Investing in Leadership to Grow a Stronger Community
As part of the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families continuing effort to nurture quality programs, it established the Roots Fellowships in 2008. The Roots Fellowship is an innovative training program for emerging leaders in the children, youth, and family field. The year-long Roots Fellowship acknowledges the very real challenges these dynamic individuals face and helps them grow the unique skills necessary to effectively manage a community-based organization in San Francisco.
Every day these leaders help address the City’s most pressing community concerns, working at the frontlines of direct service, often filling shoes no one else will wear.
DCYF has awarded its initial Roots Fellowships to 16 individuals—a combination of Executive Directors and lead staff—from DCYF-funded community-based organizations. Potential Roots Fellows were nominated by Program Officers and final selections were made by the DCYF Senior Staff. There were many worthy candidates. This first year we chose to primarily concentrate on leaders of youth programs with an emphasis on violence prevention.
The Roots Fellows will participate in a yearlong process of shared learning, monthly leadership coaching, peer-to-peer support, expert technical assistance, and capacity building strategies. Because sustaining leadership is so important to us, we are investing significant resources—approximately $10,000 per individual plus in-kind donations. We look forward to partnering with foundations in order to maintain this program beyond this pilot phase. If successful, DCYF will be able to select the next group of Roots Fellows in 2009.
Our goal is that this program will assist Roots Fellows to efficiently manage their organizations, empower their communities, and form the bedrock of San Francisco leadership for the next generation.
For more information on the Roots Fellowship and other Technical Assistance opportunities, contact DCYF Training and Professional Development Coordinator Tanya Mayo at 415 554-9519 or tmayo@DCYF.org
Congratulations to the DCYF Class of 2008 Roots Fellows:
Ben Bautista
Executive Director/Founder
Straight Forward Club
Rudy Corpuz
Executive Director/Founder
United Playaz
Marquez Grey
Senior Outreach Coordinator
CHALK
Jo-Antoinette Hopkins
Executive Director
Family Restoration House
Kuzuri Jackson
Deputy Director
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
Debra Koffler
Executive Director/Founder
Conscious Youth Media Crew
Kim Mitchell
Executive Director/Founder
TURF
Jose Luis Pavon
Program Director
Homey
Wanda Phillips
Executive Director
Whitney Young Child Development Center
Shawn Richard
Executive Director/Founder
Brothers Against Guns
Marlene Sanchez
Executive Director
Center for Young Women’s Development
Patsy Tito
Executive Director
Samoan Community Development Center
Jeremy (JT) Tom
Rec Connect HPS Co-Lead
Hunters Point Family / Gillman Rec Connect
Jerry Trotter
Youth Program Director
Booker T Washington Community Service Center
Judy Young
Executive Director
Vietnamese Youth Development Center
Aleks Zavaleta
Executive Director
Loco Bloco
