On June 23, 2016 Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf awarded Attitudinal Healing Connection with the *Secret Sauce Award at the Chamber's 111th Annual Meeting and Awards Lunch. Each year the Chamber of Commerce holds their annual awards luncheon to both celebrate the Chamber and its members but also to honor those in the Oakland community whose work has set them apart. They give awards in a variety of categories including seven other award winners were announced: the Golden State Warriors (Oakland on the Map Award), Kaiser Permanente (Deep Roots), Give Something Back Office Supplies (Community Catalyst), Children's Fairyland (Heart of Oakland), as well as two winners for the Tech Oakland Award— Pandora and Clef.
AHC received the *Secret Sauce Award specifically for our work on the Oakland Super Heroes Mural (OSH) Project, a project that engages youth in community issues and solutions through the power of public art.
Major Libby Schaaf with Kokomon and Amana after everyone received a Special Sauce award
*The Secret Sauce Award: We all know it’s hard to put into words what exactly makes Oakland so special. This award honors an organization or individual who contributes to what Mayor Schaaf likes to refer to as Oakland’s “Secret Sauce” – that unquantifiable and unique ingredient to Oakland’s allure. Mayor Schaaf talked about Oakland having a gritty authenticity that makes Oakland resilient and strong. She mentioned Oakland’s love, pride and inclusive nature for diversity. The Major talked about the artist community and the incredible cultural vitality that no other city has and she mentioned the working class groups that gives the city a refreshing authenticity. Finally she highlighted Oakland’s progressive values, our long term commitment to social justice and fairness and what is right.
Amana Harris and Kokomon Clottey, accepted the award on behalf of AHC to a standing crowd. In her acceptance speech, Amana talked about the work that the citizens of Oakland need to do to invest in their fine city and more importantly, in the people. “There is a lot of work to do and it takes every single one of us to make sure we cultivate a world that we want our children to grow up in… I love this city. This is a great day for Oakland and for the Attitudinal Healing Connection.”
Kokomon followed Amana’s inspiration speech with presenting the Mayor with a bottle of secret sauce that he created with love and grace from Ghana, West Africa.
Kokomon Presenting Major Schaaf
We are honored to accept this award as we are proud to exemplify all the characteristics Mayor Schaaf described when talking about the unique qualities of Oakland. As we continue to work to make positive changes to our community, we need your help. Please consider attending or sponsoring our Gala on November 5th. For more information go to http://bit.ly/AHCgala2016