Our Mission
To foster cross-cultural relationships and inclusive social norms across Bay Area Communities so that youth of all identities belong and are empowered to lead.
HOW We WILL Realize Our Mission
At camp, our youth will grow in three major areas, all of which contribute to breaking down racial and economic barriers. After camp, they will apply these skills in leadership projects back in their home institutions and communities. These core skills are:
Intercultural Competence: Build meaningful relationships with one another
Social-Emotional Learning: Develop empathy for each other's experience
Leadership: Collaborate and take action with youth from a diversity of backgrounds
Our Vision
Our vision is that Bay Area schools and neighborhoods are integrated communities, where youth and adults of different cultural backgrounds don’t view one another as “the other.” Instead, they see themselves in community with one another, working together to address social inequities. To move towards this change in the greater Bay Area, Camp Common Ground plans to cultivate its own community of youth (Commoners), adult leadership, families and supporters to represent the values and habits that we will see one day across the Bay Area. Our approach is rooted in the Intergroup Contact Theory. Within the next 5 - 10 years, this will look like:
Commoners: As a result of our program, each Commoner (Camp Common Ground youth) will seek to understand differences between themselves and other Commoners of a different cultural background while also seeing themselves in community with them. Instead of viewing them as “the other”, Commoners will respect cultural differences and have the skills to understand how one’s perspective is informed by their identity. They recognize that stereotypes are socially-constructed, lead to harmful biases, and can be challenged. Commoners do the personal work required to challenge stereotypes they may have about “the other.” As they continue in middle school and enter high school and college, they will: (a) speak out as upstanders when they see that a social norm excludes someone because of their identity, and (b) lead efforts at their schools and communities that intentionally bring people from different backgrounds together into community.
Families: The relationships between Commoners connect communities that may otherwise be segregated. As a result of a Commoners’ efforts, families join the Camp Common Ground community and learn about the families of other Commoners. In turn, the families break down cultural barriers between one another, in the same way that our Commoners do. Outside of Camp Common Ground events, families keep in regular touch with one another. Families support their Commoners in the work that they do around integration by ensuring that Commoners are present at all Common Ground events.
Adult Leadership and Supporters: As we develop as a Common Ground team, each adult, whether they be on staff or on the Board, identifies areas in their personal or work lives where norms exclude some members of community. Just as Commoners do, each adult leader works to disrupt those norms in their own contexts.
HOW ARE WE DEFINING SUCCESS?
We are collaborating with researchers at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education and the Greater Good Science Center to measure growth in leadership, social-emotional, and inter-cultural skills. We also care deeply about the social cohesion that remains in the group post-camp and the leadership projects the campers deploy back home.
Summer Camp 2023 is a Wrap!
Listen to our youth and their parents to hear the impact
Camp Common Ground is having
Our "Commoners" share about their experience over those 12 nights — the skills they learned, how we became a family, and why you should join our community!
2021 commoners: ‘i learned that you can’t judge a book by its cover…don’t judge a person’s race.’
2019 and 2020 commoners: ‘it’s like my second home’
Their parents: ‘I’m so thankful that my child had this opportunity’
Their parents explain the difference that Camp Common Ground has played in the lives of their children.
photos from Camp:
from the gaga pit to the archery range
Click below to see more Photos and Videos from camp
Dear supporters — thank you for helping to make this summer possible for our young leaders.
Dear commoners — we miss you, we love you, and we will see you soon
Meet some of our past campers
Portraits, Names, and Schools
day-to-day camp clips from past summers:
“Stepping up” to the plate!
See our video below to get a sense of what happens day-to-day at camp, from swimming to responding to feedback.
Help us fight hate, and build bridges.
click here to donate
We are changing the climate of middle schools in the Bay Area to be more inclusive, no matter what identity you may have.
The world doesn’t just get better on its own. It takes effort and resources. let’s do this!
Watch the video from our event:
a path to school desegregation in Oakland:
This event featured:
An introduction from Camp Common Ground Directors, Ron and Zach, about the state of segregation in Oakland.
Panel discussion with community leaders and policy makers, such as Oakland City Council Member Abel Guillen, Oakland Unified School Board Member and Vice President Jumoke Hinton-Hodge, and Principal of Gateway Middle School Aaron Watson
Want to learn more?
Get some recent context on the issue of school segregation in Oakland with the 2018 article by SF Gate, Maps show the segregation within Bay Area school districts, which references Vox's report on school segregation across the country. You can also read more of educational articles in our Learn With Us blog.
A special thank you to our funding partners…
Each of you helped send at least one camper ($1,000+) to camp, and some of you, much more. Thank you for helping to grow our Common Ground Community — you are in it too! Click on the pictures to learn more about these awesome organizations!
Our Mission
Justice Outside advances racial justice and equity in the outdoor and environmental movement. We shift resources to, build power with, and center the voices and leadership of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color because the health of current and future generations demands it.
Our Vision
We envision a just world where Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color experience safety, health, and abundant joy through meaningful relationships with one another and the outdoors.
Our History
At Justice Outside, we’ve long worked to remove the barriers that have historically prevented Communities of Color from accessing meaningful experiences in nature and professional opportunities in the outdoor sector. We know that participating in outdoor programming offers those who have been most impacted by racial injustice a powerful source of healing and growth.
Justice Outside has reached an exciting time in our organization’s history. Against a backdrop of increased urgency around racial equity and broad shifts in public consciousness in support of dismantling systemic racism, the need and demand for our work is greater than ever. We are poised to keep growing our capacity building and leadership development work and continue building experiences that will position emerging leaders of color to influence the field at large.
Goodfire Brewing Co. is a family-friendly business that supports a variety of causes. They are active in their community, coming together with food trucks and musicians to create awesome experiences for beer nerds and casual drinkers. The recipes are created by a doctor, and you can taste it in the precision and creativity of their IPAs and sours. They also integrate art into their cans, which you can see on full display on their Instagram @goodfirebrewing. They decided to sponsor a counselor!
East Bay Community Energy, also known as EBCE, is the local electricity supplier in Alameda County. EBCE provides cleaner, greener energy at competitive rates to our customers. EBCE reinvests earnings back into the community to create local green energy jobs, local programs, and clean power projects.
The Quest Foundation supports a variety of Bay Area organizations, such as youth development clubs and community foundations and organizations involved with education and human services. They are also a great connector and helpful and compassionate advisor for budding non-profits like ours. They sponsored 3 campers — thank you so much!
Founded and inspired by Lowell Berry’s faith in God and sense of responsibility to his community, The Lowell Berry Foundation has been supporting local religious and social services organizations for more than 60 years. They serve the local Bay Area community by providing a safety net for those in need while focusing on organizations that effectively shape lives and build leaders for tomorrow. We so appreciate their belief in local summer camps to build tomorrow’s leaders!
SocialGood works to create and establish positive influences for individuals, communities, and the environment. Our goal is to sponsor and develop projects that will help positively impact and develop local communities into healthier and happier places to live, work, and be.
All Stars Helping Kids was created in 1989 when NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott gathered his friends for dinner to benefit the local community. After raising $100,000 in one night, Ronnie and his wife, Karen, invested in several nonprofits fighting poverty in the South Bay.
Since then, All Stars Helping Kids has invested more than $30 million in grants and resources to over 600 organizations, impacting the lives of thousands of youth by providing access to education, career readiness, and health & wellness programs.
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Camp Common Ground is a fiscally-sponsored, nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status. Our Tax ID number is: 46-1323531.
All donations are tax deductible.