How Do Youth Fit into Mayor Lee’s 17-Point Jobs Plan?

For full edition of Youth Employment | San Francisco  click here – excerpt On February 9, 2012 · In Local

During his fall campaign, Mayor Ed Lee released a 17-point jobs roadmap plan that outlined his vision to create employment opportunities in San Francisco. Since the election, this roadmap has been a focal point of his efforts on behalf of the City. Upon reviewing the plan to understand the possible impact on youth employment opportunities, there appears to be some promising strategies.

General Summary of Mayor Lee’s 17-Point Jobs Roadmap Plan
The roadmap includes a diversity of strategies that can impact longer-term employment prospects for today’s youth. Job-creation efforts include those to attract high-tech, clean tech, new media and biotechnology companies, a commitment to revive local, artisan manufacturing, and a priority on expanding tourism and trade. The plan also outlines various strategies to support the small business community, such as a new Job Squad that will offer advice and cut red tape, new investments in neighborhood commercial corridors, and a new Small Business Revolving Loan Fund. Other efforts target public services and the City’s infrastructure, leading to improved quality of life and increased job opportunities in the City.

Two Youth Related Roadmap Points and Suggested Implementation Strategies
Two strategies within the 17-point plan appear to have direct implications for youth. The Mayor’s commitment to “Establish a New Economy Apprenticeship Program” promises to create “a bridge between the growing number of new economy companies…and students exiting the City’s high schools and local colleges.” An aggressive implementation of this strategy, in which the Mayor’s administration encourages employers in growth sectors to provide apprenticeship opportunities to youth, would be an exciting addition to our current youth employment landscape. The creation of a significant private sector apprenticeship program would ensure a steady pipeline of local talent into San Francisco business and provide new training opportunities for youth.

The other youth-focused strategy pledges “Stronger Partnerships with Public Schools,” and includes a list of educational priorities. Public school youth face an extremely difficult job market, and there is a significant need to provide additional opportunities for youth to develop work experience, understand today’s job market, and explore careers. Mayor Lee’s partnership with public schools might focus on expanding and deepening career pathways for high school youth, building on the existing Career Technical Education (CTE) program available at many SFUSD high schools. This strategy might include expansion of the CTE pathways to more school sites, increasing tiered internship opportunities available to City youth, and deepening services for school-aged youth with barriers to employment.

The youth employment community is excited to work with Mayor Lee to create more opportunities for San Francisco’s future workforce. Collectively, we urge Mayor Lee’s administration to leverage the strength of the existing youth employment and education infrastructure to develop and implement these as well as future youth focused strategies.

On Feb. 2, 2012, a group of 43 Fernando Rivera students visited UC Berkeley with the intention to learn more about the univeristy and to get a glimpse of how college life is. Students were given advice from current college students and were given a tour of the UC Berkeley campus.

Random UC Berkeley Fact: There are over 655 clubs at UCB! And if none of those interest you, you can start your own club with just 4 students and 1 faculty member supporting your club!

Special thanks to the Multicultural Center at UCB for hosting on trip!

For the full post go to AACE TS Facebook Page

Save the Date! The Alameda County Office of Education, Chabot College, Hayward Chamber of Commerce, and California State University, East Bay invites African American and Latino students, parents and educators to:

The Annual Education Summit

For African American and Latino Youth: Pathways to College Access, Success and Graduation

Saturday, February 25, 2012

8:30 am to 1:00 pm

Cal State East Bay • 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd • Hayward CA

University Gymnasium

Event Highlights Include:

•Inspirational Speakers

•Educational, College and Career related Workshops for Middle and High School Students and their families

• College and Resource Fair, including representatives from Northern CSU campuses, community colleges and community vendors

• Cash for College Event

• Lunch and Free Parking Provided

• Bus scholarships available to school/outreach groups

Please visit www.csueastbay.edu/EducationSummit to register online, to receive more information about the bus scholarship and to print event flyers in English and Spanish:

For questions, please call the Summit Hotline at 510-885-3516

*Invitation to follow in the mail.  To ensure that you are on our postal mailing list, please e-mail admissioncounseling@csueastbay.edu

The NCI program supports the leadership development of participants through by:

1. Giving young Nikkei greater exposure to opportunities and needs in the Japanese American community,
2. Promoting interaction and networking between existing Nikkei organizations and institutions,
3. Connecting young Nikkei with mentors in the Japanese American community, who inspire and peak their interest in the work of community organizations, and
4. Providing a fun learning experience that creates energy and a desire to participate in the Japanese American community and other communities to which they belong.

The program consists of an eight-week summer internship where interns are placed at organizations such as the Japanese Community and Cultural Center of Northern California, Kimochi Inc., Go For Broke, and the Japanese American Citizens League. Each intern earns a $2,000 scholarship for their participation in the program in addition to receiving training and experience in community service.

During the eight-week program, one day of each week is reserved for the interns to visit various Japanese American organizations and groups to expand their knowledge of available services and resources. The interns also meet and dialogue with various community leaders.

Download the 2012 application now! The deadline for applications is March 2, 2012.

For more information, please contact:
Erika Tamura at or etamura@jcyc.org

Excerpt from a recent post on the White House Blog, “We Can’t Wait to Help Young Americans Find Jobs”:

Your first job brings you more than just a steady paycheck – the experience teaches young people life and work skills that serve them long after the job is done. But as our nation continues to recover the deepest recession since the Great Depression, American youth are struggling to get the work experience they need for jobs of the future.

Today President Obama announced a new initiative, Summer Jobs+, that will make a difference.

“America’s young people face record unemployment, and we need to do everything we can to make sure they’ve got the opportunity to earn the skills and a work ethic that come with a job. It’s important for their future, and for America’s. That’s why today, we’re launching Summer Jobs+, a joint initiative that challenges business leaders and communities to join my Administration in providing hundreds of thousands of summer jobs for America’s youth,” said President Obama.

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012. The Federal government and private sector came together to commit to creating nearly 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth in the summer of 2012, with a goal of reaching 250,000 employment opportunities by the start of summer, at least 100,000 of which will be placements in paid jobs and internships.

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Click here to read the full post on the White House Blog.

Click here to read the full press release from the White House, “We Can’t Wait: The White House Announces Federal and Private Sector Commitments to Provide Employment Opportunities for Nearly 180,000 Youth”.

SFCAC

For more info, contact Melinda Huot at mhuot@jcyc.org or (415) 921-5537. For more info about SFCAC go to http://www.sfcalsoap.org/

Dates/locations:

Tuesday, 1/17/2012, 5:30 to 9 pm ~ Thurgood Marshall HS, 45 Conkling Street, SF, CA 94124

Wednesday, 1/18/2012, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m ~ Mission HS, 3750 18th Street, SF, CA 94114

Thursday, 1/19/2012, 5:30 to 9 p.m ~  Balboa HS, 1000 Cayuga Avenue, SF, CA 94112

Thursday, 1/26/2012,  5:30 to 9 p.m ~ Philip & Sala Burton HS, 400 Mansell Street, SF, CA 94134

Thursday, 1/26/2012, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m ~  George Washington HS, 600 32nd Avenue, SF, CA 94121

Wednesday, 2/01/2012, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m ~  Jefferson HS, 6996 Mission Street, Daly City, CA 94014.

Thursday, 2/02/2012, 5:30 to 8 p.m ~  Galileo HS, 1150 Francisco Street, SF, CA 94109