How Does 4-H Work

Youth members are aged 5–19 living in urban, suburban, and rural communities. 4-H is a volunteer-led organization and while we pride ourselves on being youth-led, we wouldn’t exist without the contributions of the many adult volunteers.

4-H and it’s related programs exist in over 80 countries which operate cooperatively through international exchanges, global education programs, and communications. 4-H in California is funded by the USDA and State of California/University of California. 4-H also seeks private funding on the club level and is supported through 4-H foundations, councils, and committees on the county and state level.

4-H Overview

National 4-H is headquartered at the USDA. Each state’s Land Grant University system supports 4-H in their state. California 4-H is organized and supported by the University of California System, and is headquartered at UC Davis. The State 4-H office provides organizational leadership, educational opportunities around citizenship, leadership and life skills, as well as general operating guidelines for individual counties.

The counties through their local clubs then institute the required policies and provide local opportunities for youth to become active citizens in their communities. California 4-H also works together with other State 4-H programs to organize regional and national events.

OakTown 4-H History

A long-time Alameda County leader had a vision to bring 4-H to youth throughout Oakland. She and several active 4-H families and interested new volunteers have been working together to bring this dream to fruition. Now is your chance to do something good for Oakland by becoming a part of OakTown 4-H.