Join us this Friday in Oakland for business networking and delicious food at SBA's monthly networking lunch. Swans Market Co-Housing will be our meeting place. A delectable lunch buffet from a local caterer will be provided.

Friday, December 5th 12PM - 1:30PM

Swans Market Co-Housing, 930 Clay St., near 12th St. BART

$12 pre-registered SBA Members (join here)
$15 non members
$18 at door

Register here

The holidays are fast approaching, which means it's time to channel the gift-giving spirits. The folks at Shop Oakland, Buy Local Berkeley, and East Bay Express are asking us to forget the big box stores this season and support our local economy by spending at least $100 at local indie businesses.

To put things in perspective, if all the East Bay Express readers spent at least $100 at local businesses in the month of December, they would be making a $58.8 million dollar impact on their community. Directing our spending power locally keeps money from leaving the community, which is vital for creating a sustainable local economy.

Be a part of this massive financial injection and make the pledge! East Bay Express is giving away $1000 in gift certificates from locally owned businesses for those who send in an email pledge. Buy Curious and Shop Local!

The people at brandimage have created the Paper Water Bottle concept to change the way liquid products are packaged. The Paper Water Bottle is a sustainable answer to wasteful plastic bottles that dominate the industry. It is the first totally recyclable paper container made from 100% renewable resources. No one knows when these sleek water containers will hit the market. Hopefully soon.

The 360 Paper Bottle is a sustainable vision of the future. It is the first totally recyclable paper container made from 100% renewable resources. Versatile in its range of consumer applications and made from food-safe and fully recyclable materials, it decreases energy consumed throughout the product life cycle without sacrificing functionality. It is paper packaging that stands up to all liquid categories.

What a spectacular night! The Scottish Rite Center was surging with high spirits! Pictured are Sistahs of the Drum performing live. Program text below.

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights thanks you for joining us this evening to celebrate our community and the great thinks you make possible. Tonight, we'll be reflecting on the incredible progress we've made together in 2008 and building momentum for our work in 2009. We will also proudly honor three young leaders who are blazing a path toward justice, opportunity, and peace.

2008 has been a phenomenal year for the Ella Baker Center, with huge victories here in the Bay Area and statewide:

• Our Books Not Bars team got the state to close two of California's youth prisons this summer, thanks to the tireless advocacy of our staff and the Families for Books Not Bars parent network.
• Our Silence the Violence team trained 30 young people as Block Ambassadors for Peace. With their leadership and creative voices, the Ambassadors reach and inspire hundreds of young people most affected by violence.
• Our Bay Area PoliceWatch campaign helped exonerate an African American youth falsely charged with murder in Clear Lake (Lake County). We provided legal assistance and petitioned to have his trial moved to Contra Costa County to ensure impartial justice.
• Our Green-Collar Jobs Campaign team got the city of Oakland to fund the launch of the first-ever Oakland Green Jobs Corps. The initial class of 40 young people will get comprehensive, job-linked training in green careers with solid, long-term opportunities.
• Ella Baker Center led the charge and stopped the Proposition 6 "Runner Initiative" in its tracks. We formed a ballot measure committee, organized the state's heaviest-hitting teacher's unions, and championed a campaign that got 63% of California's voters to reject the worst lock-'em-up ballot initiative in California's history.

Our victories belong to you as well, because none of them would be possible without your love, partnership, and support.

SBA members Fun Photo Guys, a professional photography company based in Pleasant Hill, California, has been recognized by StartupNation as the top Greenest business in its annual Home Based 100 competition!

Just another photographer? Not exactly. More like an evangelist. Kevin Slovick is an agent of change and earned top spot in our Top Ten Greenest for 2008.

Fun Photo Guys was founded with a partner in 2006, and sources markets and delivers eco-friendly professional photography services. But Slovick's impact goes way beyond responsible 2D memories. He has made a mission (and brand) out of helping other entrepreneurs understand how to make sustainability a normal--or better yet, preferred--course of business.

Slovick uses any extra hours of the day to contribute written content to StartupNation.com (see 9 Steps To Green Your Business). He also deliberately became a Bay Area Certified Green business to ensure that Fun Photo Guys would act as a beacon to educate and inspire other businesses on how to become green. Slovick gives talks, has been a green business panelist, and is the Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce Green Business Committee encouraging local businesses to adopt green business practices. His efforts have helped many businesses go green locally and throughout the country.

With his family and community in mind, Kevin has committed to using green technologies and renewable resources in both his business and personal life, but has created a much bigger impact by inspiring so many others to become aware and act and work more sustainably. And that's why he's our winner.