In 2008, Dr. Nyeisha DeWitt, Dee Dee Abdur-Rahim, and Tameka Raymond, all natives of Oakland, had a vision for their city and they created about Oakland Natives Give Back Fund, Inc. (ONGB). Driven by their passion to serve, their dream was to give back to families in the community in which they were raised. The first ONGB initiative was the Attend and Achieve Back to School Rally at Oakland City Hall, which is a fun-filled expo that creates excitement and enthusiasm for the start of the school year. Families receive fully loaded backpacks, shoes, and school supplies at no cost. The success of the Back to School Rally deepened their desire to expand the reach and impact of Oakland Natives Give Back Fund.

While envisioning the expansion of ONGB initiatives, each of our founders realized that their lives had been touched by struggles with school disengagement and chronic absenteeism. This led to them dropping out of High School. Grounded in the experiences of our founders, in 2015 Oakland Natives Give Back Fund launched year-round initiatives to address chronic absenteeism to encourage all Oakland students to graduate from high school.