Roselle McNeilly and Whitney Thorniley met in 2004 while pursuing their Master’s degrees in Oriental Medicine at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College of Berkeley. They graduated together at the top of their class in 2007 and received their California licenses in October of that year. Driven by a desire to make acupuncture care more accessible and affordable to people of average incomes, Roselle and Whitney founded Oakland Acupuncture Project in February, 2008.
In October of 2011 Whitney and Roselle were named Woman Entrepreneurs of the Year for Alameda County by the Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment. The award recognizes their success in making a difference in the community and stimulating the local economy. In November of 2011 Whitney and Roselle brought Jeff Levin in as a partner; he had been working at OAP for over a year and brought the energy, enthusiasm and skill that was needed to continue to grow the clinics.
OAP has grown and changed quite a bit over the years. The company expanded to two locations in Oakland, and one location in Sacramento. We provide affordable acupuncture treatments to hundreds of people each week.
In May of 2014 Roselle left OAP to move to the family farm and open a new community clinic in Shingle Springs, California.
In October 2015, we opened our third clinic location in Sacramento.
In 2026, after 15 years at the helm, Jeff decided it was time for something different and stepped down from his position. Sarah Elliot and Evelyn Williamson, both long time OAP acupuncturists (or acu-punks as we like to call ourselves), joined Whitney as partners. This same year we made the difficult decision to close our flagship location at 3576 Laurel Ave in Oakland and consolidate to a single Oakland location. This difficult choice was brought about by several circumstances and ultimately was made to keep the clinics stable and able to thrive many years into the future.
We are proud that the clinics have survived through so many transitions and we will be able to continue to be of service.
Whitney, Sarah, Evelyn and the rest of the OAP team welcome you to OAP community!