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Abstract or Project Description

Abstract or Project Description

Lead Liberated equips education leaders to interrupt racism and co-design antiracist learning cultures. The technical assistance grant supports communications and marketing capacity.

Abstract or Project Description

The Rest and Care Award is a one-time, invite-only program for current and past Education and Arts nonprofit grantees, offering six-week sabbaticals with pro-rated salary, benefits, leave expenses and organizational support, recognizing the dedication and resilience of leaders in our grantee community. Flyaway Productions makes site-specific aerial dances through a social justice lens and trains youth and adults in apparatus-based dance. Founding Artistic Executive Director Jo Kreiter has led the organization for 28 years.

Abstract or Project Description

A multi-media, site-specific dance that supports the transformation of 111 Taylor Street from a carceral stronghold owned by GEO Group into a trans-centric space that honors the building’s legacy of resistance. Supported by a production support grant, Flyaway Productions and TurkxTaylor Initiative will create a public art project in San Francisco’s Tenderloin that unites transgender visibility with prison systems change.

Abstract or Project Description

The intestine exerts the vital function of maximizing nutrient uptake from the diet we ingest, being constantly exposed to external stimulation by food components. Alterations in the timing of food intake and diet composition have been associated with the development of immune-related intestinal dysfunctions, including IBS. However, despite its profound biological and clinical relevance, there is a major gap in our understanding of how intestinal immune health is affected by diet. Recently, we uncovered that gut neurons are activated by the diet, and they can control intestinal immune responses. The long-term goal of this proposal is to determine how the diet is sensed by these neurons that have immune regulatory properties. Our studies are expected to uncover dietary and neuronal therapeutic targets to gut disturbances associated with a dysregulation in local immune responses, including IBS.

Abstract or Project Description

Colonization of the infant gut by commensal bacteria profoundly influences immune development and can thus have significant long-term consequences: promoting durable tolerance to environmental antigens or driving Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Despite the importance of this process for health, how immune responses to the microbiota are regulated during early life remain a significant gap in our knowledge. We discovered that antibodies targeting gut bacteria are transmitted from mother to offspring via breastfeeding where they restrain neonatal immune responses to beneficial gut bacteria. Antibodies are specialized immune proteins that bind to foreign particles, including harmful and helpful microbes. Healthy humans and mice produce distinct flavors, or “isotypes,” of antibodies that serve different functions in immunity. We revealed that the maternal antibody isotype required to restrain neonatal inflammatory responses is IgG, an isotype that has only recently been identified to participate in gut health. Human breastmilk also contains IgG, and a key role for maternal antibodies in dampening gut inflammatory responses has been described in breastfed humans. Here, we will combine new mouse models with cutting-edge approaches to define the mechanisms by which breastmilk antibodies instruct the neonate to avoid harmful responses to beneficial gut bacteria. This work will advance our ability to manipulate immune responses to gut bacteria and thus aid in the development of therapies to effectively curb the development or severity of IBD.

Abstract or Project Description

Trans and queer communities endure constant trauma, loss and grief. Sean Dorsey Dance’s “THE OPPOSITE OF GRIEF IS” asks, “What is the opposite of grief? What is an embodied antidote? Joy? Rest? Connection?” in a new piece featuring contemporary dance, theater, storytelling and queer partnering.

Abstract or Project Description

Convenes literacy leaders and provides literacy coaching and consultation to Oakland schools, as well as literacy advocacy locally and nationally.

Abstract or Project Description

The Fundacion Hogar Ni–ito Jesœs Inc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing care and support to vulnerable children. Through various programs and initiatives, they aim to create a nurturing environment that fosters the well-being and development of children in need.

Abstract or Project Description

A one-person show using theater, sample-based sounds, video and found text to explore the historic, economic and cultural relationship connecting the Bay Area and Panama through the lens of one Black Panamanian-American family’s story of forced displacement, world building and (dreams of) return.

Abstract or Project Description

To support and grow community advocacy for students in Oakland.

Abstract or Project Description

An unapologetically political and satirical comedy collage featuring feminist stories from “A Thousand and One Nights,” epic storytelling, puppetry, music and personal stories shared by community circles.

Abstract or Project Description

To support Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ field leadership and its ability to respond, collaborate, partner and advocate for equitable, effective grantmaking practices.

Abstract or Project Description

The Rest and Care Award is a one-time, invite-only program for current and past Education and Arts nonprofit grantees, offering six-week sabbaticals with pro-rated salary, benefits, leave expenses and organizational support, recognizing the dedication and resilience of leaders in our grantee community. Grown Woman Dance Collective supports socially just arts and wellness through concert dance, community art and wellness programs and workforce development. Artistic Executive Director Tonya Amos has led the company for 15 years.

Abstract or Project Description

A heart-felt plea, prayer, rally, fist up for our communities slowly dying. Through survivor interviews, the beauty and resistance of Black concert dance, music, vocals and public health collaborations, “I’m.Still.Here” will caution the community and celebrate our survival.

Abstract or Project Description

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by non-resolving pathological inflammation leading to erosion of the colon tissue. Recent studies analyzing gene expression signatures in UC patients highlighted specific colonic fibroblast populations that may contribute to inflammation and disease progression. While these studies emphasize the proinflammatory function of activated intestinal fibroblasts, it is unknown whether subsets of intestinal fibroblasts may fulfill protective regulatory functions required to limit intestinal inflammation. Our studies leverage a novel spatial transcriptomics method (MERFISH) to generate a detailed cellular and molecular atlas of the colon, with an emphasis on elucidating the function of fibroblasts in mouse and human colitis. We discovered a new population of regulatory fibroblasts (Fregs) that differentiate during colitis and suppress intestinal inflammation. In particular, we found that Fregs appear in non-inflammatory regions and promote the differentiation of regulatory B cells (Bregs) and tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs). The goal of this project is to define the molecular framework governing Freg, Breg and tolDC interactions during colitis, and establish the nature of these interactions in human UC. These studies will demonstrate how Fregs orchestrate immune tolerance to colitis and whether failure of this mechanism may contribute to tolerance breakdown in UC.

Abstract or Project Description

Chorographer Hector Jaime’s first full-evening original dance composition expressing and sharing the culture of shamanic animal shapeshifting abilities with Mexican Indigenous roots.

Abstract or Project Description

Expands families’ capacity to support literacy development and schools’ capacity to engage families.