FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, June 10th, 2014
SFPD Media Relations Unit (415) 553-1651
Jeremy L. Wallenberg, sf.citi – jeremy@sfciti.com
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr and sf.citi Chairman Ron Conway announced the 3rd annual Future Graduates summer tech internships program. A partnership between the San Francisco Police Foundation and San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation (sf.citi), the Future Graduates summer tech internships programenhances youth access to real world job training, placing students at local technology companies in paid summer internships.
“We are investing in our young people and making sure they receive the best education and have access to meaningful job experiences so that they can succeed in the 21st Century economy,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “The San Francisco Police Foundation, in partnership with sf.citi through the Future Graduates program, is supporting my San Francisco Summer Jobs+ Initiative, so we can continue to prepare our next generation of leaders.”
Over thirty San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) high school students, ages 14 – 18 will participate in paid summer internships at seventeen innovative, San Francisco-based sf.citi member companies and partners organizations, including: Traba, Sincerely, Relevance, Black Girls Code, Sidecar, Kanjoya, Emerge Digital, Shasta Crystals Inc, Office of Assemblymember Phil Ting, Assurance Data, AfterCollege, AFAR Media, Aemass, AKQA, Shopseen, ThoughtWorks and Mobiquity.
“Three years ago I called everyone’s attention to the staggering number of young people that drop out of high school only to fall victim to street violence and/or fall into the criminal justice system,” said San Francisco Police Department Chief Greg Suhr. “Over the last three years summer employment of our youth in San Francisco has been a key component to keeping our kids in school and safe from becoming a statistic. For the first time in many years, the high school dropout rate is in single digits and the population at Youth Guidance Center and our City’s homicide rate are at a record lows – this is no coincidence. Again this year, I want to thank sf.citi for their continued commitment to our City’s young people – making sure our young people know how valuable they are through paid employment is the perfect incentive to making sure they stay in school and graduate. There are more people than I can name that deserve credit for this effort but; on behalf of the kids, please know you are making a difference.”
Doubling-down on their commitment in supporting the previous two years of the program, sf.citi will again provide a $50,000 grant to fund student stipends in 2014. The eight-week program begins June 10th with a tech skills orientation lead by sf.citi member company Sincerely. Throughout their internships, students receive exposure to various roles and departments at each participating host company and organization, working on a variety of projects, including social media campaigns, analytics tracking and analysis, research, marketing, product testing, quality assurance, creating multimedia content, engineering and coding, software development and much more. Some of the work students accomplished in previous years is still being implemented by past Future Graduate participating host companies to this day.
“sf.citi is proud to again stand with Mayor Ed Lee and Chief Greg Suhr to provide cutting edge summer jobs for young San Franciscans in our local innovation economy,” said Alex Tourk, sf.citi managing director. “This program is a perfect example of our #onecity commitment bringing government, community service organizations and the tech community together for shared goals to improve the lives of young people in San Francisco.”
The Future Graduates Summer Tech Internships program has been an ongoing, integral component of Mayor Ed Lee’s San Francisco Summer Jobs+ Initiative. The program has been adopted by other municipalities as a model for public-private partnerships, such as the New York City Department of Small Business Services Tech Internships program, and has been honored nationally by the White House Champions of Change program recognizing every day Americans who are making positive changes in their communities.
Future Graduates is a cornerstone program of the San Francisco Police Foundation, a non-profit organization formed by citizens in 2011 to aid San Francisco police officers in their service to community. Future Graduates prepares students for success, encouraging them to graduate high school, pursue fulfilling careers, and lead productive, healthy lives.
The San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation (sf.citi) is an organization committed to leveraging the power of the tech community around civic action in San Francisco. Launched in 2012, they have supported innovative policies, advocated for tech sector growth and worked collaboratively with government and communities to find new solutions to historic problems facing San Francisco. Over 950 San Francisco based technology companies and partner organizations are members of sf.citi.
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