In April 2012, Mayor Lee responded to President Obama's Summer Jobs+ initiative by issuing a challenge to provide 5,000 job training and employment opportunities for youth in San Francisco. The City worked with major Bay Area employers and established a partnership with the United Way of the Bay Area, AfterCollege.com and the San Francisco Unified School District to assist with the initiative.
On July 24 US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis met with Mayor Lee, SFUSD Superintendent Richard Carranza, United Way Bay Area Executive Vice President Eric McDonnell, DCYF Director Maria Su, and representatives from major employers and City departments to discuss San Francisco's job creation efforts for youth. Several young people who were placed in internships via the Summer Jobs+ initiative spoke of their experiences and their plans for the future, and representatives from Facebook and LinkedIn spoke of the need for youth to acquire the skills needed for the burgeoning tech market. Secretary Solis also reiterated the importance of a skilled and educated workforce, and emphasized the roll of technology and manufacturing as the engines of future job growth in the United States.
DCYF would like to acknowledge several youth workforce programs that have gone above and beyond to help youth take advantage of the opportunities in the private sector, particularly the Japanese Community Youth Council, Jewish Vocational Services, Goodwill's RAMP program, Marriott Foundation/Bridges from School-to-Work, the Vietnamese Youth Development Center and the Youth Guidance Center Improvement Committee. Each of these agencies supports young people as they overcome significant challenges, and successfully prepares the youth in their programs for the "next step" in the workforce.
We would also like to recognize the local employers who have greatly supported this effort, Salesforce and UCSF in particular: Salesforce hired 116 youth, and UCSF provided 105 internships! Several employers, such as Starbucks and Uniqlo, are hiring youth for positions that will continue beyond summer. Other local heroes include employers such as PG&E, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, AT&T and several local real estate companies, which provided funding for internship and job training programs as a part of this effort.
