History

Founded in 1978 as the Oakland Private Sector Corporation, the Oakland Private Industry Council, Inc. (Oakland PIC ) has been a leader in workforce development.  The PIC helped pioneer the One Stop Career Center model for providing workforce services to job seekers and businesses.  

Incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, a volunteer-member Board of Directors guides the organization.  The Board is comprised of representatives from the private sector, community-based organizations, labor, and local government agencies.

The Oakland PIC reflects the City of Oakland , with multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-ethnic representation throughout the organization’s Board of Directors, as well as in its senior, mid-level, and front-line staff. As a local Oakland institution, the board and staff of the Oakland PIC hold themselves to high levels of accountability in developing and maintaining a One Stop system that yields outstanding results for workers and businesses.

On behalf of the City of Oakland, the Oakland PIC has administered federally- and state-funded worforce development programs since 1984, first under the Job Training Partnership Act, and now under the Workforce Investment Act.  The Oakland PIC has also been a pioneer in establishing innovative programs such as the Women-In-Skilled-Trades pre-apprenticeship training program in 1988, and the Cypress/Mandela pre-apprenticeship training program in 1993.

Beginning in 1995, the Oakland PIC collaborated with the private industry councils of Richmond, Alameda County and Contra Costa County in successful bids to plan and implement an East Bay regional career center system.  the result was the development of EASTBAY Works, a consortium of One Stop centers throughout the two counties.