Mayor Edwin M. Lee

the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the

San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women present the

Women Making History Awards Ceremony

“Women’s Education, Women’s Economic

Strength, Women’s Empowerment”

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

City Hall

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

San Francisco, California

Women’s History Month 2012 Honorees

Jene Rita Alviar Honored by Supervisor David Campos (D9) Ms. Alviar is the Executive Director of Mission Education Projects, Inc. (MEPI), a non-profit agency that provides at-risk youth and their families an equal opportunity to access culturally sensitive and quality educational experiences. She has designed and implemented educational programs in the Mission district for almost 30 years. In addition, Ms. Alviar organizes activities involving students, staff, parents, and community members to assist with the resolution of neighborhood issues involving health and cultural competency, and she advises local school administrators and community agencies. Ms. Alviar began her career in education in the early 1960's as a member of the Bryant Elementary School PTA. Since then, she has been deeply involved with the community as an active member of many organizations, including the Emergency School Aid Act Spanish Bilingual Program, San Francisco Head Start Policy Council, Economic Opportunity Council, the Career Opportunity Program, Certified Children's Center Employees Calendar Committee, Mission Community Education Committee, and the Mayor's Mission Task Force. Pamela Clisham Honored by Supervisor Eric Mar (D1) Pamela Clisham currently serves as the Principal of Presidio Middle School where she embraces a deep commitment to learning and delivering a standards-based education of the highest quality to all students. The mission of Presidio Middle School is to provide an interdisciplinary curriculum which generates interest, motivates, and challenges student learning; maintain an enrichment program which will expand student learning experiences beyond the traditional classroom environment; improve teaching and learning to enhance the academic achievement and personal development of students. Under Ms. Clisham’s leadership, the school has strengthened parent involvement in student success, and partnered with community-based organizations to provide support and enrichment activities for students. Presidio Middle School received the California Distinguished School Award in 2005. Maritza DiCicco Honored by Supervisor John Avalos (D11) Ms. DiCicco immigrated to the United States from Guatemala in 1982, and attended public high school while taking night school classes to improve her language skills. She received an A.A. degree in 1985, and further expanded her knowledge of Early Childhood Education at the University of Nevada. She thereafter started a licensed day care facility. After eleven years, Ms. DiCicco moved to Oregon and ran a preschool for migrant families, assisting them with access to health care, education, and employment resources. After two years, she accepted a position as a Parent Liaison at the San Francisco Unified School District, where she continued her successful strategies and developed a strong network of parent leaders and empowered Hillcrest families to be outspoken advocates for their children. Ms. DiCicco has worked closely with City officials, the San Francisco Unified School District administration, and Coleman Advocates to advance education opportunities for all children and youth in San Francisco.

Sheila Harris-Young and Toni Young Honored by Supervisor Christina Olague (D5) Ms. Harris-Young and Ms. Young are the mother-daughter duo behind the Fillmore Jazz District’s Bumzy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, a baking enterprise founded upon a three-generation chocolate chip cookie recipe. Sheila Harris-Young’s mother taught her to bake when she was growing up in Washington, D.C., and she remembers first making cookies for an orphanage her Girl Scout troop would visit. When she became a mother herself, she passed the cookie recipe and her baking talents on to her daughter Toni Young, whose childhood nickname was “Bumzy.” The mother-daughter duo’s love of baking has not changed, and neither has their dedication to serving the community. Together the two volunteer weekly at the donation center at St. Anthony’s Foundation, as well as the Lima Center at St. Dominic’s Church, which offers the homeless refuge and a hot shower. And, daily, they are baking up delicious cookies on Fillmore Street. Lolita Kintanar Honored by Supervisor Jane Kim (D6) Lolita Kintanar is a well-known advocate for San Francisco’s seniors and a champion for homeless seniors’ rights. A Filipina immigrant, Ms. Kintanar has served as Director of Senior Services at the Canon Kip Senior Center of the Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco for over a decade. There, she focuses on the needs of low-income and homeless seniors, including Filipino elders in the neighborhood. She also supervises an intern from the City College of San Francisco School of Health who is working with young pregnant women and victims of domestic violence. In addition to her long hours at the Senior Center, Ms. Kintanar is a dedicated volunteer at the homeless shelter program located at St. Boniface Church. According to video journalist Richgail Enriquez whose portrayal of Ms. Kintanar was a finalist in the You Tube/Pulitzer Center's Project Report competition, Ms. Kintanar is indefatigable: "I followed her around for one day to see what it's like to live in the day of her life. Her busy schedule does not seem to wear her down. In fact, I can barely keep up with her! I asked if she gets bogged down if things don't work out helping people, she said, as long as she has done her best, she's happy." Ms. Kintanar has been a leader for justice among Trinity Plaza tenants and currently serves as Co-President of the Senior Action Network. Lozano Sisters (Gabriella, Rosy, and Lourdes) Honored by Mayor Edwin M. Lee Gabriella Lozano is a trained a nurse and attorney, Lourdes is an skilled accountant, and Rosy is an accomplished artist. When these sisters discovered that their parents had reached retirement age without a source of income, they quit their professions and opened the L’s Caffe in 2005. Their plan was to establish the café in 5 years and use its revenue to provide for their parents’ livelihood while they returned to their professions. The business is now in its fifth year, but Gabriela says the economy has forced them to stay a bit longer than originally planned. The Lozano sisters dreamed of creating a space where everybody could feel as comfortable as in their own home while being served with delicious, affordable, and healthy food. They invite local artist to display their art free of charge and support environmental efforts by composting and recycling up to 90% of their waste. The L's Caffe is a key player in the community efforts to create a better and safer neighborhood in the Mission District and contributes to its economy by employing members of the community.

