Candidate for
Council Member; City of Oakland; Council District 1

Amy Lemley lives in North Oakland with her husband and two daughters. In 1998, she co-founded First Place for Youth in Oakland, which provides affordable housing to hundreds of youth and young adults. First Place has reduced youth homelessness in Oakland and become a national model. Amy led the effort to extend foster care to age 21 and to create a $50 million investment in permanent, affordable housing for homeless youth, the first of its kind in California.

Amy graduated from the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. She is an expert in accessing state and federal funding and working with local, state and federal officials to solve complex problems. Amy spearheaded the formation of the Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance, a coalition of 26 organizations protecting our community's most vulnerable children.

Amy is a nationally recognized social entrepreneur, who has brought the creativity of the private sector to the social sector. She believes that local businesses are essential to creating sustainable communities. Oakland would receive $10 million in new sales tax revenue alone if residents purchased their goods and services from Oakland businesses, providing local government with new revenue that could fund a range of services, from public safety to schools.

Oakland faces many challenges. Reducing crime, attracting business, creating well-paying jobs, and improving our schools will require hard work, collaboration and compromise. Nothing is easy. To get this accomplished will take the efforts of many. Amy's advocacy expertise, combined with her can-do attitude, creativity and belief that collaboration breeds the best results have made her an effective problem-solver and innovator.

An active member of our community, and her neighborhood, Amy has served on the Measure Y Oversight Committee, is a Friend of the Rockridge Library, a member of the PTA and a room parent at Chabot Elementary