About -

WHO WE ARE

We lean into the love of comics and pop culture to promote and build literacy skills, gather and celebrate community, and deliver and scaffold workforce development and career-building opportunities for aspiring creatives, storytellers, and innovators from youth to adults.

Our leadership

Hally Bellah-Guther

Tara Bell

Kent Tierney

Board Member

Chief Financial Officer Board Member

Board Member

Valerie Kemp Hannah

Marcus King

Board Member

Collaborative Approach

Vision and Priorities

Vision

We envision a future where historically overlooked communities are the creators and drivers of our society’s stories and innovations

Mission

We prepare, activate, and uplift the next generation of diverse storytellers and innovators.

OTEC HISTORY

2001

Introduced

DUSTY: Digital Underground Storytelling for Youth

Starting in the basement of the Prescott Community Center in West Oakland, Michael James started the DUSTY after school program to bridge the digital divide for youth in the community.

2003

Expanded

OTEC Becomes a 501c3

The Oakland Technology and Education Center is established to operate DUSTY in partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education.

2003-2007

Expanded

Learning Through Laughter & Other Programs

<span style="font-weight:normal;" id="docs-internal-guid-84718885-7fff-e598-2ac6-e8d75ed08517"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: rgb(133, 133, 133); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Learning Through Laughter & Other Programs</span></p></span>

The DUSTY program expands to sites at Castlemont High School and more. The original Prescott site and others offer additional programming including music production and Learning Through Laughter to teach comedy writing and delivery. DUSTY invites celebrity guests John Legend and Alicia Keys for Master Classes in music.

2003-2009

Sub Label

UC Berkeley Partnership & DUSTY Abroad

DUSTY receives international recognition for UC Berkeley’s published research sharing DUSTY’s digital storytelling program as a literacy model for youth. DUSTY program staff and UC Berkeley researchers are invited to give workshops in Norway, India, South Africa and Indonesia.

2017-2024

Sub Label

AfroComicCon & the AFCC International Film Festival

After a hiatus, OTEC initiates new programming with AfroComicCon in 2017 at Expressions College in Emeryville. In 2018, the AFCC International Film Festival is launched, inviting Black filmmakers from Oakland and around the world to share their work in Oakland.

2024 & Beyond

Sub Label

Forging the Future

OTEC launches a new strategic plan and programming focused on core skills and workforce development, and engaging its events as platforms to showcase the work of young people and catalyze networking connections to industry.

OTEC looks to launch Oakland Comic Con in Fall 2025 and expand AfroComicCon to Los Angeles in 2027.