Powering Community Connections with Mandela Partners

School’s out for the summer, but one evening in late June, Hoover Elementary buzzed with people, music, and the smell of antojitos—savory Mexican street snacks. 

West Oakland residents enjoyed free treats like chaska corn cups—sweet, tender corn topped with Cotija cheese, fresh lime, and a choice of chili powder or hot sauce—as part of Mini Market, a pop-up food program organized by local nonprofit Mandela Partners. The Mini Market program is part of Mandela Partners’s dual mission of supporting local food entrepreneurs while expanding access to free, prepared meals in Oakland and beyond. 

Ava Community Energy was a proud sponsor of the Mini Market that night, which we supported as part of our commitment to uplift projects that directly benefit communities in our service area.

Mandela Partners was established to address deeply rooted inequities and barriers to opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Oakland area. They work with local partners to improve health, create wealth, and build assets through local food enterprises.

In 2025 alone, the nonprofit circulated $401,000 in the local economy, distributed free fresh produce to 5,590 people, and invested $76,194 directly in local entrepreneurs through grants, stipends, and seed funding—supporting the launch and growth of 16 BIPOC-owned food businesses across the East Bay.

Among Mandela Partners’s programs is Entrepreneur Incubation, which helps early-and growth-stage food entrepreneurs turn their ideas into sustainable businesses. Participants get expert coaching to help clarify their business model, build strong plans, and get their products tested in real markets through partnerships with farmers markets and at community events, like Mini Markets. 

To celebrate the first Mini Market of the year, Mandela Partners invited Yoyo’s Botanería to share their treats with families, courtesy of funding from Ava.

Yoyo’s Botanería originally started as an idea by the founders after they moved to the Bay Area from the Yucatán Peninsula and couldn’t find their favorite street snacks. 

“We missed not being able to buy duros preparados, empapelados, and marquesitas—so we pondered the idea to sell them ourselves, and decided to bring our business to life,” said co-founder Diana Ramirez-Jasso, an alum of the Mandela Entrepreneur Incubation Program. Diana started her business at E14th Eatery + Kitchen, Mandela Partners’ shared micro-eatery and commercial kitchen in Ashland, California. 

Since then, Diana and her family have opened their first brick-and-mortar location in Cherryland, CA. More than a restaurant site, Diana and her family are giving back to the community and using their space to host community events and to promote other local small businesses. 

“They know what it’s like to work in the food industry—the beautiful moments and the challenging ones—and use those experiences to lead with empathy and curiosity,” said Loren Johnson, Entrepreneur Incubation Program Manager II at Mandela Partners, on these local businesses. “They lean on community, whether it’s family, friends, mentors, or organizations, knowing that asking for help is part of growing a successful business.”

That kind of community spirit aligns with our values at Ava, which is why we were eager to support the initiative. Our mission goes beyond increasing clean energy access and includes supporting the needs and wellbeing of our communities. 

The partnership between Ava and Mandela Partners began as a casual conversation between employees of each organization in the parking lot of an Oakland Roots game, and evolved into the Community Sponsorship this project is funding. 

As an added commitment to our communities, Mandela Partners chose to hold this year’s first popup market at Town Nights, a community partnership dedicated to building social cohesion and employment opportunities in Oakland through free community events. Town Nights is hosting many events throughout the summer, including soccer games, pickleball tournaments, and healing fairs. 

At Ava, we believe clean energy, food access, and community wellbeing are interconnected issues. When we have excess revenue, we use it to reduce rates, run local programs, and invest in local organizations. We’re able to do this because as a public agency, we don’t have shareholders. 

Our service area covers diverse communities, from big cities like Oakland and Stockton to the unincorporated areas of Alameda County and San Joaquin County. We want all of our communities to have equal access to important services. One way we do this is through Community Sponsorships, which are given to as many as 60 recipients per year for programs across sports, art, music, STEM, and more. This is part of the $11.5 million that we’ve reinvested in our community to date through sponsorships, local vendors, workforce development, emergency relief, and grants.

Similarly, Mandela Partners works with local residents, family farmers, and community-based businesses to improve health, build wealth, and create lasting assets through local food enterprises in limited-resource communities. 

Interested in getting involved in upcoming Mini Markets? Mandela Partners would love to have you as either a corporate sponsor, a local food business or entrepreneur, or simply as a community member looking to pitch in. Reach out to events@mandelapartners.org. 

Some of the best things about living in Northern California are our fresh foods, different cultures, and neighborly spirit. Summer is not yet over, so it’s not too late to support your neighbors and check out an upcoming Town Night or help out at a Mini Market. And if you have a project that would directly benefit communities within Ava’s service area, apply for a Community Sponsorship.