Do you love Oakland as much as we do?  Do you want to show your love and support for Oakland while helping others for a good cause?  Then check out the Oakland Pendants designed by Oakland Unwrapped vendor Mangosteen.  Featuring original photographs of classic Oakland scenes, from the Parkway Theatre to the cranes to Lake Merritt, these pendants will all remind you of this unique city.

Mangosteen founder Gabrielle Lessard first came up with the idea for these pendants when the Parkway Theatre closed.  Lessard took images of the Parkway’s marquee, which read “We Love You Oakland,” and shrunk the images to turn them into pendants to, as Lessard said, “express our collective sense of loss.”  While the Parkway Theatre pendant served as a lovely memorial to the now-closed Parkway Theatre, Lessard discovered a silver lining in her art; she realized she had many other photos of Oakland that would make fun pendants to commemorate the unique landmarks and everyday images Oakland has to offer.  These images include scenes from Downtown, Chinatown, Lake Merritt, the cranes, the Fox Theatre, Old Oakland Victorians, and more.  Check out this slide show of Oakland photos you can choose from.  Pendants can be purchased from the Mangosteen website on Oakland Unwrapped!  And check back to see what else Lessard creates from these iconic Oakland photos-designs for Oakland cufflinks, key chains, and wine glass markers are in the works.

Lessard, an Oakland-based attorney, community development leader, jewelry designer and photographer, is also an avid traveler, especially in developing countries.  The people she met and things she saw on her travels inspired her to create Mangosteen; through Mangosteen, she sells her jewelry along with Fair Trade imports from the countries she visits and educates her consumers about the social problems in developing countries, such as human trafficking.  Lessard donates the revenue generated from her sales to various development organizations in the countries she visits.  Besides her work abroad, Lessard is a proud Oakland resident, as shown by her Oakland pendants and affiliation with Oakland Unwrapped.  To see more of the unique stores on Oakland Unwrapped, check out the website here.

OneCalifornia Staff

OneCalifornia Bank and Foundation opened their doors in Oakland two years ago on June 27! On Thursday June 25, 2009, OneCalifornia Foundation joined the Bank in celebrating their second anniversary with a mixer catered by Seison, a local restaurant in Oakland’s Washington Inn Hotel. When OneCalifornia’s founders, Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor, and their team opened the Bank and Foundation two years ago they were hoping to create an effective and sustainable community development organization. In these two years, many residents, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in Oakland and the Bay Area have been supported by OneCalifornia Bank’s financial services and OneCalifornia Foundation’s charitable giving.

Most of the Foundation’s activities over the past two years have focused on developing projects that address the financial and money management needs of local individuals and families, and the training, technology, and marketing needs of small businesses.  Over 100 people have attended OneCAL SAFE (Checking and Lifetime Savings Accounts with Financial Education) financial literacy courses since the Foundation’s inception. The Foundation also has over 150 local businesses on its Oakland Unwrapped! website and partners with several local nonprofits in various community development missions. Says Erin Kilmer Neel, OneCalifornia Foundation’s Program Officer, “The Foundation is an exciting place to be, and I think a real benefit to my home of Oakland and the Bay Area as a whole. We are helping families save their money, helping businesses start and grow every day.  We are always working to improve our existing programs as well as solve new problems in innovative ways.  On top of all of this work, it’s amazing and powerful to be able to offer people bank accounts and loans.” 

Meanwhile, the Bank has helped the Bay Area community by providing bank accounts to the underbanked, making loans to local medium and small businesses, and promoting the financial development of various nonprofit organizations. According to Russ Haycock, OneCalifornia Bank’s Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, “The past two years have been exciting and humbling for the banking industry.  What a great time to start a community development bank.  We can hold our heads high as a management team and founders for the strong and healthy performance of OneCalifornia Bank. This is the beginning of a very meaningful journey, and we are poised to make a significant difference for the future of the industry.” OneCalifornia Bank has not fallen prey to the financial crisis that many other banks have succumbed to and thus has been able to truly help the Bay Area community these past two years.

