The 3 Cs: Our Core Values
Everything AATB does is grounded in three core values. These are living principles that shape how programs are designed, how leadership is shared, and how people are welcomed.
Connection
Creating meaningful relationships among entrepreneurs, professionals, creatives, nonprofits, and community members across industries and backgrounds.
Community
Building a culture of mutual support, consistency, belonging, and long-term relationship development rather than transactional networking.
Collaboration
Encouraging shared learning, partnerships, resource-sharing, mentorship, and collective growth throughout the East Bay ecosystem.
When people engage with an AATB program or event, they are participating in a culture intentionally built around these three principles.
Programs Overview
Every AATB program exists to move you along the same path:
Connection → Learning → Collaboration → Leadership → Opportunity.
Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Community Mixers
Purpose: To replace surface-level networking with real, guided conversation.
What happens: Facilitated discussions and live Hot Seats bring real business challenges into the open, so members hear different perspectives and get honest feedback instead of a stack of business cards.
Outcome for participants: Clarity on a specific challenge, and relationships that continue after the event ends.
Workshops
Purpose: To support small business owners as whole people, not just business owners.
What happens: Sessions cover business coaching and strategy alongside mindset, wellness, personal development, and practical skills.
Outcome for participants: Tools and perspective participants can apply immediately — to their business and their life.
Private Lounge
(6-Month Coaching Program)
About this program: Private Lounge is a fee-based program of All About The Bay, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It is open to everyone. AATB membership is not required, and members and non-members pay the same participation fee. The program is collaborative by design: participants build their work alongside a peer cohort, sharing feedback and accountability each week. Participation fees cover program costs and help sustain AATB’s free and low-cost community programming.
Summit / Conference
Purpose: To bring the full community together and mark how far members have come.
What happens: A larger-scale gathering that celebrates the year’s progress alongside entrepreneurs on similar journeys.
Outcome for participants: Recognition, renewed momentum, and connection to the wider AATB community at scale.
Volunteer Pathways
Purpose: To give members a way to build leadership experience while directly supporting the community.
What happens: Members contribute time and skills to event planning, community support, and program delivery.
Outcome for participants: Real leadership and organizational experience, plus a deeper role in shaping AATB.
Focus Group
Purpose: To give members a direct path into volunteering and shaping AATB from the inside.
What happens: Members apply through the Focus Group Participation Form, sharing their availability, the skills and strengths they want to contribute, and where they’d like support to grow into the role. Focus Group members help run the community day to day, planning, coordinating, and supporting programming.
Outcome for participants: Real leadership experience within a nonprofit, a direct hand in shaping AATB’s programs, and a stronger sense of ownership in the community they’re part of.
Reconciliation Work
Purpose: To give members a structured, respectful way to work through conflict and rebuild trust within the community.
What happens: Members can request a reconciliation conversation through the AATB Reconciliation Reflection Form, which is designed to encourage honest communication, create space for reflection and accountability, and support constructive conflict resolution — facilitated by trained members of the Focus Group’s Reconciliation Facilitator team.
Outcome for participants: A fair, respectful process for resolving conflict, and a stronger, more trustworthy community as a result.
What People Say
"At AATB I have a place where I can be honest about what I’m trying to build and what I’m still figuring out. I’ve learned a lot just from hearing how other people approach the challenges of running a business, and it helps to know you don’t have to have everything figured out before you can contribute something valuable.”
All About the Bay hosts fantastic networking events that truly stand out! The atmosphere feels like family, welcoming and supportive, making it so easy to connect with others. I've made valuable connections and feel like part of a community that genuinely wants to help each other succeed. Highly recommend for anyone looking to grow their network in a friendly, effective setting! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The best place to network, socialize with like-minded individuals, and experience a professional setting with much fun as well. This platform has helped so many business owners and entrepreneurs and I highly recommend attending the gatherings!
Love that it is a startup and the community of small businesses connecting with each other. A great way to find local businesses and services they provide. We get to meet and connect face to face or by viewing the interviews online that are featured monthly.
Community Needs & Connection Assessment
This short, 2-minute assessment helps you get clear on where you are in your business journey and what kind of support would actually move you forward. We also use the responses, across everyone who takes it, to understand what our community needs most and to shape future programming around it.
You’ll get a personalized read on what might be holding you back, along with next steps you can act on. If it points you toward AATB, you’ll be invited to see it in action at an upcoming event.
Ways to Get Involved
From monthly mixers to workshops, summits, and experiences beyond business – AATB is a community that continues to grow together.
Come see what a guided mixer or workshop feels like.
Join the Focus Group and help lead AATB from the inside.
Sponsor or collaborate with AATB on programming.
Support free and low-cost programming for Bay Area entrepreneurs.
See the full picture of what AATB offers.
Join the community for ongoing access and support.
Our Partners
Connect
Tel: 510-449-4137
service@allaboutthebay.org
Collaborate
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Community
© 2026 All About The Bay | 501(c)(3) | Tax ID – 92-1363394