Grant Eligibility

The City of Oakland’s Equity Grant Program provides a grant to an individual who is, or is part of, a Verified Equity Applicant.  Oakland’s Municipal Code (“OMC) 5.80.010 and OMC 5.81 define an “Equity Applicant” as an Applicant whose ownership/owner[1] meets the following criteria:

  1. Is an Oakland resident; and
  2. Has an annual income at or less than 80 percent of the 2016 Oakland Average Medium Income (AMI) adjusted for household size; and
  3. Either:
    1. Has lived for 10 of the last 20 years in the police beats with disproportionately higher number of cannabis-related arrests: 2X, 2Y, 6X, 7X, 19X, 21X, 21Y, 23X, 26Y, 27X, 27Y, 29X, 30X, 30Y, 31Y, 32X, 33X, 34X, 5X, 8X and 35X; or
    2. Was arrested after November 5, 1996 and convicted of a cannabis crime in Oakland, CA.

Grant Applicants with Equity Loans Outstanding

An Equity Grant Applicant with a prior Equity Loan must be current on their Equity Loan for three consecutive months.  If not current, the Equity Grant applicant must be active in the City of Oakland entrepreneurial program GRASS 2.0 (program description found here) and must submit receipts showing expenditures equal to 100% of the loan amount received to date.

It is important to note that Equity Loan recipients that are more than 90 days delinquent are considered to be in default and therefore are not eligible for a grant unless they enter into an Equity Loan Modification Agreement whose program is described here.  If an Equity Loan recipient has entered into a Loan Modification Agreement, they are eligible to apply for 50% of the amount available for the grant tier(s) that they qualify for.

[1]“Ownership” shall mean the individual or individuals who:

  1. With respect to for profit entities, including without limitation corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, has or have an aggregate ownership interest (other than a security interest, lien or encumbrance) of 50% or more of the entity.
  2. With respect to not for-profit entities, including without limitation a non-profit corporation or similar entity, constitutes or constitute a majority of the board of directors
  3. With respect to a collective, has or have a controlling interest in the collective’s governing body.