Company to host training events in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park for small-business owners
MENLO PARK >> Facebook once again is trying to reach out to its neighbors, selecting East Palo Alto and Menlo Park as two of 30 U.S. cities participating in its Facebook Community Boost program this year.
The Menlo Park-based social media giant announced Monday that the two cities will host a multi-day event sometime this summer at not-yet-announced venues in Facebook’s bid to help train small business owners and entrepreneurs who may feel left out of the increasingly digital economy, said Aneesh Raman, a member of Facebook’s global policy team.
“We heard from local partners that there is a need for more digital skills training in Facebook’s
local communities of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park,” said Raman. “At this multiday event, we’ll provide a wide range of training for small businesses and kick off partnerships to train underemployed and unemployed workers over the coming months with the digital skills they need to be more competitive in today’s economy.”
The Community Boost program features Facebook and local organization partners providing free courses on digital skills, such as online advertising, social media management and coding. So far, no Bay Areabased organizations have been announced as partners for the Community Boost program in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park.
“By empowering underserved individuals to start businesses, we fuel community vitality that builds character and sustainable economic health to the area,” said Timothy Russell, program director for the East Palo Alto-based business incubator Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center’s program director. “We’re excited to see Facebook bring this program here to help small businesses grow and create new jobs for our neighbors.”
Facebook’s history with residents of East Palo Alto has been a mixed one. Driven by fears of gentrification, frustration that Facebook is not hiring enough East Palo Alto workers and Facebook’s funding of police officers in East Palo Alto, community organizers and activists protested outside Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters last March.
In 2016, Facebook committed $20 million over five years for affordable housing, job training and assistance for tenants at risk of losing their homes in both Menlo Park and East Palo Alto.
In January, Facebook started the “Access” program to help low-income residents in Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and nearby apply for and get full-time, contract or vendor jobs with the company, according to the local news organization The Almanac.
East Palo Alto and Menlo Park, which are located adjacent to one another, sit on near-opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. Whereas East Palo Alto’s median household income is $55,170 and its ethnic make up is 76 percent Latino and black, Menlo Park’s median home income is $126,045 and less than 23 percent of residents are Latino or black, according to the 2010 U.S. census.
Facebook will kick off its Community Boost program in St. Louis on Monday, shedding some insight on what it may be like in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park. That event will host digital advertising and social media classes and 12-week coding bootcamps. Companies based near St. Louis, including agricultural corporation Monsanto and credit card processing company Clearent, have agreed to interview program graduates for entry-level devel- oper positions.