Through their foundation, Stephen and Ayesha Curry plan to invest $25 million in Oakland, CA, over the next five years.
As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the couple are founders of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, which is intended to improve the lives of children through increased literacy rates, healthy meals, and opportunities for active lifestyles. Their work is being carried out in their “adopted hometown” of Oakland.
In 2022, the foundation committed to building 150 libraries across Oakland and bringing 30,000 books into the hands of the youth. Additional efforts over the years have included $5 million in grants to support tutoring across more than 20 elementary schools, $2.5 million in grants allocated to libraries and teachers, and the remodeling of two elementary school libraries, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™.
$25M Commitment
Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation continues to scale its commitment in light of a $25 million investment that will be fulfilled over the next five years to bridge the gap in literacy for students.
“When we launched Eat. Learn. Play. five years ago, we set out to provide opportunities to ensure every student in Oakland had the resources they need to be healthy and thrive,” Stephen and Ayesha said in the news release. “This commitment is about more than just closing the literacy gap—it’s about giving these kids the confidence to succeed in all areas of life. We’ve seen firsthand the impact this level of tutoring support can have on a child’s development, and it is our hope that we can work to close the literacy gap and encourage reading for a generation of students.”
With this investment, students in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), who are at least two grade levels behind in reading, will receive professional tutoring. About 10,000 spots for tutoring will be available. Workday also served as a partner as the HR software company raised undisclosed dollars during its Fifth Annual Workday Charity Classic to aid OUSD students.
“Literacy is key to all aspects of education, and to the futures for our students. It’s why we are laser focused on ensuring we have strong readers by the third grade,” OUSD Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell commented. “Now our incredible partnership with Eat. Learn. Play. is taking a groundbreaking new step with this added focus on literacy through enhanced tutoring. We know that one-on-one tutoring is key to improving literacy, especially among students who have fallen behind.”
She continued, “This initiative will supercharge our literacy efforts with its extraordinary $25 million commitment, and it comes on top of last year’s $50 million commitment from Eat. Learn. Play. to upgrade school playgrounds across the city and help with literacy efforts and nutrition services. We cannot thank Eat. Learn. Play. and partner, Workday, enough for supporting our mission to help prepare our students for success in college, career, and community.”
Eat. Learn. Play. plans to maintain its support with OUSD and literacy partners through “strategic planning, capacity building and technical assistance” to foster longevity in its fight to combat the literacy gap.
“Change is a team sport, and we couldn’t achieve this without the support of our community partners, donors, and school district leaders,” Chris Helfrich, CEO of Eat. Learn. Play., said. “While this is an ambitious plan and we recognize that it will be a continuous work in progress, there is a real urgency to do what’s right by our students, and schools alone can’t meet this challenge. Oakland students deserve the best.”
