Volunteer Opportunities
Violence, crime, food desserts, police brutality, unemployment and mass incarceration are symptomatic of today's problems. The solutions to these problems are as unique as the communities where they occur. OLA16's projects are member-led efforts that promote the health and well-being of Oakland. By bringing our neighbors, friends and associates together, OLA16 seeks to transform the way we relate to each other to build a city based on shared values, mutual respect and love.
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Each service project focuses on building the power and capacity of Oakland residents to work together in community so that all of us can thrive. Whether that means coming together to build a rooftop garden, plant trees, or painting a mural, all of these actions and many more, represent citizens taking ownership, responsibility and pride in our city. Within Yoruba tradition, there are a pair of social institutions called aro and owe. These are groups of family members or age-groups (egbe) who support one another with farming and other forms of physical labor on a rotational basis. Through these institutions, the community will activate the principle of reciprocity. The Orisa Lifestyle Academy considers serving other people is to be an essential devotional practice of indirectly serving Olodumare. Through service we make life easier for one another. In this way, volunteerism is one of the deepest forms of sacrifice.
The Orisa Lifestyle Academy is seeking dedicated volunteers to promote its mission of helping people live the medicine that will heal their lives and heal the lives of those they are destined to serve. We do this by instilling in them the values of the 16 Orisa Lifestyle Agreements. Our goal is to recruit and organize 1 million volunteers to provide leadership and mentoring to our communities. Through the dedication of these many volunteers, the Orisa Lifestyle Academy hopes to establish the foremost program of character development and values-based leadership training in the Orisa community.
The Orisa Lifestyle Academy is seeking dedicated volunteers to promote its mission of helping people live the medicine that will heal their lives and heal the lives of those they are destined to serve. We do this by instilling in them the values of the 16 Orisa Lifestyle Agreements. Our goal is to recruit and organize 1 million volunteers to provide leadership and mentoring to our communities. Through the dedication of these many volunteers, the Orisa Lifestyle Academy hopes to establish the foremost program of character development and values-based leadership training in the Orisa community.
OAKLAND
Lead Catalyst
Responsibilities – two hours per week
Please keep in mind that what follows is meant to give you a basic understanding of what it takes to be an effective Catalyst. The rest will come with experience and time. The Lead Catalyst is responsible for organizing and guiding the activities of the Circle. This is a chance to develop leadership skills by recruiting and training a team, taking the lead in developing a schedule for the OLA16 calendar, and reporting on successes and challenges. The Catalyst’s role can be represented by the following four words:
Facilitate - Educate – Motivate - Innovate
Now, let’s take a close look at all four.
Facilitate
Definition: To make something easier, or to organize and lead (as in a meeting).
You will need to develop people’s understanding of what Òrìsà Lifestyle Agreements are all about, and what the project is intended to do. This is especially useful when it comes to helping people create their own OLA16s, organizing meetings, leading Idea Groups, or managing groups of people.
As the facilitator of a meeting, you will need to be good at listening, questioning, inspiring, organizing, and managing. When you’re talking to just one person your listening skills need to be 100% “on.” Make sure to notice if the person is skeptical or is having a difficult time creating an OLA16. The same holds true in the group settings; give the listeners your undivided attention. Here are some tips for facilitating meetings:
Educate
Definition: To train by formal instruction and supervised practice.
Educating people means showing them how to do something, but it also means helping them to develop, to seek new insights about themselves and the world they live in. How successful you are in this task will depend on two things: 1. Your knowledge of the subject and 2. Your ability to communicate it. It’s important that you become familiar with the information included throughout this Guide, including:
• Òrìsà Lifestyle as a general concept (and a smattering of interesting facts on the topic).
• The Òrìsà Lifestyle Academy’s objectives
• Òrìsà Lifestyle Agreements —the purpose, history, objectives, measures of success, and ways to get involved.
• The OLA16 Process
Motivate
Definition: To give an incentive for action.
At last, we’ve reached the really fun part! With your words and your enthusiasm, you will inspire many participants to take positive actions. The most important thing to remember is that you can only motivate people to do those things that are willing to do yourself. In other words, once you have shared the basic information and you have facilitated some conversation about it, show the people, don’t tell them. Consistency is king! The small things you do consistently are more powerful motivators than the big things you say from time to time. Try to do everything with a spirit of joy, especially the following:
• Practice your OLA16.
