The notion of a Collard Greens Festival in East Palo Alto was created by Shule Mandela Academy in 1998. The Festival is a fundraiser primarily to provide quality education for African American children. Quality education has been, and continues to be, the most challenging issue we face in our communities in the 21st century. The festival celebrates both our accomplishments to date and our ongoing commitment to education and achieving academic excellence in ever broadening areas.

The 2004's festival coincided with the "Nairobi East Palo Alto Legacy Reunion". From the mid-60s to early 80s, many of the local community institutions had "Nairobi" as part of their name, and East Palo Alto itself was also known by that name, reflecting the then primarily African American residents' goals for community development and self-determination. The Nairobi experience has its historical roots in the effort to improve education, with the establishment of the first African American community college and an independent pre-school to high school system that served as the catalyst for the Shule schools that would follow.