Warriors Community Foundation
Hoops 4 Kids puts WELO in the youth-development spotlight
A Warriors Community Foundation and Salesforce feature celebrating the youth work WELO has carried for more than a decade.
Bay Area youth leadership | Since 2010
Youth finding purpose
Communities growing stronger
Since 2010, WELO has helped young people across the Bay Area build confidence, find their people, and lead through mentorship, sports, education, and opportunity.
Year-round programs connect young people with steady support, meaningful experiences, and room to lead.
Proof from the Bay
Warriors + Salesforce
Hoops 4 Kids feature
Valkyries + 2K
Mentor of the Month
Bay Area communities
15+ years showing up
2010
Serving young people
15+
Years showing up
4
Core program pillars
Recognition across the Bay
Trusted work, recognized by leaders
Major Bay Area sports organizations have recognized the mentorship, consistency, and community care behind WELO's work with young people.
Partners and recognition
Built through relationships across the Bay
Sports organizations, schools, public agencies, and community partners help show the reach and credibility behind WELO’s work.
Golden State Warriors
Hoops 4 Kids feature
Salesforce
Community feature partner
Golden State Valkyries
Mentor of the Month
NBA 2K
Recognition partner
Oakland Unified School District
Youth and school ecosystem
We The Scenario Podcast
55 episodes with Oakland leaders, from City Hall to the State Capitol
The story behind WELO
Meet the people and purpose behind WELO
Discover the relationships, commitments, and shared belief that continue to shape more than 15 years of mentorship, opportunity, and youth leadership.
Serving communities across the Bay Area and building toward a future beyond California.
Read the WELO story
What WELO does
Find your people
Build your future
WELO views youth development holistically. College readiness, health and wellness, personal confidence, career exposure, and civic responsibility all build on one another.
Career exploration
Youth see real workplaces, build work habits, and practice leadership before adulthood asks for it.
Civic leadership
Young people learn how systems work, how communities organize, and how to contribute where they live.
College preparation
Mentors help students move from aspiration to applications, readiness, and next-step confidence.
Health and wellness
Sports, prevention, mental wellness, and movement give youth a foundation strong enough to build on.
College preparation
Mentoring on the Fly
Through team-building, educational experiences, field trips, leadership groups, and service activities, students build self-confidence and a sense of belonging.
Explore program
Career exploration
We Turn Ship (Internship Program)
A year-round internship where high school and college students help plan events, lead civic work, and learn nonprofit operations from the inside.
Explore program
Health and wellness
Life Skills & Behavioral Health Interventions
We offer school-based coaching, classroom presentations, workshops, assemblies, and peer education groups to help youth make healthy choices.
Explore program
Sports and connection
Community Tennis
Free tennis clinics at Brookdale Park that use movement, play, and multigenerational connection to build confidence and community.
Explore program
Teamwork
Lions Football and Cheer
Football and cheer that teach discipline, sportsmanship, teamwork, confidence, and responsibility on and off the field.
Explore program
Civic leadership
We-Cycle4Us
Youth, families, and local partners beautify parks, care for neighborhood spaces, and support unhoused neighbors with hygiene kits and lunches.
Explore programThe WELO Community Center
In 2024, the work got a home in Downtown Oakland
A multigenerational space built for youth leadership, community connection, and collaborative partnerships. More than a building: a hub where creativity, healing, workforce development, and collaboration thrive.
Schools, families, partner organizations, and local businesses use the center to build programs that uplift Oakland. Every event strengthens the ecosystem of care WELO has built since 2010.
A home for community partners
The Black Men's Chess League, Self-eSTEM, DJ Semani, Sunset113 & Interior Design, Speak Into The Mic, Safe With Shanique, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Omicron Theta Lambda Chapter.
Where community happens
Summer camps, coat drives and toy giveaways, health and prevention workshops, community meetings, workforce development sessions, corporate retreats, and private celebrations.
Built to be shared
The center is available for community events, organizational retreats, and private gatherings, and open to partners who want to build with WELO.
Get involved
Bring your time, your skills, or your next leadership step
WELO needs people who can show up online, at events, within our programs, or behind the scenes. Volunteers help expand capacity. Interns learn nonprofit leadership by doing real work for Bay Area youth.
Help make program days possible
Support clinics, events, mentoring activities, fundraising projects, social content, and hands-on community work.
Volunteer with WELOBuild leadership experience from the inside
High school and college interns can help plan events, lead civic activities, support special projects, and learn nonprofit operations.
Apply for an internshipTrusted locally
Fifteen years of roots, relationships, and responsibility
WELO is a 501(c)(3) youth development organization with work spanning mentoring, sports, education, prevention, and civic leadership across the Bay Area.
Every gift supports a foundation that is already on the ground: mentors, coaches, schools, families, volunteers, and youth who know WELO by name.
15+ years of service
Year-round programming connects youth ages 4-18 with mentorship, opportunity, wellness, and meaningful ways to lead.
School and community partnerships
WELO's public profile includes work with Oakland Unified School District, Alameda County, Marin County Office of Education, and local recreation partners.
Giving infrastructure
Supporters can donate, volunteer, partner with WELO, or help open the next door for Bay Area youth.
Get involved
Parents, sponsors, donors, and partners: There is a clear next step for everyone
Start a conversation about donating, sponsoring, enrolling a young person, or partnering with WELO in your community. Volunteer and internship forms now have their own dedicated page.