About Our Members

The members of the Children, Youth and Their Families Oversight and Advisory Committee (OAC) are appointed according to rules established in Charter Section 16.108-1. The seat descriptions below are from the language in the Charter.

Required Trainings

All OAC Members are required to annually file a Statement of Economic Interest Form 700, the Ethics & Sunshine Ordinance Training Declaration Form, and are required to complete the Department of Human Resources’ (DHR) online Implicit Bias training, as stated in Ordinance 71-19 passed by the Board of Supervisors in March 2019. Please view the DCYF OAC - Implicit Bias Training Statement.

 

For detailed information about each seat, it’s appointing body and term lengths, please click through the accordion. You can also visit the 311 Boards & Commissions Database and search for Children & Youth Fund Oversight and Advisory Committee.

 

  • Description: A youth 19 years old or younger at the time of appointment for the term, recommended to the Mayor by the Youth Commission. Because this Committee member may be younger than 18 years at the time of appointment, this member is not subject to the requirement of Charter Section 4.101(a)(2) that members be electors of the City and County unless and until the member reaches the age of 18 years.

    Appointing Body: Mayor

    Term Length: 3 Years

  • Description: A youth 19 years old or younger at the time of appointment for the term, recommended to the Mayor by the Youth Commission. Because this Committee member may be younger than 18 years at the time of appointment, this member is not subject to the requirement of Charter Section 4.101(a)(2) that members be electors of the City and County unless and until the member reaches the age of 18 years.

    Appointing Body: Mayor

    Term Length: 2 Years

  • Description: A parent of a youth, which youth, at the time of the member’s appointment for the term, is under the age of 18 years and enrolled in the San Francisco Unified School District. This Committee member shall have demonstrated commitment to improving access to and quality of services for children, youth, and families.

    Appointing Body: Mayor

    Term Length: 3 Years

  • Description: A person with expertise or substantial experience working in services and programs for children ages 5 and younger.

    Appointing Body: Mayor

    Term Length: 2 Years

  • Description: A person with expertise or substantial experience working in the field of children and youth services in communities that are low-income or underserved.

    Appointing Body: Mayor

    Term Length: 3 Years

  • Description: A person who has demonstrated commitment to improving access and quality of services for children, youth, and families in communities that are low-income or underserved.

    Appointing Body: Mayor

    Term Length: 2 Years

  • Description: A person who is a Disconnected Transitional-Aged Youth, as that term is used in Charter Section 16.108, 18 through 24 years of age at the time of appointment, and who is familiar with the issues and challenges faced by Disconnected Transitional-Aged Youth and with services, programs, and systems for them.

    Appointing Body: Board of Supervisors

    Term Length: 3 Years

  • Description: A parent of a child, which child is enrolled in kindergarten through 8th grade at the time of the member’s appointment for the term. This Committee member shall be from a low income community or have expertise or substantial experience working to promote the interests of communities of color and shall have demonstrated a commitment to improving access and quality of services for children, youth, and families.

    Appointing Body: Board of Supervisors

    Term Length: 2 Years

  • Description: A parent of a child, which child, at the time of the member’s appointment for the term, is under the age of 5 years and enrolled in a publicly-subsidized or City-funded program. This Committee member shall have demonstrated a commitment to improving access and quality of services for children, youth, and families.

    Appointing Body: Board of Supervisors

    Term Length: 3 Years

  • Description: A person with expertise or substantial experience working in the field of children and youth services in communities that are low-income or underserved.

    Appointing Body: Board of Supervisors

    Term Length: 2 Years

  • Description: A person who has demonstrated commitment to improving access to and quality of services for children, youth, and families.

