San Francisco Youth Commission
Minutes
Monday, November 5, 2012
5:15pm-8:00pm
City Hall, Room 416
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Mia Shackelford, Chair
Nicholas Persky, Vice Chair, Paul Monge-Rodriguez, Co-Legislative Affairs Officer, Rachel Brodwin, Co-Legislative Affairs Officer, Vanessa Warri, Communications & Outreach Officer, Sarah Armstrong, Angel Carrion, Brian Chu, Kyron Covington, Ramon Gomez, Alex Guzman-Ramos, Christine Huynh, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Mia Tu Mutch, Vee Taumoepeau, Eric Wu, Ariel Yu

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairwoman Mia Shackelford called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.
The roll was called. Commissioners present: Rachel Brodwin, Brian Chu, Kyron Covington, Iris Alejandra Guzman-Ramos, Christine Huynh, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Mia Tu Mutch, Nicholas Persky, Mia Shackelford, Vee Taumoepeau, Vanessa Warri, Eric Wu, and Ariel Yu. Commissioners absent: Sarah Armstrong, Angel Carrion, Ramon Gomez, and Paul Monge-Rodriguez. Staff present: Phimy Truong.

There was quorum.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

There was no public comment.

Commissioner Chu, seconded by Commissioner Guzman-Ramos, moved to approve the agenda. The agenda was approved by acclamation.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. October 15, 2012
(Document A)

There was no public comment.

Commissioner Yu, seconded by Commissioner Warri, moved to approve the minutes to the meeting of October 15, 2012. The minutes were approved by acclamation.

4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)

There were none.

8. Presentations (Discussion Only)

A. SF Summer Jobs+ Update
Presenters: Matt Poland, Director of MatchBridge, United Way of the Bay Area; Glenn Eagleson, Senior Planner & Policy Analyst/Citywide Lead for TAY Services, Department of Children, Youth, and their Families

This item was called out of order.

Chairwoman Shackelford gave some contextual background on why the Youth Commission is receiving an update on SF Summer Jobs+ and explained the youth employment committee’s work on summer jobs in the last year. Chairwoman Shackelford expressed excitement on hearing an update on SF Summer Jobs+, and then welcomed the presenters to start their update.

Glenn Eagleson, Senior Planner & Policy Analyst, DCYF, started the presentation by giving a detailed overview of the Summer Jobs+ initiative on the federal level, Mayor Lee’s call to action of the initiative here in San Francisco, the major players involved in pushing the initiative, and the vast job opportunities it provided for youth. Mr. Eagleson explained the challenge of starting such a huge initiative in a short period of time, and commended the work of all City Departments, the Mayor’s Office, United Way of the Bay Area, the San Francisco Unified School District’s Career Technical Education program, youth employment service providers, and youth involved in launching the program. Mr. Eagleson then spoke about the important data that was gathered when surveying the different youth employment and internship programs the City offered. The primary goal of the initiative was to bring together community based organizations, employers, and the City to establish a benchmark of opportunities to provide to youth of San Francisco.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions regarding the City’s role in the initiative and how it compares to other cities nationally. Mr. Eagleson stated that San Francisco hasn’t had a strong summer youth employment campaign in the last ten years and feels that this initiative was successful. It surpassed its goal of providing 5,000 opportunities and has been recognized by many officials and leaders.

Matt Poland, Director of Matchbridge, United Way of the Bay Area, then provided an overview of United Way’s role in the initiative. He emphasized UWBA’s role in connecting private employers to this initiative and then presented on the results and findings from SF Summer Jobs+. Mr. Eagleson then spoke about next steps which includes the continuation of this initiative into Summer 2013, connecting with service providers at an earlier stage, and plans for the Transitional Age Youth San Francisco group to conduct focus groups with youth.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions regarding specific jobs provided for youth, how disenfranchised youth were connected, and the role of service providers.

