On Wednesday, May 11th, SF YouthWorks held our annual intern graduation ceremony in the beautiful Green Room at the War Memorial Building. It was a pleasure to see interns, mentors, parents, city leaders, and other guests come together to celebrate our interns’ achievement in completing the SF YouthWorks program.
Our 2011 Graduation ceremony highlights included:
- Recognition of all graduating interns, each of whom received a certificate signed by San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee and stamped with the seal of the City of San Francisco.
- An overview of our school-year program by the YouthWorks Youth Leadership Team, who spoke about their experiences contributing to the different elements of our program.
- Remarks by keynote speaker Leah LeCroix, a YouthWorks alumna who is the Chair of the SF Youth Commission.
- Keynote address made by Supervisor John Avalos of District 11, who spoke about the the history of YouthWorks and the importance of City government internships in empowering youth to make a difference in their neighborhoods and their city.
- A moving speech by David Chiu, president of the Board of Supervisors, who spoke about overcoming obstacles on the path to successful careers.
- Comments by Malia Cohen, newly elected Supervisor for District 10, who celebrated the interns’ achievement.
- Keynote remarks made by Michelle Wong, a YouthWorks alumna and recent UCLA graduate, who reflected on how the skills she learned in YouthWorks have served her in college and career.
- Announcement of Sustainer Awards to the City departments who provide the most significant financial contributions to YouthWorks, thus enabling the successful continuation of our program. The 2011 awardees are the Public Utilities Commission, the department of Public Health, the Recreation and Park department, the Public Library, the Public Defender’s office, the department of Building Inspection, and the San Francisco International Airport.
We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of all of our interns in the 2010-2011 school year. We have no doubt that they will move into the future with the tools and confidence that they need to achieve their goals.
We also want to thank our contributors, event sponsors and partners, whose donations and support helped us to make it such a successful and fun graduation. These sponsors and partners include: Rainbow Grocery, Purity. Organic, Trader Joe’s, An Affair to Remember Catering, and the Department of Children, Youth and their Families.