In the two years OneCalifornia has been open, not only has it gained certification as a Community Development Financial Institution, it has also helped many small businesses survive in this difficult economic climate, furnished SBA loans, provided financial literacy classes, aided various nonprofits, and is even in the process of gaining green certification from the Bay Area Green Business Program. OneCalifornia is growing every day and helping facilitate economic opportunity in Oakland and throughout the Bay Area. The Foundation is also currently in the process of starting a program in the Mission District in San Francisco to assist individuals in managing their money with innovative financial products. Every day, OneCalifornia helps more people by providing them with a place to bank that doesn’t funnel money out of their community and a place where everyone has an opportunity to improve their financial situation.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support!

Oakland Events, LLC, is proud to present the 2^nd Annual Lakefest ‘09!  Lakefest ‘09 takes place on the weekend of August 1 & 2 on Lakeshore Avenue, from Lake Park Avenue down to Mandana Boulevard.  Located in the Lakeshore and Grand Avenue shopping districts, and right by Lake Merritt, Fairyland Playground, and the Grand Lake Theatre (an Oakland Indie Awards Winner), this event will feature Arts & Crafts booths, wines tasting tents, live music, gourmet food booths, a kids activity area, the Saturday Grand Lake Farmers Market, and more.  Come down and check it out!  For more details, check out their website: oaklandfest.com.

Porcelynne Lingerie Designer Jennifer Lynne Matthews

Bamboo isn’t just panda food anymore.  Bamboo is quickly becoming an alternative to wood for flooring and fences as well as to cotton for t-shirts and socks because of its sustainability.  (Bamboo grows rapidly and without pesticides, which means bamboo uses fewer natural resources than other plants and has a smaller impact on our environment.)  But did you know that bamboo also makes for a comfortable pair of underwear?  Jennifer Lynne Matthews, founder and designer of Porcelynne Lingerie, does just that-she makes her undergarments from a sustainable bamboo blend.

Matthews originally developed Porcelynne Lingerie in 2002 as an alternative to uncomfortable underwear.  Focused on fit, she hand makes all of her garments, from underwear to sports bras, tank tops to sleep masks.  Since day one, Matthews’s products have been environmentally friendly: she makes all her lingerie from fabrics rescued from factory cutting floors, preventing them from ending up in a landfill.  Her newest line of lingerie is made from a sustainable bamboo blend, which is not only soft but also naturally antibacterial and biodegradable.  Matthews chose bamboo not only because it is a quality product and good for the environment, but also because she can help to educate her clientele about sustainable practices through her actions.  And Matthews’s sustainable practices don’t end with her products; Porcelynne Lingerie uses no plastic wrap in its shipping products and packaging is used sparingly. 

Besides being an eco-conscious entrepreneur, artist and fashion designer, Matthews is also a teacher at San Francisco’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and the author of Fashion Unraveled: How to Start, Run, and Manage an Independent Fashion Label.  With her teaching and her book, she serves as a mentor to her students, offering advice on how to run a successful business and produce innovative fashions in a sound manner.  She also participates in regional industry leadership circles and co-founded a fashion industry group in Oakland to further support budding entrepreneurs.  Calling Matthews’s work “sustainable,” therefore, has a double meaning: she uses sustainable practices in her own business and supports and nurtures other budding fashion entrepreneurs so that they will create and maintain successful businesses.

To learn more about Porcelynne Lingerie and see the products she offers, check out her website.  And to see more independent Oakland businesses online, check out the Oakland Unwrapped website.

Jack London Square is hosting a ton of fun weekly events this summer, including:

Musical Mondays
Live music, board games, and cocktails outside Heinolds’ Last Chance Saloon.  Family friendly, of course!  Mondays through July 27. 5:30 - 8pm

Waterfront Flicks - Every Other Thursday
Fun movies and Oakland trivia games 7:30pm

Dancing Under the Stars - Every Friday
Free outdoor dance lessons Fridays through September 25th. Prix fixe menus at JLS restaurants and a different dance every night! 8:30pm

See details and more events at the Jack London Square website.