PVF’s Executive Director, James Higa, went to visit Old Skool Cafe in San Francisco’s Bayview/Hunter’s Point neighborhood.

Old Skool Cafe (OSC) is a youth-run, jazz-themed supper club. Through OSC programs, at-risk youth (ages 16-22) coming from jail, foster care, or situations of abuse and neglect, are welcomed into a supportive environment that provides real-world, on-the-job training and employment.

The idea for this youth-run supper club came out of founder and CEO Teresa Goines’s experience working with gang-affiliated youth as a juvenile correction officer.  She wanted to find a solution to the cyclical problem of incarceration and combat the destruction and hopelessness she saw in the lives of incarcerated and forgotten youth.

In 2004, Teresa started Old Skool Cafe out of her apartment in San Francisco, hosting pop-up events and catering birthdays, weddings, and fundraisers.  Eight years later, in April 2012, OSC officially opened as a San Francisco restaurant.

A few weeks ago, James met with Teresa to talk about new, out-of-the-box marketing ideas and business models for the youth-run supper club.

We at PVF are consistently inspired by creative approaches to solving today’s social issues.