Since 2010, the BRIDGEGOOD Inspiration Awards has done something most galas never manage: it has honored genuinely famous people without ever becoming about fame.
Over ten consecutive years, from a room at Preservation Park to a stage at Twitter’s own headquarters, BRIDGEGOOD recognized 32 Bay Area leaders in technology, education, and community. Some were quiet changemakers most of the Bay Area had never heard of. A few were people the entire world already knew.
Hip-hop icon and technology entrepreneur MC Hammer took the stage in 2011. Oakland-born Zendaya was honored in 2013, years before most of the world knew her name outside of Oakland. Former Amazon Chief Scientist Andreas Weigend was there at the very first gala in 2010, alongside Donald Tamaki, the civil rights attorney whose work helped overturn the WWII Japanese American incarceration convictions, and who later provided the pro bono counsel that helped establish BRIDGEGOOD as a nonprofit in the first place.
In between those two nights: a former Pandora CEO. A former Ask.com CEO. Google’s former Head of Global Entrepreneurship. Google.org’s Bay Area giving lead. Twitter’s head of social impact. A BlackRock philanthropy executive. Community college presidents who spent careers expanding access to education. A journalist from CNN, one from NBC, one who spent nearly thirty years anchoring at CBS 5. Musicians who performed between the ceremonies. Thirty-two honorees in total, each selected for exactly one reason.
As founder Shaun Tai puts it: “We do not honor the most famous. We honor the ones who changed Oakland.”
That’s the whole philosophy in one sentence, and it’s why some of the most recognizable names in entertainment and technology have stood on the same stage as community college presidents and civil rights attorneys most people outside Oakland have never heard of. Recognition at the Inspiration Awards can’t be purchased and can’t be lobbied for. Honorees are nominated by the BRIDGEGOOD community and selected by a panel of civic, education, and technology leaders, for demonstrable, lasting impact on the Bay Area. Nothing else counts.
Ten galas, a pause, and now a comeback
From 2010 through 2019, BRIDGEGOOD hosted ten consecutive Inspiration Awards galas, building a track record that eventually caught the attention of some of the biggest names in tech and philanthropy. Google.org named BRIDGEGOOD a national model for design equity in 2014. Twitter built a formal engineering partnership with BRIDGEGOOD in 2015 and helped launch the apprenticeship platform at Google’s own San Francisco office in 2016. TechCrunch named BRIDGEGOOD a Social Impact finalist at the Crunchies in 2017, the same year the Kapor Center gave BRIDGEGOOD its inaugural Impact Award. By 2018, the Obama Foundation had confirmed a strategic partnership. By 2019, the 10th Annual gala took the stage at Twitter’s own headquarters, uniting Oakland Digital and BRIDGEGOOD under a single mission for the first time.
Then came a pause.
This December 11, the Inspiration Awards returns for its 11th Annual, and it’s returning somewhere unforgettable: the ‘Ohana Floor at Salesforce Tower, a space most Bay Area residents have never set foot in, with 360-degree views of the entire Bay Area, floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the Bay Bridge, and living plant walls curving through the room at golden hour.
What the evening includes
Guests can expect the same elements that made the first ten galas legendary: live performances from acclaimed Bay Area artists, honoree ceremonies recognizing three distinguished Bay Area leaders in technology, education, and community, remarks and tributes, and a networking reception bringing together 150 of the Bay Area’s technology leaders, civic officials, philanthropists, educators, and creatives in one intimate room. This year’s three honorees will be announced this season. If the last ten years are any indication, they’ll be worth watching.
Get your tickets
The 11th Annual Inspiration Awards takes place Friday, December 11, 2026, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at Salesforce Tower’s ‘Ohana Floor in San Francisco. Attendance is limited to 150 guests, so seats do not last.
General admission is $150. Students and nonprofit employees can attend for $75 with valid ID at the door.
Become a sponsor
Seventeen years of BRIDGEGOOD’s work has trained more than 900 apprentices and generated more than 105 million media impressions, all in service of one goal: free design education, apprenticeships, and career pathways for Bay Area youth who might not otherwise have access to the design and technology industry.
This year’s gala carries a $500,000 campaign goal to fund BRIDGEGOOD’s work through 2028, and sponsorship is how that happens. Seven tiers are available, starting at $500, each including event seating, logo placement, and visibility in front of 150 of the Bay Area’s most influential leaders, plus reach across BRIDGEGOOD’s 14,600+ social followers and 7,000+ email subscribers. The Presenting sponsorship, at $25,000, is exclusively available to one organization and includes naming rights across every campaign touchpoint.
Your investment doesn’t just buy visibility. It directly funds design education for underserved youth, the apprenticeships and career pathways that follow it, and the next chapter of a Bay Area institution now entering its second decade.
It started with $300
In 2009, Oakland Digital launched with $300 and one conviction: that design changes lives. Seventeen years, 32 honorees, and 900-plus trained apprentices later, that conviction is still the whole point.
The Inspiration Continues, this December 11th. We’d love for you to be part of it, whether that means a seat in the room or a sponsorship that helps write the next seventeen years.