We Lead Ours
WELO youth and mentors together at a program event

Oakland, California | Since 2010

Oakland raised us.
We lead ours.

Our kids. Our neighborhood. Our responsibility. Since 2010, WELO has helped Oakland youth build confidence, find their people, and lead through mentorship, sports, and opportunity.

Support Oakland youth Find your program

It started with $500 and a promise to show up. Today, that promise continues through year-round programs.

Proof from the Bay
Warriors + Salesforce Hoops 4 Kids feature
Valkyries + 2K Mentor of the Month
Oakland families 15+ years of trust
2010 Founded in Oakland
15+ Years showing up
6 Signature programs

Recognized by Bay Area teams

Town roots. Bay Area love.

WELO's work has been lifted up by Bay Area sports institutions because the mission is already moving in Oakland: steady adults, year-round programs, and young people growing into leaders.

Warriors Community Foundation

Hoops 4 Kids put WELO in the Bay Area youth-development spotlight.

A Warriors Community Foundation and Salesforce feature on the Oakland youth work that WELO has carried for more than a decade.

Warriors + Salesforce Hoops 4 Kids feature
Valkyries + 2K Mentor of the Month
Oakland roots 15+ years serving youth

How it started

Three friends, one handshake, and a belief nobody could talk them out of.

In East Oakland, Dwayne Aikens Jr. kept seeing the same truth as a young PE teacher: talent was not the missing piece. Steady adults were. Kids changed when someone showed up twice a week, every week, and kept showing up.

In 2010, Dwayne, Lamont Robinson Jr., and Trestin George started WELO with a $500 donation and a promise to their own neighborhood. Dwayne went years without taking a paycheck. The kids kept coming, so the organization kept going.

They named it after the belief that started it: We Lead Ours. Our kids. Our neighborhood. Our responsibility.

Today, WELO runs year-round programs across mentorship, school-based prevention, sports, internships, college preparation, and community service. The work has grown, but the promise has not changed.

WELO youth and adults gathered outdoors
From a $500 idea to a year-round youth leadership infrastructure.

What WELO does

Find your people.
Build your future.

WELO does not separate a young person's life into neat boxes. College readiness, wellness, confidence, career exposure, and civic responsibility build on each other.

01

Career exploration

Youth see real workplaces, build work habits, and practice leadership before adulthood asks for it.

02

Civic leadership

Young people learn how systems work, how communities organize, and how to contribute where they live.

03

College preparation

Mentors help students move from aspiration to applications, readiness, and next-step confidence.

04

Health and wellness

Sports, prevention, mental wellness, and movement give youth a foundation strong enough to build on.

Students at a WELO gathering

College preparation

Mentoring on the Fly

Team-building, educational experiences, field trips, leadership groups, and service activities that help students build confidence and belonging.

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WELO youth seated together during a program

Career exploration

We Turn Ship

A year-round internship where high school and college students help plan events, lead civic work, and learn nonprofit operations from the inside.

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WELO students sitting together at an event

Health and wellness

Life Skills and Prevention

School-based coaching, classroom presentations, workshops, assemblies, and peer education groups that help youth make healthy choices.

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Community tennis participants outside

Sports and connection

Community Tennis

Free tennis clinics at Brookdale Park that use movement, play, and multigenerational connection to build confidence and community.

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Bay Area Lions football and cheer program image

Teamwork

Lions Football and Cheer

Football and cheer that teach discipline, sportsmanship, teamwork, confidence, and responsibility on and off the field.

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Outdoor civic service event

Civic leadership

We-Cycle4Us

Youth, families, and local partners beautify parks, care for neighborhood spaces, and support unhoused neighbors with hygiene kits and lunches.

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Get involved

Bring your time, your skills, or your next leadership step.

WELO needs people who can show up online, at events, inside programs, and behind the scenes. Volunteers help expand capacity. Interns learn nonprofit leadership by doing real work for Oakland youth.

Volunteer

Help make program days possible.

Support clinics, events, mentoring activities, fundraising projects, social content, and hands-on community work.

Volunteer with WELO
Internship

Build 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 internship

Trusted locally

Fifteen years of Oakland roots, relationships, and responsibility.

Public records and community partners position WELO as an Oakland 501(c)(3) youth development organization founded in 2010, with work spanning mentoring, sports, education, prevention, and civic leadership.

Every gift supports a foundation that is already on the ground: mentors, coaches, schools, families, volunteers, and youth who know WELO by name.

Oakland roots

Founded by Dwayne Aikens Jr., Lamont Robinson Jr., and Trestin George, with year-round programming for youth ages 4-18.

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 Oakland youth.

Partners and recognition

WELO is not asking the Bay to believe from scratch.

WELO’s work is grounded in local team recognition, public-sector relationships, school-based work, and years of Oakland families trusting WELO with their kids.

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
Alameda County Community health and prevention ecosystem
Marin County Office of Education Education relationship
Oakland Public Works Community leadership recognition

Get involved

Parents, sponsors, donors, partners: there is a clear next step.

Start a conversation about donating, sponsoring, enrolling a young person, booking WELO, or bringing WELO into a community partnership. Volunteer and internship forms now have their own dedicated page.

Volunteer form Internship form

Submitting opens an email draft to WELO.