San Francisco Sun

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed announced a new funding opportunity to advance the establishment of a Historically Black College & University (HBCU) satellite campus in San Francisco. This initiative aims to boost San Francisco’s economy and aligns with the mayor's priority of revitalizing Downtown.

Through the Black 2 San Francisco initiative, led by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) in partnership with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), proposals are being sought from qualified organizations to develop and operate an HBCU satellite campus. The funding proposal includes a City grant to support launching a location that would serve both Bay Area residents and HBCU students from multiple schools. This initiative seeks to establish a long-term presence for HBCUs on the West Coast.

The funding opportunity will provide higher education leadership through strategic public-private partnerships with additional potential support from philanthropic collaborators. Establishing an HBCU satellite campus Downtown supports Mayor Breed’s 30 by 30 initiative, which aims to add 30,000 new residents and students to San Francisco by 2030. Announced in February 2024, the Black 2 San Francisco initiative has already formed partnerships with administrators and faculty from more than ten HBCUs.

“Bringing an HBCU satellite campus here will boost our Downtown and our economy while bringing new minds and ideas to grow within our world-renowned culture of innovation,” said Mayor London Breed. “We have been building partnerships with HBCUs across the country, and we are bringing our first cohort of students here this summer, all part of our larger 30 by 30 initiative to help revitalize Downtown. San Francisco is seizing the opportunity to be a center of excellence with a commitment to higher education as a key part of our City’s future.”

“With the launch of this summer’s HBCU cohort and the release of the RFQ, I am looking forward to greeting HBCU students and working with many schools looking to expand to the west coast. The potential to offer local students access to quality education provided at HBCUs here in San Francisco is a major accomplishment,” said Sheryl Davis, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. “This funding provides support for a lead organization to facilitate meetings, organize and coordinate space and schedules, work on accreditation, begin outreach and engagement, and launch classes. Funding will help cover costs of planning, staff and faculty, accreditation, space and engagement.”

As an initial step towards establishing an enduring presence for HBCUs in San Francisco, a first cohort of interns from various HBCUs will reside in San Francisco this summer. Following a competitive application process held in March and April that exceeded anticipated interest levels, an inaugural group of 60 interns has been admitted into a six-week program starting this June. Besides internship placements across various industries for career exploration purposes, B2SF scholars will participate in workshops led by subject matter experts while experiencing cultural aspects unique to San Francisco through curated visits.

The RFQ emphasizes creating supportive networks for youth, families, and programs impacted by funded programming so they can navigate complex systems successfully.

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