• Resolve conflict and solve problems.
• Maintain a clean, neat and pleasant environment.
• Always be truthful and sincere.
Innovate
Definition: To introduce something for the first time.
Although you have been given a basic framework for OLA16, the strategy for orienting and enrolling the hundreds of people community is entirely yours to create. You and your fellow Catalysts are the experts about your community and the people who live there. Take time to reflect on how to tailor OLA16 to fit the needs of your environment. Remember, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” (Buckminster Fuller). Work together to come up with something innovative—something useful and relevant that will really generate electricity and excitement among the participants. Get as many people involved as you can.
Your ability to innovate is essential when it comes to such things as:
• Communicating, engaging, and following up with participants.
• Reaching out to friends and family members.
• Gathering data and measuring results.
• Rewarding successes and accomplishments.
• Supporting participants’ OLA16s.
• Overcoming obstacles and challenges.
Even more important than the words you actually use is how you communicate your passion for Òrìsà Lifestyle. The more you allow your excitement to radiate out to others, the more people will want to jump on board. Your fellow participants will see how important OLA16 is to you, how empowering it can be to choose an OLA16, and how gratifying it is to make a meaningful contribution. And when they get passionate about the OLA16 and make positive changes in their lives, they will “pass it on” themselves.
Here is a list of your specific tasks:
· Help recruit a team of three Catalysts and a Senior Advisor.
· Organize a start-up meeting within a week of the OLA16 Retreat.
· Manage the OLA16 calendar of activities and events for your community.
· Participate in four weekly calls with OLA16 Trainers and other Lead Catalysts.
· Gather OLA16 data and enter it into the online tracking tool weekly. See the guide section on ‘Tracking’ for more information about how to do this.
· Develop a 15-minute orientation to introduce the community to OLA16. The Catalyst team will deliver this orientation at a regularly scheduled meeting.
· Work with your team to lead the community wide initiative.
· Work with your team to green the meeting space and/or shrine.
· Work with your team to ensure that all participants are approached with a one-to-one enrollment conversation.
Lead Catalyst
Responsibilities – two hours per week
Please keep in mind that what follows is meant to give you a basic understanding of what it takes to be an effective Catalyst. The rest will come with experience and time. The Lead Catalyst is responsible for organizing and guiding the activities of the Circle. This is a chance to develop leadership skills by recruiting and training a team, taking the lead in developing a schedule for the OLA16 calendar, and reporting on successes and challenges. The Catalyst’s role can be represented by the following four words:
Facilitate - Educate – Motivate - Innovate
Now, let’s take a close look at all four.
Facilitate
Definition: To make something easier, or to organize and lead (as in a meeting).
You will need to develop people’s understanding of what Òrìsà Lifestyle Agreements are all about, and what the project is intended to do. This is especially useful when it comes to helping people create their own OLA16s, organizing meetings, leading Idea Groups, or managing groups of people.
As the facilitator of a meeting, you will need to be good at listening, questioning, inspiring, organizing, and managing. When you’re talking to just one person your listening skills need to be 100% “on.” Make sure to notice if the person is skeptical or is having a difficult time creating an OLA16. The same holds true in the group settings; give the listeners your undivided attention. Here are some tips for facilitating meetings:
- Set meeting objectives (desired outcomes).
- Establish meeting ground rules (e.g., no cell phones).
- Stay focused, stick to the agenda and respect time.
- Generate ideas and discussion.
- Empower others to decide (be comfortable with silence).
- Ask questions and elicit answers.
- Evaluate the meeting.
Educate
Definition: To train by formal instruction and supervised practice.
Educating people means showing them how to do something, but it also means helping them to develop, to seek new insights about themselves and the world they live in. How successful you are in this task will depend on two things: 1. Your knowledge of the subject and 2. Your ability to communicate it. It’s important that you become familiar with the information included throughout this Guide, including:
• Òrìsà Lifestyle as a general concept (and a smattering of interesting facts on the topic).
• The Òrìsà Lifestyle Academy’s objectives
• Òrìsà Lifestyle Agreements —the purpose, history, objectives, measures of success, and ways to get involved.
