2025 Impact Report
If the past few years have taught us anything, it is that uncertainty is not new to our communities. What is new is the clarity we are building together about what it takes not only to survive, but to govern.
In 2025, Restore Oakland grew to meet that mandate. We expanded our staff and strengthened two powerful bases, HOPE and the REAL People’s Organizing Collective, because governing power requires our people to build organized and sustained power.
Through HOPE (healing, organizing, and political education), we are building power to decarcerate Santa Rita Jail, fund holistic community-based mental healthcare, and secure supportive, affordable housing for all. We are developing the leadership of people impacted by incarceration and the medical-industrial complex, family members of incarcerated loved ones, and mental healthcare workers. Through building this base together, we are practicing interdependence, developing strategy, and preparing to win the resources our communities deserve.
We also deepened RPOC, now 29 BIPOC entrepreneurs organizing for commercial affordability, cooperative development, and community safety rooted in care, not criminalization.
At the same time, we continued moving non-extractive capital through the REAL People’s Fund so Black, Brown, immigrant, queer, trans, and formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs can stabilize and grow in a volatile economy.
- Publish the No Oakland Without Usreport, a small business centered economic plan
- Expand mental health diversion court in Alameda County
- Fight for $130 Million in deep rental subsidies for justice involved individuals with mental health needs
The challenges we face ahead are immense, but they’re not insurmountable when we are resourced by community members who believe in our vision for collective liberation! This is a high level overview of our Impact Report, please download and read our full report below.
Restorative Economics
Building economic power through the RPOC Membership
In 2025, our team launched the REAL People’s Organizing Collective, a political home and organizing space for small businesses and co-ops in the East Bay to build an economy that is grounded in care instead of extraction and exploitation.
Together, we are building people power to win safer streets, affordable rents, and real support for our businesses and neighborhoods to thrive.
We organized
28
businesses and co-ops to be member leaders in RPOC, creating an ongoing political home for East Bay small businesses.
Our newly launched REAL People’s Organizing Collective (RPOC) connects East Bay small businesses and co-ops organizing for safer streets, affordable rents, and stronger neighborhood economies.
We convened
200
200 businesses in regular gatherings to share resources and strategize on neighborhood safety.
We launched Togetherness in partnership with Alkali Rye & B-Love’s Guesthouse, a rotating small business mixer that turns Oakland storefronts into spaces for connection and building collective power.
We supported
22
immigrant-owned Fruitvale businesses impacted by ICE and the economic slowdown.
Restore Oakland launched Vive Fruitvale: Compra Con Corazón, a campaign to document safety concerns and economic needs of impacted businesses in the Fruitvale neighborhood.
We collected feedback from
116
businesses to dive into the top needs and concerns of our local economic engine.
No Oakland Without Us is a citywide small business survey, businesses highlighted rising commercial rents, financial precarity, and frustrations with city permitting and licensing, while also showing a deep commitment from entrepreneurs to stay in Oakland and support community-centered growth.
“A year ago it would have been hard to ask small businesses to mobilize, share their stories, or speak publicly. But through organizing at Restore, there’s now apractice of understanding the power of your story and your voice. Businesses see that city leaders are listening, and they’re stepping into leadership roles.”
Jenabi, Understory
We Launched No Oakland Without Us, a survey to demand real policy change
In August 2025, we rolled out our first citywide small business needs and demands survey to hold city leaders accountable and turn individual stories into shared demands for policy change.
In three months, 116 businesses responded, from legacy retail anchors to emerging worker owned cooperatives. Early findings highlight key themes we will build on in 2026.
Healing Justice
We built people power and strengthened the HOPE Membership– a collective of care workers, organizers, and families impacted by incarceration and mental health challenges.
In 2025, we…
Hosted
40+
community circles
Facilitated
6
skill-building workshops
Mobilized
200+
members in abolitionist campaigns and mutual aid
We organized to secure 80% of Measure W ($1.4B)
for housing and homelessness solutions, cultivating coalitional support for housing justice in Alameda County. We helped block the Encampment Abatement Policy, amplifying residents’ voices and defending unhoused neighbors.
We trained 20 Alameda County residents
as restorative justice circle-keepers, equipping members with skills to facilitate community dialogue and resist divisive tough-on-crime narratives.
We provided mutual aid to 40+ residents leaving Santa Rita Jail,
welcoming community members home with care, connection, and resources. Through participatory defense and jail outreach, members continue deepening inside-outside solidarity and bolstering our decarceration campaigns.
We partnered with artist Vida Kuang to publish APEN and Restore Oakland’s bilingual Chinese x English Healing Justice Glossary.
We also completed the 3rd round of politicized healing circles in Chinatown, graduating another cohort of 15 members from APEN and APSC. Together, we’re shaping new narratives of community safety and practicing restorative justice with Chinatown residents.
