Former Obama Aide & CNN Analyst Van Jones Keynotes Oakland Occur Awards

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oct. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Posted Courtesy of Wright Enterprises, www.wrightnow.biz

Cathy Adams-CDA Consulting Group
P: (510) 653-4085
E: cdaconsultingroup@gmail.com

Van Jones to Provide Keynote at OCCUR Awards Annual Ceremony Honors David E. Glover and Supports Education and Technology

Mark your calendars for October 15, 2015, and then come to: Impact Hub Oakland where The Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR), will host its second annual David E. Glover Legacy Awards, honoring persons who have impacted the lives of others and created change in the community. Reception starts at 6:30pm, Program/Awards at 7:30pm, Impact Hub Oakland is located at 2323 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612.

We are excited to have Celebrity Hosts: Devon Franklin (author, film producer, and minister) and Meagan Good (actress- “Think Like a Man,” “Anchorman 2,” “Jumping the Broom”).  Julius Robinson, Union Bank’s EVP & Group Head of Social Responsibility will be our Master of Ceremonies.

The winner of the David E. Glover Vanguard Award is also our keynote, Van Jones, President and Co-Founder of Dream Corps.  Jones has founded and led four not-for-profit organizations engaged in social and environmental justice. He advocates current initiatives: #cut50, #YesWeCode, and Green For All as innovative solutions to "close the prison doors, open the doors of opportunity, into a new green economy." A Yale- educated attorney, Van has written two New York Times Bestsellers: The Green Collar Economy, the definitive book on green jobs, and Rebuild the Dream, a roadmap for progressives. Van is a correspondent for CNN and regular guest on political talk shows. In 2009, Van worked as the green jobs advisor to the Obama White House. There, he helped run the inter-agency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending.

The rest of our honorees are equally impressive…….

David E. Glover Legacy Award - Paul Cobb, Publisher Post Newspaper Group, including the Oakland Post. Paul Cobb grew up in West Oakland, graduated from Howard University and spent time in the southern Civil Rights Movement. After returning to the Bay Area, he became a founding member of the Donald Warden’s Afro-American Association, the organization that gave birth to the Black Panthers.

Corporate Award - Otis Watson, Comerica.  With nearly 30 years of experience, Otis is recognized in business circles as a corporate and non-profit community affairs executive with strong technical experience in sales, management, operations, and finance.

Community Award- Regina Jackson, Executive Director of EYODC.   Regina Jackson has made it her life’s mission to support children’s futures. For over 20 years, she has led the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC), a national model for youth development. Through its character-based, youth-led programs, the organization has fought hopelessness and empowered thousands of youth to seek and succeed in service-oriented careers.

Entrepreneur Award – Frederick Hutson is the Founder/CEO of Pigeonly (http://pigeon.ly), a technology company that focuses on building products for overlooked and underserved markets.  A born entrepreneur, he launched and sold his first business at the age of 19 while on active duty in the Air Force. He soon left the military (with an honorable discharge) to launch his second business which he also sold for a profit.

Innovator Award - Christian Anderson - Director of Venture Design at Meyerhoffer Inc., an award winning industrial design firm.  Her role is concentrated on developing the investment portfolio of IoT startup companies, by discovering and executing partnerships with entrepreneurs that have ambition to innovate game changing products and experiences for the world.  Christian is also the co-founder and general partner of BUILDUP. She leads this nonprofit (501(c)3) organization to assist founders of underrepresented groups in receiving the technical/non-technical resources needed to scale their startup.

Join Us! This event will sell out, so get your tickets now!

Proceeds benefit the David E. Glover Education and Technology Youth Digital Media Program.

For sponsorship information, please contact CDA Consulting Group, (510) 725-7722, email: cdaconsultingroup@gmail.com.

About OCCUR

OCCUR uses various collaborative programs to unify the community. With the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, OCCUR serves as a facilitator and intermediary bringing together neighborhood merchants/businesses, residents, government and community-based organizations to strengthen and stimulate the economic development potential of emerging communities. OCCUR is currently collaborating with Mills College, Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks and various merchant associations in the community of Central/East Oakland on a major neighborhood revitalization effort that includes the facilitation of commercial facade improvement activity and streetscape planning. OCCUR also offers: a youth digital media program, adult computer education classes, job readiness workshops and consumer education. For more information about OCCUR please visit our website at www.occurnow.org.