TRANSFORMING PAIN INTO PURPOSE The Oscar Grant Foundation is dedicated to uplifting youth, families, and individuals through Education, Mental Health, and Advocacy.

We believe in nurturing potential, healing trauma, and building communities where equity, opportunity, and compassion thrive. DONATE

2025 OGF Scholarship Recipients

Our Core Pillars

Education

Tutoring

Summer Programs

Scholarships

College and Career Readiness

Mental Health

Healing Workshops

Trauma Support

Community Resilience

Advocacy

Restorative Justice

Youth Empowerment

Civic Engagement

2025 Oscar Grant Legacy Weekend

Today, I had the immense honor to perform for the @oscargrantfoundation alongside many families who have lost their children to police brutality, on a cruise around the Bay on the California Hornblower yacht.

In the midst of bringing awareness to such tragedy, this event was filled with so much love and healing. Never did I think I would have the opportunity to spend time with the Grant family but also meet such incredible people.

When I tell you my heart is full, it is overflowing with such gratitude and appreciation for the community that I am working alongside in search of a better tomorrow.

Huge thank you to Reverend Wanda Grant (Oscar’s mother) , His father, his daughter, and all of the amazing mothers for such an amazing event.

I said it once, and I’ll say it again… I LOVE MY JOB.

Nayeli_Roman_Artistry

Giving Tuesday

EDUCATION. COMMUNITY. SUCCESS

 

Story

The Oscar Grant Foundation was established in 2010 following the conviction of a former BART police officer for the shooting of Oscar Grant. Founded by his mother, Wanda Johnson, and the Grant family, the Foundation emerged from deep pain and a powerful purpose — to transform tragedy into healing, unity, and progress.

What began as a call for justice has evolved into a mission to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, fostering dialogue, understanding, and accountability on all sides.

Today, the Foundation stands as a cornerstone of education, mental health, and advocacy throughout the East Bay. Through our Mental Health Center initiatives, College and Career Readiness programs, and Academic Scholarship opportunities, we help youth and families heal, grow, and thrive.

 

In The News

San Francisco Chronicle

April 16, 2021

Listen to Oscar Grant’s mom

After Daunte Wright’s killing in Minneapolis, America needs to know about “the call.” This is the phone call many Black men in this country make to their mothers when police lights flash in their rearview mirrors. Wright was on the phone with his mother when Minneapolis police pulled him over. When the officers tried to arrest him, Wright panicked and jumped into his car. As they tried to wrestle him from the vehicle, former Minneapolis police Officer Kim Potter pointed her gun, shouted “Taser,” and fired a bullet into Wright. His mother, Katie Wright, must now navigate her personal grief in the glare of an intense national spotlight. The mother of Oscar Grant, Wanda Johnson, knows this burden intimately. “When Oscar died, we had attorneys knocking on our door as soon as it was on television. We hadn’t even thought about him being dead yet,” Johnson said. “Being forced into this (activist) role is definitely a hard process to navigate.”

KRON4

January 11, 2021

‘Do what is right’: Oscar Grant’s family continues to fight for justice

Twelve years after Oscar Grant was killed at the hands of law enforcement, his family received a devastating blow in their fight for justice. The case was reopened back in October, at the request of the Grant family, to see if charges could be filed against Anthony Pirone, the second officer involved in the shooting. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley says she looked at every avenue before finally making a decision that Pirone did not commit the murder or the act that caused the death of Grant. Grant’s mom, Wanda Johnson, doesn’t understand how Pirone isn’t responsible, but she is vowing to not give up the fight. “I’m not asking for a hard thing,” she says. “All I’m asking is to do what is right. And that is to charge the officer for his actions that caused my son’s death.”

People Magazine

July 14, 2020

Michael B. Jordan: ‘Fight for Black Lives to Matter Is Not Over’ 7 Years After Fruitvale Station

Nearly a decade after Michael B. Jordan helped tell the story of a young Black man shot by transit police in Oakland, the actor says there’s still work to be done in the fight for racial justice. In the award-winning 2013 film Fruitvale Station, Jordan played 22-year-old Oscar Grant on the last day of his short life before his fatal encounter with two BART police officers. Grant died in the early hours of January 1, 2010 while returning from New Year’s Eve festivities in San Francisco. The actor remembered the movie and Grant’s life with an Instagram post marking the seventh anniversary of Fruitvale Station, named after the stop where Grant was killed. “7 years ago today, Fruitvale Station shed light on the story of Oscar Grant, a young black man who was shot by a BART police officer on January 1, 2010. Over a decade later, the fight for black lives to matter is not over,” Jordan wrote next to several behind-the-scenes photos from set and a snap of Grant.

San Francisco Chronicle

June 24, 2020

‘Oscar Grant’s mother has a mission: help BART prevent shootings like the one that killed her son

BART is looking into what could be an unprecedented chapter in the police reform movement: bringing in the mother of Oscar Grant to train its department in implicit bias. The training was among a string of reforms announced, as protests against racism and police brutality jolted the Bay Area and cities throughout the nation. With emotions still raw from the widely viewed, slow-motion killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, many cities are contemplating plans to reform their police departments. Officials called for those reforms as they grapple with the enduring symbolism of Grant. He was shot in front of bystanders who recorded the moment on cell phones and uploaded it to YouTube — a form of citizen documentary that would later mobilize the Black Lives Matter movement. Grant inspired “Fruitvale Station,” the movie named for the station where he was shot, in the back, while being held facedown on a cold platform. His name still appears on protest signs.

Curbed

June 10, 2019

Street near Fruitvale BART named for Oscar Grant

BART officially unveiled new signage, naming a street near Fruitvale BART after slain Oakland resident Oscar Grant, as well as a finished mural of him on the side of the station. 22-year-old Grant died on New Year’s Day 2009 after now-former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle shot him on the platform at the Fruitvale station. A jury convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter in 2010 for killing Grant. BART has, for years, wrestled with the question of how to memorialize Grant at the station. The recently completed mural, which depicts a smiling grant and a white dove, began in March, painted by Oakland artist Senay Dennis, who works under the name Refa One. “It’s extremely radical to have the government agency responsible for the death of a young man honor him in this way,” BART Board Member Lateefah Simon said.

The Grio

January 1, 2019

‘On the 10th anniversary of his killing, Oscar Grant’s mother has turned her grief and pain into purpose

Ten years ago today, 22-year old Oscar Grant III was fatally shot just hours into the new year by Oakland’s BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle. Even after having years to grieve, Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson is still not entirely at peace with his death. But instead of focusing solely on Grant being gone, Johnson spends most of her spare time working on the Oscar Grant Foundation, which she started to help grieving families and preserve Grant’s image in the world. On the anniversary of Grant’s death, Johnson attended an event to uplift families impacted by police violence at an arts center less than a mile away from where her son was killed in Oakland. “I’m only here because of my son, Oscar, right now. If Oscar had not been killed, I probably would not have met many of you, I would not have had the opportunity to tell his story, hear his name said all over the world,” Johnson told the crowd. “So I’m very grateful for all of your support.”