San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today announced a new funding opportunity that advances a key next step in bringing an HBCU campus to the City, while serving as an overall boost to San Francisco’s economy, as aligned with her priority of revitalizing and reinvigorating Downtown.
Through the Black 2 San Francisco initiative as led by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC), with partnership from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), today’s call for proposals from qualified organizations seeks to develop and operate a Historically Black College & University (HBCU) satellite campus in San Francisco. The funding proposal would offer a City grant that would support launching a satellite campus location that could serve both Bay Area residents and HBCU students from multiple schools to study in San Francisco. This satellite campus would create a firm connection for HBCUs looking to establish a long-term presence on the West Coast.
This unique funding opportunity will also provide proven and quality higher education leadership, through strategic public-private partnerships with the City and community-based organizations, with additional potential support from philanthropic collaborators.
Establishing an HBCU satellite campus Downtown supports Mayor Breed’s 30 by 30 initiative, whereby the City will add 30,000 new residents and students to San Francisco by the year 2030. Announced in February 2024, the Black 2 San Francisco initiative has already formed partnerships with administrators and faculty from more than 10 HBCUs.
“Bringing an HBCU satellite campus here will boost our Downtown and our economy, while bringing new minds and ideas to grow within our world-renowned culture of innovation,” said Mayor London Breed. “We have been building partnerships with HBCUs across the country, and we are bringing our first cohort of students here this summer, all part of our larger 30 by 30 initiative to help revitalize Downtown. San Francisco is seizing the opportunity to be a center of excellence with a commitment to higher education as a key part of our City’s future.”
“With the launch of this summer’s HBCU cohort and the release of the RFQ, I am looking forward to greeting HBCU students and working with many schools looking to expand to the west coast. The potential to offer local students access to quality education provided at HBCUs here in San Francisco is a major accomplishment,” said Sheryl Davis, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. “This funding provides support for a lead organization to facilitate meetings, organize and coordinate space and schedules, work on accreditation, begin outreach and engagement, and launch classes. Funding will help cover costs of planning, staff and faculty, accreditation, space and engagement.”
As a first step to building the long-term future of HBCUs in San Francisco, a first cohort of interns from HBCUs across the country will be living and learning in San Francisco this summer. Following a competitive application process held in March and April of this year that quickly outpaced anticipated interest, an inaugural cohort of 60 interns has been admitted to a six-week program this June and July. In addition to internship placements for career exploration across a variety of industry areas, B2SF scholars will engage with workshops and lectures led by subject matter experts and will encounter the cultural richness of San Francisco through a number of curated visits and local experiences.
In addition to providing an opportunity for qualified organizations to apply for this funding, the overall emphasis of this RFQ (request for qualifications) is to create a network of support for youth, families, and programs impacted by the funded programming to be able to navigate complicated systems successfully and with positive outcomes.
