Our award-winning Bakery Bootcamp® training program is the heart, soul, and core of The Bread Project – helping low-income residents of the Bay Area gain skills for employment in commercial baking and the food industry as a means to economic self-sufficiency. Nearly 1,900 residents have been trained since our founding in 2000.
Our calendar listing the start and graduation dates of our upcoming four-week Bakery Bootcamps® can be seen here!
The Bakery Bootcamp® is a four-week, 115+ hour intensive Bakery Bootcamp offered monthly, combining the fundamentals of commercial baking and safe food handling along with the soft skills of goal setting, time management, financial management, resume writing, interviewing, and getting a job. Graduates receive a Certificate of Completion, their California Food Handlers Card, job coaching and placement assistance, and 12 months of follow-up support.
Check out the article written by Tamara Straus of the UC Berkeley Blum Center for Developing Economies featuring The Bread Project here!
Current Community Partnerships for Trainee Recruitment
• Alameda County Probation
• Alameda County Sheriff’s Office – San Leandro
• Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Youth and Family Services Bureau
• Alameda County Social Services
• Alameda County Workforce Investment Board
• Berkeley Adult School
• Berkeley Food & Housing Project
• Berkeley Mental Health
• Berkeley Youth Alternatives
• Bonita House
• BOSS (Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency)
• Catholic Charities
• Center Point Oakland Day Reporting Center
• Contra Costa County Social Services*
• Department of Rehabilitation
• East Bay Refugee Forum
• East Bay Works
• East Oakland Community Project
• Eastmont Career Center, Self-Sufficiency Center
• Fred Finch Youth Center
• Harrison House
• International Rescue Committee (IRC)
• Lao Family Community Development, Inc.*
• Men of Valor Academy
• Next Step Learning Center
• Oakland Private Industry Council
• Oakland Un1te
• Parole Region II: Oakland, Vallejo & Redwood City
• Richmond Employment & Human Services*
• Richmond Works*
• Rubicon Programs (Berkeley & Richmond)*
• Swords to Plowshares
• Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay
• West Contra Costa Adult School*
• Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center
• Workforce Development Board, Contra Costa County*
• Youth Engagement Advocacy Housing (YEAH)
* Indicates Contra Costa Recruitment Partner
Current Job Placement / Employment Relationships Below is a list of the employers we have worked and are working with to place graduates from Bakery Bootcamp® in open positions throughout the Bay Area:
- 85C Bakery Café
- Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences
- Aces
- Actual Café
- Aerotek
- Allen Industries
- Amazon
- Berkeley Youth Alternatives
- Brookfield Pre-School
- Cafè Soleil
- Carl’s Junior
- Crepes A La Cart
- Culinary Staffing of America, Inc.
- DNA Pizza
- Douglas Parking
- FedEx
- Firebrand Artisan Bread
- Ford GoBike Warehouse
- High Flying Food
- Homecare Assistance
- Hugh Groman Catering
- Ike’s Place
- Instacart
- Jack in the Box
- Julie’s Coffee and Tea Garden
- La Quinta Inn & Suites
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- LivHome
- LocoL
- Luminosity
- Market Hall Foods Berkeley
- Mina Group
- Mission Heirloom Kitchen
- Niles Pie Company
- Noah’s Bagels
- Nothing Bundt Cakes
- Oakland Unified School District
- Oaxacan Mobile Kitchen
- Panera Bread
- Pared.com
- Peet’s Coffee – Berkeley
- Peet’s Coffee – Roasting Plant
- Peter’s Kettle Corn
- Pieology
- Plum Bar
- Polymeric Technology Inc
- Quanta
- Rainbow
- Reem’s California
- RoliRoti
- Rubicon Bakery
- Safeway
- Salvation Army
- Seaglass Restaurant
- Semifreddi’s
- Solutions
- Somewhere Else Bar
- Tesla Motors Co.
- The Bread Project
- The New Parkway Theater
- The Party Staff Inc.
- Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay
- Waterside Workshop
- Whole Foods Market