• The OLA16 Process
Motivate
Definition: To give an incentive for action.
At last, we’ve reached the really fun part! With your words and your enthusiasm, you will inspire many participants to take positive actions. The most important thing to remember is that you can only motivate people to do those things that are willing to do yourself. In other words, once you have shared the basic information and you have facilitated some conversation about it, show the people, don’t tell them. Consistency is king! The small things you do consistently are more powerful motivators than the big things you say from time to time. Try to do everything with a spirit of joy, especially the following:
• Practice your OLA16.
• Resolve conflict and solve problems.
• Maintain a clean, neat and pleasant environment.
• Always be truthful and sincere.
Innovate
Definition: To introduce something for the first time.
Although you have been given a basic framework for OLA16, the strategy for orienting and enrolling the hundreds of people community is entirely yours to create. You and your fellow Catalysts are the experts about your community and the people who live there. Take time to reflect on how to tailor OLA16 to fit the needs of your environment. Remember, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” (Buckminster Fuller). Work together to come up with something innovative—something useful and relevant that will really generate electricity and excitement among the participants. Get as many people involved as you can.
Your ability to innovate is essential when it comes to such things as:
• Communicating, engaging, and following up with participants.
• Reaching out to friends and family members.
• Gathering data and measuring results.
• Rewarding successes and accomplishments.
• Supporting participants’ OLA16s.
• Overcoming obstacles and challenges.
Even more important than the words you actually use is how you communicate your passion for Òrìsà Lifestyle. The more you allow your excitement to radiate out to others, the more people will want to jump on board. Your fellow participants will see how important OLA16 is to you, how empowering it can be to choose an OLA16, and how gratifying it is to make a meaningful contribution. And when they get passionate about the OLA16 and make positive changes in their lives, they will “pass it on” themselves.
Here is a list of your specific tasks:
· Help recruit a team of three Catalysts and a Senior Advisor.
· Organize a start-up meeting within a week of the OLA16 Retreat.
· Manage the OLA16 calendar of activities and events for your community.
· Participate in four weekly calls with OLA16 Trainers and other Lead Catalysts.
· Gather OLA16 data and enter it into the online tracking tool weekly. See the guide section on ‘Tracking’ for more information about how to do this.
· Develop a 15-minute orientation to introduce the community to OLA16. The Catalyst team will deliver this orientation at a regularly scheduled meeting.
· Work with your team to lead the community wide initiative.
· Work with your team to green the meeting space and/or shrine.
· Work with your team to ensure that all participants are approached with a one-to-one enrollment conversation.
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Supporting Catalyst
Responsibilities – one hour per week Catalysts work as a team to create a successful OLA16 campaign. For every Catalyst, there should be at least two Supporting Catalysts. The more your excitement shows, the more other people will want to get involved. Be an example of how important Òrìsà Lifestyle is to you, how empowering it can be to choose an OLA16, and how gratifying it is to play a role in projecting the culture in a responsible way. When they get passionate about OLA16 and make positive changes for Òrìsà Lifestyle in their lives, they will pass it on to others too. Here is a list of your specific tasks: · Host Idea Groups. · Work with the Lead Catalyst to develop a schedule of OLA16 events. · Enroll participants in the movement through the orientation and one-to-one conversations. · Work with the Lead Catalyst to manage the community project. Community Shrine Artist
Responsibilities All Yoruba towns have sacred groves and public shrines, sacred place for praying. It is through these shrines that the people express their devotion and actively engage the òrìsà in the day-to-day concerns of the community. The Community Shrine Artist creates a variety of works dedicated to the glory of the various divinities, as they are understood amongst the Yoruba people of West Africa. At regular intervals, Community Shrine artisans will create religious images, usually in some sort of small shelter, and place them by a road, pathway, crossroads, hilltop, riverside, lakeside or at the ocean, according to the directives of Ifa Divination. Here is a list of your specific tasks:
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Senior Advisor
Responsibilities The Senior Advisor must be A) an initiated òrìsà priest or priestess and/or B) over the age of 40. Preferably, the Senior Advisor will be both initiated AND over age 40. As OLA16 moves forward, remember that its continued success depends on your ability to make sure it’s led by the Catalysts. You may offer ideas, but it’s up to the Catalysts to decide to use them or not. Also, remember that OLA16 is voluntary; nobody should ever be pressured to participate. Here is a list of your specific tasks:
