David Silver Email & Phone Number

While I am proud of the work we have done in Compton and Oakland Unified, the Mayor’s office, College Track, Oakland Promise and Think College Now, we cannot rest until all students have not only an opportunity to be successful in school & complete college, but also a clear pathway to a career with upward mobility. Too often, I have seen students graduate only to struggle navigating the system to build a career that matches their brilliance. It is with this fire that I aim to co-create a model workforce pathway for our students with a long-term vision of potential replication across California and the country. To make this vision a reality, I am humbled to share that I have been selected to become the inaugural Director of Workforce for the CA Volunteers Fund, which works in close collaboration with CA Volunteers, Office of the Governor.Our goal is to recruit, deploy, and ultimately place diverse participants in living-wage jobs supporting the green economy of the future and to share learnings from LA to impact CA and the nation. I am excited to join the team to develop the pilot in LA with a goal to support the 1000 CA Volunteers fellows to not only serve our community, but also address climate change through green jobs, create the next cadre of diverse teachers across California, and be on a pathway to a successful future. I look forward to partnering with you in LA, and potentially in communities across our state in the future, to provide all students with an opportunity to address critical challenges through a career of their dreams. Look forward to staying in touch, and partnering for equity in the future. If you are interested in connecting about career pathways, whether in green jobs, education or other sectors, contact me via LinkedIn or at my new work email, david.silver@californiavolunteersfund.org. Juntos, si se puede (together, yes we can).

As Director of Education to the Mayor of Oakland, I work in partnership with students, families, educators, partners, the city, OUSD and Mayor Schaaf to realize a vision of educational equity for all students in Oakland. I have collaborated with students, families, educators, OUSD, the City of Oakland, non-profits, community & funding partners to launch initiatives to increase equity across our city. Together, we have created, sustained and expanded public-private partnerships, such as Oakland Promise (OP) to increase college completion, #OaklandUndivided (#OU) to ensure all Oakland public school students in need have home access to a computer, internet and technology, and Teachers Rooted in Oakland (TRiO) to provide BIPOC educators with affordable housing. Our public-private partnerships have helped to raise over $125 million dollars in private philanthropy and our initiatives helped to inspire $3 billion dollars of public funding to support California (CA) students and been seen as potential models for students and educators across the state. Together, we have made college a reality for thousands of students through OP, and recently made an announcement with VP Harris that within four years, our next generation of children and families with economic need will all have access to $1000/year to attend college and medical babies can receive $500 in College Savings Accounts (CSAs) through 2035. We tripled the number of teacher residents of color through TRiO. Since we launched OP and TRiO, the state has partnered with Oakland and recently expanded investments in CSA's and Teacher Residency programs across California. Within a year of the pandemic, #OU increased connectivity for students (access to a computer and hotspot) from low-income backgrounds from 12% to 98%. To date, we have handed out over 50,000 devices and are partnering with the state and nation to create and expand models that will close the digital divide for students and unconnected residents.

Oakland, Ca, Us

College Track (CT) is a national non-profit organization that empowers students from underserved communities to graduate from college. CT recruits students and works continuously with them for 10 years - from the summer before 8th grade through college graduation. I joined CT in January 2011 as CEO after several years as the founding principal of Think College Now (TCN). When I came on board as CEO in 2011, I pledged to drive CT to unprecedented results and recruit outstanding people to join the team. Thanks to our resilient students, dedicated staff, incredible partners, and tremendous Board, we did just that. Specifically: we grew at existing CT sites in the Bay Area and New Orleans; expanded to CO, Los Angeles, and Sacramento; increased our staff from 30 to 90; tripled our budget from $4.5M to $15M; produced our first Annual Report; refreshed our logo and website, and secured the largest, multi-year grants in CT’s history across foundation, corporate, and individual giving donor segments. Most importantly, we strengthened our quality as we scaled: our 4-year college acceptance and matriculation rates (94% and 89%, respectively) are the highest in CT’s 17 year history, and our college graduation rate is more than 2.5x the national average for students in low-income communities.Leading CT gave me the chance to deliver on the promise I had made to TCN students and families, and it was thrilling to see former students enter college in 2014 and thrive there through the support of TCN and CT.

“We start out with 4,000 (students) … only 200 of them meet the requirements to get into the University of California college system. The system isn't working for them.” ~ Former Oakland Superintendent Dennis Chaconas. In 2001, this disturbing quote inspired me to launch a genuine grassroots effort to bring community members together to support my vision of creating a viable path for under-resourced elementary students to attend and graduate from college. I assembled and partnered with a group of extraordinary educators, students, families, and community groups, co-authored an implementation plan, and in 2003 we opened Think College Now (TCN) - a college-prep, public elementary school in a low-income area of Oakland that is focused on closing the achievement gap and giving all students an equal opportunity to attend college and pursue their dreams. I led TCN for over nine years. During my tenure, we dramatically increased overall student performance. Specifically, student proficiency grew from 8% at grade-level to 66% in English Language Arts (ELA), and 23% to 81% in math and students ranked as far below and below basic ELA declined from 69% to 9%. Additionally, our Academic Performance Indicator (API) grew from 573 to 848 within five years. As Principal, I managed a staff that grew from 6 teachers to 25 teachers and supporting staff and oversaw the management of a $2 million budget with results-based budgeting. Finally, I led development efforts that exceeded our $250,000 annual goal.

In this, my first school leadership role, I managed and oversaw teacher support, evaluation, and family involvement of a 600 student elementary school. I am especially proud of having created a more inclusive environment for non-English speaking families here.

Inspired - and frustrated - by the inequities I observed in my undergraduate experience as an inner-city tutor in Los Angeles, I joined TFA to be a part of a movement for equity in education. In my role as Regional Program Officer (CA), I: oversaw placement, professional development, and support for over 100 new teachers; led monthly Corps meetings; produced monthly newsletter content; and cultivated new principals. Also, I: initiated & coordinated unprecedented events for 85 new teachers; led community tours in 3 different communities; and moderated community, credential, & parent-student panels. In TX, as School Director, I was responsible for: 300 students, comprehensive training for 80 new teachers, and direct management of 15 mentor-teachers.

Master'S Degree, Education

Bachelor'S Degree, Sociology

Teaching Credential-Blcad Spanish

Principal Certification, Principal Certification