Hayward Promise Neighborhoods

Building cradle to career solutions

The Hayward Promise Neighborhoods (HPNs) is a collaborative partnership that ensures educational success and a safe, healthy, and thriving community for all Hayward residents. Part of the national Promise Neighborhood Initiative, HPNs’ goal since 2012 is to lift up two designated Promise Neighborhoods (Jackson Triangle and South Hayward) so that all children living or attending school in the area succeed in their education and are well prepared for college, career and life.

With over 150,000 residents, the City of Hayward is the sixth-largest in the Bay Area and a thriving regional center of commerce, manufacturing activity, and trade. Known as the “Heart of the Bay,” Hayward has capitalized on its unparalleled location to become a desirable destination for companies and for diverse, working-class and immigrant families looking for secure economic opportunities and inclusive communities. Yet, the allure of the Bay Area presents issues for residents who face housing insecurity and barriers to upward mobility.

HPNs targets three census tracts in South Hayward where 92% of residents are Latinx, AAPI, Black, and multiracial, and over 43% are foreign-born. Nearly half of South Hayward residents are extremely burdened by housing costs (paying more than 35% of their income), and 83% of families live in rental housing. Additionally, not all Hayward students have the same level of access to pursue postsecondary opportunities after high school. Only 36% of Hayward residents have a college degree, and less than 10% of Hayward students earn a postsecondary degree within six years of enrolling after high school, compared to 41% nationally according to the National Student Clearinghouse.

HPNs works collectively to improve economic mobility, capacity building and educational attainment for the entire City of Hayward through its targeted work in the Jackson Triangle and South Hayward neighborhoods. The HPNs partners support children and families through more than 50 cradle-to-career activities at each transition point in a child's life. The HPNs collaborative approach has supported: 

• 32% increase in Hayward Unified School District students enrolled at or transferred to Cal State East Bay since 2018
• 6% increase in the high school graduation rate since 2018
• 190 more spots available for pre-schoolers to become ready for kindergarten since 2012
• 600+ new enrollments in career technical classes to boost family incomes since 2012

Cal State East Bay spearheads the HPNs collaborative as the lead or “backbone” agency. HPNs’ partners include local schools, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses.

How you can help

• Support scholarships for students from Hayward Unified School District high schools or transferring from Chabot Community College who want to attend Cal State East Bay. Contact Brad Vartan at (510) 885-3183, brad.vartan@csueastbay.edu for more information.
• Explore a corporate volunteering or giving partnership. Contact Brad Vartan at (510) 885-3183, brad.vartan@csueastbay.edu for more information.
• For volunteer opportunities with HPNs partners (tutoring, food distribution, neighborhood clean-up, etc.) contact Lucy Cisneros (lucia.cisneros@csueastbay.edu)