    Appointing Body: Board of Supervisors

    Term Length: 3 Years

 

Current Members

 
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Jada Curry

Seat 7, Chair

Jada is a recent college graduate, born and raised in San Francisco. Growing up in a low- income family and in some of the city’s underserved communities, Jada has grown up to understand and cherish the value of education. Homelessness, the foster care system and familiarity with substance abuse are just a few issues that she shares with disconnected transitional youth. She has been involved in several youth development programs, such as Enterprise for Youth, Young Community Developers and Advancing Via Individual Determination (AVID). She has also been a part of City College of San Francisco’s Project Shine as an ESL Coach, and America Reads, where she is currently a literacy tutor at Rosa Parks Elementary School. As a young woman of color, who has surpassed many of the challenges that disconnected transitional youth face, Jada offers her unique experiences and insight in hopes to improve youth services and programs and that they continue to make an impact on San Francisco youth. She hopes that San Francisco youth will have access to developmental programs and services that have the ability to change lives just as she has.

Ryan Galvez

Seat 1

Ryan is a first generation student at Lowell High School, and is born and raised in San Francisco. Having benefited from his involvement in many youth support programs in the City, Ryan wholeheartedly believes in their positive impact on his community. In the past, he has been actively involved in the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program (MYEEP), as a Leader-in-Training for the Boys & Girls Club, and has volunteered for many youth support programs within and outside of school. Currently, he is a Peer Leader at the San Francisco Greenagers Program, as well as a soccer referee for San Francisco Youth Soccer. During his free time, Ryan enjoys playing sports and is currently part of the swim and football team at Lowell.

Coming from a low-income Latinx family, he is strongly familiar with the struggles and challenges many youth face in San Francisco. Ryan is passionate about raising awareness and gathering support for marginalized communities in San Francisco, so he hopes that sharing his own experiences will inspire others to get involved and promote change.

Skylar Dang

Seat 2

Skylar Dang is an active 15 year old who got involved in San Francisco youth activities through the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco. As a first generation daughter of a single immigrant mother, she has gotten involved in her community to address #StopAsianHate since it has impacted her community. She is a great lister and currently active in her school through student government. She’s excited to expand her skills and leadership experience across San Francisco.

Lesly Simmons

Seat 4

Lesly is a senior communications leader with specialized expertise in executive and brand messaging and crisis communications. She is currently the Global Head of Content and Internal Communications for Amazon Ads, and has worked with numerous global brands including Twitter, Google, Airbnb, Oculus and the American Red Cross, among others. Lesly earned her BA from George Washington University and MA from Georgetown University, both in Washington DC. She currently lives in San Francisco with her daughter, and is an active supporter for local and national organizations that support maternal health, early childhood education and literacy.

Aaron Yen

Seat 10

Aaron Yen is a proud native San Franciscan who is a very passionate community and youth advocate. He spent most of his professional career rooted in youth and family programming that focused on community empowerment and education. He devoted his collegiate studies to earning a BA in Child Adolescent Development from San Francisco State University and dedicated over 15 years leading, visioning, and providing social services that created a more equitable landscape for our most vulnerable youth and families in SFUSD. Aaron is currently the Chief Equity Officer of the Covid-19 Taskforce with the Department of Public Health. He continues to uplift and service our most at need communities. When he is not working, Aaron loves being a parent to his creative middle schooler and spending time with his family.

André Torrey

Seat 11

André Torrey spent most of his early life in San Francisco and has happily called the City home again for the last 13 years. After attending the University of Arizona to play football, he had a brief stint in the National Football League (NFL) before calling it quits to pursue a life of public service. His early career consisted of working in youth development space, serving youth as a sports coach, mentor, and advocate with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson and Juma Ventures in San Francisco. Along the way, he obtained his Master’s in Public Administration and Policy at the University of San Francisco, and started another chapter of his career in equity work with the City & County of San Francisco. Currently, André works at the SF Planning Department as a Community Development Specialist with a focus on equity and diversity in city zoning, permitting, and organizational development.

André considers himself a passionate and dedicated change-agent. For nearly 10 years now, he has built bridges, lifted voices, and supported paradigm-shifting work within the City & County of San Francisco—all in service of our vulnerable communities. He brings a solid strategic mind, great interpersonal skills and humor to all his work and now the OAC.