support urban youth in making successful transitions from high school to adulthood.  Juma develops and operates businesses for the purpose of providing desperately needed employment and developmental opportunities to youth from low-income backgrounds. The work experience and encouragement youth receive in these jobs is enhanced with program services ensuring that each person has the opportunity, knowledge and resources needed to pursue a future of their own making.  Over the past 14 years, Juma has worked with more than 2,500 youth, with over 80 percent finishing high school and successfully transitioning to post-secondary education or career-directed employment.

About Our Grants

The Foundation’s grants totaling $150,500 helped to expand the Field of Dreams Initiative, a program where Juma’s youth sell Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and Starbuck’s coffee, among other products, in six professional and collegiate sports stadiums and one NASCAR venue. In partnership with Aramark, a Fortune 500 concessionaire, and in cooperation with local unions, Juma refined the existing program in Oakland and expanded it into Sonoma and San Diego, demonstrating the potential for national implementation.