Facebook Breaks Ground On Community Hub Devoted To Nonprofits
Facebook will soon break ground on its latest development, but this time the social media company isn't building offices — it is creating a nonprofit community hub. The 12K SF community hub will provide much-needed space for nonprofits educating the community and youth about tech and coding. It is expected to open in early 2019.
Large tech companies and organizations have been devoting community spaces for nonprofits and events as part of their campus or office developments. Salesforce has devoted the top floor of Salesforce Tower, the ohana floor, for community and nonprofit events after hours. Google opened a free 8,500 SF workspace for nonprofits at its Embarcadero office in 2017.
Facebook’s Menlo Park Community Hub will be for local nonprofits focused on internships and workforce training, coding and technology courses and community development. The space is reservable for nonprofits, entrepreneurs and community events when not used for classes.
“One East Palo Alto has been challenged with the issue of space for a number of years now,” One East Palo Alto Associate Executive Director Kava Tulua said. “Like other nonprofits, the issue of space hinders the growth of an organization and limits its capacity to build meaningful programs.”
One East Palo Alto trains 100 young people each year during its summer employment program and will offer a portion of this training to local residents at the community hub.
In addition to One East Palo Alto, three other nonprofits will offer classes. Year Up will offer internship training and preparation at the hub. The organization is dedicated to helping young adults move from minimum wage jobs to meaningful careers within a year. Streetcode Academy will offer training in coding, design and entrepreneurship. The organization is focused on offering high-tech training to youths and young adults in communities of color.
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center offers classes and development support for new entrepreneurs and will offer small-business courses twice a week to local residents.