Chairwoman Shackelford then called Roberto Angulo, CEO of AfterCollege, an online career network that connects college students annually with employers. Mr. Angulo spoke about AfterCollege’s technology partnership for SF Summer Jobs+. Mr. Angulo shared that there were over 2,400 youth who set up profiles on the website to connect with employers, and about 61% of these youth did not report any college degree or certification. Mr. Angulo stated that he looks forward to continuing supporting SF Summer Jobs+, and to work with the Youth Commissioner in getting feedback from youth who used the website.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions, and provided some feedback on how the website can appeal to high school aged youth and young adults who do not have college degrees.

Hydra Mendoza, the Mayor’s Education Advisor, also spoke about the exciting opportunities that SF Summer Jobs+ was able to create. Ms. Mendoza spoke about the Mayor’s office support of SF Summer Jobs+ and commended all partners involved for their work in launching the initiative in such a short period of time. SF Summer Jobs+ was a success and she looked forward to the initiative continuing onto next summer. Ms. Mendoza encouraged feedback and appreciated the Youth Commission’s support.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions.

Public Comment

Rory Talley, Administration Assistant of the Success Center of San Francisco, thanked the Youth Commission for their support, and thanked everyone at the meeting. Mr. Talley spoke about his work with disenfranchised youth and encouraged commissioners to work on urging the public and private sector to prioritize hiring youth. Mr. Talley spoke about the plus in the initiative and urged commissioners to think about ways to continue the plus in SF Summer Jobs+ to extend opportunities to after summer.

Gabriel Hanzel-Sello, College and Career Counselor at Enterprise for High School Students, shared his feedback about the overall initiative. He was impressed with the initiative and the City’s commitment to youth employment opportunities. He urged commissioners to provide feedback on how to make the AfterCollege website more youth friendly and accessible, and look into ways to have more opportunities for opportunity youth.

Eric Martinez, Youth Advocate at LYRIC, expressed his issues and feedback from LYRIC youth who participated in the initiative. Mr. Martinez noted that the positions seemed to be aimed at adults and would like to see more entry level opportunities for youth. Mr. Martinez expressed that he would love to see a youth feedback system in place for the initiative.

Ciara Wade, Program Director at New Door Ventures, spoke about the important functions of the Youth Commission and urged commissioners to look into who really needs access to summer jobs. Ms. Wade said it was helpful to see stats from AfterCollege and encouraged commissioners to look into how to support the most disenfranchised youth in gaining employment.

Chairwoman Shackelford thanked everyone for their comments and feedback. She expressed that the youth employment committee would be working on a resolution to urge the continuation of the initiative, provide recommendations on how the initiative can improve, and look into how to make SF Summer Jobs+ a model for the country.

5. Staff Report (Discussion Only)

Coordinator of Youth Development and Administration, Phimy Truong, gave the following staff report to Youth Commissioners: Michelle Kong and Bryan Tran were the Youth Commission’s 2 Youth Works interns for the year; commissioners interested in Youth Advocacy Day needed to follow up with Nayad Abrahamian to confirm participation; commissioners who enrolled in health benefits this year, needed to complete their electronic enrollment; Peter Lauterborn wanted to get youth commissioners’ input on how to curb teenage relationship abuse, commissioners Taumoepeau, Guzman-Ramos, Shackelford, and Huynh all expressed interest; and finally, the Youth Commission’s 3rd staff position, the Coordinator of Community Outreach and Civic Engagement, has been approved and posted online. Ms. Truong also read statements from Commissioners Armstrong and Carrion, and provided brief updates on the commission’s legislative work.

Commissioners asked a few clarifying questions. There was no public comment.

6. Legislative Affairs Officers Report (Discussion Only)

Commissioner Brodwin reminded her peers of the Legislative Affairs Officers responsibilities, and stated that she and Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez will continue checking in with their peers on non committee policy priorities.

7. Legislation Referred from the Board of Supervisors (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

There were none.

