A Panel Discussion on Alleviating Violence and
Poverty in Our City
Part Two: Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series
Location:
Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post St.
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0101
http://www.milibrary.org/
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
Time: 6:00 pm check in; 6:30pm-8:30pm program
Cost: $10.00
Register: pay online
If you plan to attend and would like to pay at the door, please contact us at 415-294-4134----
SEATS ARE LIMITED
Bayview/Hunters Point, a forgotten neighborhood, mostly African American community is surrounded by poverty and crime. Statistics show that the Bayview/Hunters Point district has the highest rates of violence in the city of San Francisco, including an epidemic of serious violence committed by juveniles, often in association with local gangs. According to the 2000 Census, the unemployment rate for Bayview is 9%, almost twice the rate for the city.
Bayview/Hunters Point: A Panel Discussion on Alleviating Violence and Poverty in Our City, the second event in the Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series, will showcase four Bay Area initiatives addressing challenges facing Bayview/Hunters Point. This panel discussion will spotlight creating positive structures, education, safe spaces, employment development and entrepreneurship education programs to create jobs for youths while stimulating the local Bayview/Hunters Point economy. Our speakers include:
Lena Miller, Director of Hunters Point Family (HPF). Hunters Point Family is a community-based, youth development agency providing educational, social programs that help Bayview/Hunters Point youths develop their full potential. Lena Miller, Founder and Executive Director of Development, has over fourteen years experience working with at-risk youths in group homes, schools, and camps. Lena will talk about HPF's successful Urban Farms/Farmer's Market program where youths perform community service, learn valuable business skills, by delivering fresh, organic produce door to door throughout the Bayview Hunters Point community. Lena will demonstrate why entrepreneurship training develops confidence, self-sufficient youths as the future economic engine of the community. http://www.hunterspointfamily.org/home.html
James Holley, Director of the Willie Mays Boys & Girls Club at Hunters Point. The Willie Mays Boys and Girls Club provides a range of programs to inspire at-risk youths to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and engaged citizens. The Club, which is due to open in 2008, will partner with local schools, the San Francisco Police Department, the City of San Francisco, the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants to provide a positive environment for local youths.
The new facility aims to reduce juvenile violence (which peaks dramatically directly after school) and provide a community where children can quietly do their homework with teacher supervision, develop advanced computer skills, learn job and college preparation skills and simply run and play without fear for their lives. They will offer Money Matters to teens as well as mentorship and college prep. As a long-time resident of Bayview/Hunters Point, James will discuss how the Boys And Girls Club aims to provide a safe haven for the most vulnerable and impoverished children of San Francisco while improving public safety and setting the stage for success throughout kids' lifetimes. http://www.bgcsf.org/clublocations.html
Sharon Miller, Director of the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center. Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center (REC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1985; Renaissance was one of the first micro-enterprise development programs in the country. Renaissance provides small business training and support services to socially and economically diverse populations within the San Francisco Bay Area. By helping people start or grow their own business, Renaissance supports lasting economic development for individuals and communities traditionally without access to capital and business support.
Sharon will discuss how Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center graduates become economically self-sufficient and create systemic economic change, creating new jobs, products and services, while boosting the entrepreneurial and economic vitality of local communities. Sharon will discuss the role of advancing entrepreneurship in creating social change in Bayview/Hunters Point. http://www.rencenter.org/bay.htm
Molly Wood, Founder and Principal of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Bayview Academy. KIPP provides a safe, cost- free and academically rigorous college-preparatory middle school environment. Despite arriving in the fifth grade performing on a second or third grade level in reading and math, at the end of one year at KIPP Bayview, fifth grade students outperformed their peers in neighborhood schools on the California Standards Test (CST).
Molly Wood, KIPP principal and co-founder, has served in a variety of positions in the urban education sector, including working nationally with Teach for America and locally with Partners in School Innovation. Molly will talk about KIPP's plans to close the "achievement gap" evident in public schools by developing in the students the knowledge, critical thinking skills and character traits needed to succeed in top quality high schools and colleges, and to lead deliberate and productive lives. http://www.kippbayview.org/index.htm
Who Should Attend?
This event is for anyone interested in solutions to the problems in Bayview/Hunters Point. The event will encourage innovation among organizations already participating in entrepreneurship programs and provide opportunities to form strategic partnerships and get involved.
Produced and sponsored by Global Initiative to Advance Entrepreneurship and and co-sponsored by Rotary Club of San Francisco Golden Gate.
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