Melissa J. Ma Honored by Supervisor Carmen Chu (D4) Ms. Ma is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Asia Alternatives, a Hong Kong-based and Asia-focused private equity fund, with over $1.5 billion in committed capital. Asia Alternatives invests with top performing private equity fund managers across Asia in Greater China, Japan, Korea, South East Asia, Australia, and India and is diversified across buyout, growth and expansion, venture capital and special situations funds. The firm currently has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, and San Francisco. Ms. Ma sits on the organization’s Investment Committee and co-leads Asia Alternatives' investments in buyout, direct co-investments, and special situations. In addition, she oversees investor relations, market research, investment construction, and back office functions. Ms. Ma currently serves as a Trustee of the Asian Art Museum and Half the Sky, which is dedicated to orphans in China, and is on the Advisory Board for Room to Read, which promotes girls education in developing countries. Phoenixes Honored by Supervisor Scott Wiener (D8) Beth Spotswood, Catherine Bergstrom, Kate Ryken Ms. Bergstrom coordinated the Noe Valley Fire Fundraiser that raised funds for the seven displaced tenants who were burned out of their apartments by a devastating two-alarm fire on the 4000 Block of 24th Street on September 10, 2011. Ms. Spotswood and Ms. Ryken provided relief to the tenants who were victims of arson in the Castro. All three women are honored by District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener for “demonstrating what neighborhoods and communities are all about – pulling together and being there for each other.” And as one of the residents burned out of his home said, “…People that were strangers to us just a few days ago have been amazing.” Melissa Rich Honored by Supervisor Mark Farrell (D2) Melissa Rich is the Chief Executive Officer of InterSchola, a Presidio-based social enterprise that supports the budgets of school districts and local public agencies while saving money. With a background in education technology and venture capital, Ms. Rich saw that school districts were sitting on valuable surplus in their warehouses, yet lacked capacity to manage these goods. Schools would typically hold a garage-style sale which resulted in goods being sold for a fraction of their worth. Founded in 2004, InterSchola has helped public agencies earn over $15M from the sale of surplus goods via online auctions. The sales divert almost 3 million pounds of goods from landfills each year. InterSchola has been named one of the Bay Area’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies in 2010 by the San Francisco Business Times and serves a third of the school districts in California and has a foothold in five other states (Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York). Olivia Scanlon Honored by Supervisor Sean Elsbernd (D7) Ms. Scanlon, a native of Donore, County Meath, Ireland, emigrated to San Francisco in 1999. Olivia has worked for the City and County of San Francisco and the residents of District 7 as a legislative aide since 2003. During that time, she has faithfully served not only District 7 constituents but all San Franciscans by responding to constituent needs and resolving issues in the community with great professionalism and personality. Outside of her work at City Hall, Ms. Scanlon is very active in the City's Irish and Irish-American communities, working to build a strong network for immigrants, old and new, through service, sports, music, dance, and other cultural activities. She is married to Seamus Cudden and is the proud mother of Andrew (5), Caoimhe (3), and Cillian (14 months).