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Community Shrine Keeper
Responsibilities All Yoruba towns have sacred groves and public shrines, sacred place for praying. It is through these shrines that the people express their devotion and actively engage the òrìsà in the day-to-day concerns of the community. The Community Shrine Keeper is the official custodian of sacred spaces dedicated to the glory of the various divinities, as they are understood amongst the Yoruba people of West Africa. At regular intervals, Community Shrine Keepers will visit community shrines, according to the directives of Ifa Divination. Here is a list of your specific tasks:
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OLA16 TasteMaker
Responsibilities We're looking for motivated, responsible, and dedicated TasteMakers to be part of our Oakland Street Team. This promotional team will be responsible for handing out flyers at places like festivals, street fairs, and farmers' markets. This is a great way to gain valuable, grassroots experience by supporting an established community initiative. Activities include the following:
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Boys' Rites of Passage Program Coordinator
Responsibilities
The Rites of passage Program Coordinator is in charge of leading the daily operations of Boy's Rites of passage courses, managing Field Staff's job performance and work schedules, and facilitating field-focused training sessions. This role is at the center of the program, as every other position will have daily or weekly contact with the Program Coordinator. This position requires a person that can multi-task, be well organized, and have the ability to work well under pressure. Management of people is the key aspect of the Program Coordinator's function, and communication skills must be efficient and effective. The Program Coordinator will serve both in the office setting and in the field. It is essential that the Program Coordinator have the ability to work well with people, enjoy problem solving, and have a solid foundation of directly relevant skills.
REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS
1. Education and Training
The Schedule
The Program Coordinator is a 4-6 hour weekly commitment. The schedule is active primarily after school and week ends.
Responsibilities
The Rites of passage Program Coordinator is in charge of leading the daily operations of Boy's Rites of passage courses, managing Field Staff's job performance and work schedules, and facilitating field-focused training sessions. This role is at the center of the program, as every other position will have daily or weekly contact with the Program Coordinator. This position requires a person that can multi-task, be well organized, and have the ability to work well under pressure. Management of people is the key aspect of the Program Coordinator's function, and communication skills must be efficient and effective. The Program Coordinator will serve both in the office setting and in the field. It is essential that the Program Coordinator have the ability to work well with people, enjoy problem solving, and have a solid foundation of directly relevant skills.
REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS
1. Education and Training
- Degree in a human and health services field preferred, but not required.
- Have training in outdoor education, natural medicine, Yoruba cosmology, Boy Scouts of America, is preferred but not required.
- CPR/First Aid is preferred but not required
- Must have experience working in early childhood or youth education
- Must have experience with African indigenous or folk knowledge
- Must have the ability to work well under pressure and be well organized to manage people effectively.
- Must have the ability to maintain good working relationships with clients, employees, and industry professionals.
- Must have effective oral and written communication skills and be able to articulate thoughts and ideas to others.
- Must have the ability to maintain confidentiality of files and other documents.
- Must be able to work with money and cash receipts and keep up-to-date expense records.
- Must dress in a professional manner.
- Must have a valid driver's license and good driving record.
- Must have a demonstrated record of good work attendance and reliability.
- Must be flexible in work habits and work schedule.
- This position requires a professional demeanor and an orientation toward excellent client services.
The Schedule
The Program Coordinator is a 4-6 hour weekly commitment. The schedule is active primarily after school and week ends.
Boy's Rites of Passage Field Staff
Field Staff perform administrative support functions for the boys. The Field Staff meet monthly.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Field Staff perform administrative support functions for the boys. The Field Staff meet monthly.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Adult Leader: Preside at all monthly meetings. Help recruit adult leaders and attend monthly meetings.
- Record Keeper: Maintain advancement records for the boys. Attend monthly meetings.
- Secretary/Treasurer: Coordinate fund raising activities, keep all records for the program, including banking and financial records. Attend monthly meetings.
- Trainer: Coordinate and promote leadership training for all adults. Attend monthly meetings.