9. Youth Commission Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Memo from Executive Committee to Youth Commissioners, “Forward calendar for 2012-2013 full YC meetings”
Presenter: Vice Chair Nicholas Persky
(Document B)

Commissioner Persky gave some contextual background on how the Executive Committee put together the forward calendar for 2012-2013 full Youth Commission meetings. Commissioner Persky stated that this calendar is subject to change, depending on the commission’s issue based committee work, and availability of presenters. He encouraged commissioners to follow up with him if they have any suggestions on how to improve the document.

Commissioner Persky then read the memo into the public record.

There was no public comment. No official action was taken.

B. Possible revision to 2012-2013 Youth Commission bylaws
(Document C)

Commissioner Shackelford reminded her colleagues that this item was brought back to the agenda as urged by commissioners at the October 15th meeting. Commissioner Shackelford addressed commissioners Guzman-Ramos’ and Warri’s intent to add language about outreach to the bylaws.

Commissioner Warri, seconded by Commissioner Guzman-Ramos, made a motion to amend the 2012-2013 Youth Commission bylaws to add the following under Article II, Section B of the bylaws: 3. Engage in community outreach, relationship building, promotion of Youth Commission, and tracking of all conveyed concerns to all San Francisco youth and young adult populations within each commissioner’s respective district requiring a minimum commitment of attending (1) community event per month and/or visit to any youth based community organization/school/etc.

There was no public comment.

This motion was approved unanimously by acclamation.

Commissioner Covington, seconded by Commissioner Marshall-Fricker, moved to adopt the bylaws as amended. This motion was approved unanimously by acclamation.

10. Committee Reports (Discussion Only)

A. Executive Committee

Vice Chair Persky gave a brief update on the Executive Committee’s work, and asked Commissioner Warri to give an update on the community and outreach plan. Commissioner Warri stated that she and Commissioner Huynh would be coordinating some visits to community based organizations. She will be reaching out to commissioners who were interested in joining the visit.

B. Education Committee

Committee Chair Chu thanked Commissioners Huynh and Shackelford for attending the Board’s Joint Select committee meeting and speaking about the committee’s work. Commissioner Chu invited his peers to attend the committee meeting on Wednesday, and invited peers to attend a Community Convener meeting at Mission Graduates, where community members will be discussing the school district’s high school graduation requirements.

C. Employment Committee

Commissioner Huynh stated that the employment committee will be reviewing their notes on the SF Summer Jobs+ update, and plan to work on a resolution.

D. Housing, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning, and Transitional Age --Youth Issues Committee

Commissioner Tu Mutch stated that the last meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Tu Mutch encouraged her committee members to meet with Youth Commission staff to work on committee S.M.A.R.T. goals before the next meeting.

E. Youth Justice Committee

Committee members were absent. Ms. Truong provided a brief update.

F. Youth Advisory Council

Commissioner Yu stated that DCYF will be recruiting youth reviewers for their request for proposals. Commissioners who were interested should get in contact with Prishni Murillo, the Youth Empowerment Fund Manager at DCYF. Commissioner Yu passed around a sign in sheet to collect names of those interested. Commissioner Yu also urged commissioners to promote SF4TAY’s website.

There was no public comment on these items.

11. Attendance Review (Action Item)

There were none.

12. Announcements (This Includes Community Events)

Commissioner Tu Mutch announced an internship opportunity for youth ages 14-17 at the Lavender Youth Recreation Information Center (LYRIC), an organization which works with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth, their families and allies. There will be information sessions on November 15th and November 17th, 2012.

Commissioner Brodwin reminded her colleagues that the Redefining Education conference is coming up and will take place at Lick Wilmerding High School on November 18, 2012, from 10:30 am to 3:30pm. Commissioner Brodwin had sent an email out to her colleagues and encouraged all to register and get in touch with her for more information. Commissioner Brodwin requested that her peers bring 1-2 friends from their schools to the conference.

There was no public comment on this item.

13. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.