Nancy Sheftel-Gomes Honored by Supervisor Christina Olague (D5) Ms. Sheftel-Gomes is the Education Director at Congregation Sherith Israel, directing religious education and youth endeavors from early childhood education programs through high school, including facilitating student preparation for b’nai mitzvah studies. She is committed to and deeply passionate about repairing the world and teaching Judaism through action. Ms. Sheftel-Gomes coordinates the twice-a-year Mitzvah Days, and she also co-directs and supervises HaMotzi. She is the staff representative of the board and the joint management group of Hills of Eternity Cemetery. She joined the Congregation Sherith Israel education team as a part-time teacher in 1986, while working in retail and industrial sales. Ms. Sheftel-Gomes, who has always mixed her work with community service and involvement, has been a member of the Interfaith Council for 20 years and a Chevrah Torah (Torah Study) participant for 15 years. Dorris Vincent Honored by Supervisor Malia Cohen (D10) Ms. Vincent has been a resident of District 10 since 1961. She purchased her first home in the Bayview neighborhood, as a single mother, in 1961 and has been a tireless advocate and community member ever since. Ms. Vincent's list of community, church and educational actives is extensive. Most recently, she has served as a trustee at the Providence Baptist Church and assisted with the church's homeless and food pantry services. Additionally, she has served on a number of community and City boards and advisory groups including: the Bayview Hunters Point Project Area Committee, Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee, UCSF Community Advisory Group, and the Board of the Bayview Opera House. As a member of the Municipal Transportation Agency Citizens Advisory Council, and the Third Street Light Rail Community Advisory Group, Ms. Vincent’s transportation advocacy contributed significantly to the Third Street light rail project. In her own words "she does a little each day for the good of the whole neighborhood." Germaine Wong Honored by President David Chiu (D3) Ms. Wong, the first person of color to serve as Registrar of Voters in San Francisco, successfully advocated for language access requirements in the extension of the Voting Right Act. Ms. Wong also served as assistant to the Chief Administrative Officer of the City and County of San Francisco where her responsibilities included coordinating completion of the Moscone Center’s public arts and archaeological interests and researching and presenting recommendations on major developments before the Planning Commission, including the Bayview-Hunter’s Point sewage treatment plan. Ms. Wong has served on the board of directors of KQED, ACLU-Northern California, San Francisco Architectural Heritage Foundation, Chinatown YWCA, and Chinatown-North Beach Planning Council. She also served on the original SFUSD Desegregation Committee, and the United Way By-Laws Committee, which revamped distribution of funds to include community based organizations. Ms. Wong is a founding member and current Board of Trustees Co-Chair of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

San Francisco Commission and Department on the Status of Women The mission of the San Francisco Commission and Department on the Status of Women is to ensure the equal treatment and foster the socioeconomic, political, and educational advancement of women and girls throughout San Francisco. Since 1998, when San Francisco became the first city in the world to enact a local ordinance reflecting the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Commission and Department have achieved landmark progress in implementing this international bill of rights for women through innovative approaches to policies and programs to address women's economic independence and violence against women. For this work, the Department received the 2010 Gender Equality Award from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. For detailed information about the Commission and Department on the Status of Women, please visit www.sfgov.org/dosw or call 415.252.2570.

Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women Founded in 1976, the Friends of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women is a non-profit organization specifically founded and operated to raise awareness of and funding for the San Francisco Commission and Department on the Status of Women. The organization welcomes new members. Your active participation will increase your knowledge and understanding of issues, events, and legislation impacting women. For additional information about the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women, please visit www.friendscosw.org or call 415.77.WOMEN.

Women’s History Month Background March is nationally recognized as Women’s History Month. In 1980, a group of women came together in Santa Rosa, California to form the National Women’s History Project, a coalition that successfully lobbied Congress and the White House to designate the week of March 8th (International Women’s Day) as National Women’s History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the celebration, resulting in the entire month of March being declared National Women’s History Month. Since 1996, the San Francisco Commission and Department on the Status of Women, in partnership with the Mayor and Board of Supervisors, have celebrated this month with a public ceremony to recognize the contributions of women in the community.

Special Thanks

The reception is made possible by the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women. The Friends would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of today’s event: Southwest Airlines Chevron Corporation Charles Schwab Lee Hecht Harrison SRC Productions LLC – Photography Stephanie Block Symantec Corporation Additional thanks to the Office of Administrative Services for continued support of this event. This event would not have been possible without the dedicated staff of the Department on the Status of Women, Stacey Hoang, Ann Lehman, Carol Sacco, and Cynthia Vasquez, as well as our dedicated interns and fellows, Janet Connor, Elexus Hunter, Sook Ja Kim, Helen Li, and Alexandra Ledyard.

Save the Date

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Conversations with Exceptional Women Luncheon

Hosted by the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women Irina Bokova, Director General

of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 11:30 am – 2:00 pm

City Club of San Francisco 155 Sansome Street (between Pine and Bush Streets) Ticket information available at www.friendscosw.org

Event Partners

MAYOR EDWIN M. LEE SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Supervisor David Chiu, President Supervisor John Avalos Supervisor David Campos Supervisor Carmen Chu Supervisor Malia Cohen Supervisor Sean Elsbernd Supervisor Mark Farrell Supervisor Jane Kim Supervisor Eric Mar Supervisor Christina Olague Supervisor Scott Wiener SAN FRANCISCO COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN President Kay Gulbengay Vice President Julie Soo Commissioner Alicia Gamez Commissioner Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez Commissioner Becca Prowda Commissioner Andrea Shorter Commissioner Stephanie Simmons Executive Director Emily M. Murase, PhD FRIENDS OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN President Marily Mondejar Vice President Diana Reyes Baughman Secretary Patricia M. Bovan-Campbell, Event Co-Chair Treasurer Esther Colwill Director Cathy Campbell, Event Co-Chair Director Shinta Lim Director Barbara Mark Director Peg McAllister Friends Fellow Florence Corteza