been here before? or haven't been here at all? your next favorite thing about this place is waiting to be discovered. did you know you can do this? ... pretty cool, right? ... and you don't want to miss that. you can also ride this ... and then race on over to do this... and before you leave? you definitely wanna see that. hello and welcome to comunidad del valle. i'm damian trujillo and on the show today. making a wish on your comunidad del vall.

well, we hope you're enjoying your thanksgiving weekend. wherever you are here on comunidad. we're going to begin with the new venture called kir, inc. i'm here to tell us all about it. is the founder, jen elena romano. also sylvia bonilla zumbo, who is a partner. and they're they actually helped this gentleman right here. francisco gutierrez ramirez in his career. welcome to the show. we're going to start with you, jen. tell us first of all about cura inc. thank you so much for having us, damian. we're really excited to be here, especially during thanksgiving week. cura inc was started because as a first generation latina, i knew how hard it was to difficult and difficult to navigate the transition from college to career. my parents, salvadorian and bolivian, were incredible

role models and taught me how to work hard, but they just didn't have the experience to navigate those first steps into my into my work world. and i'm a board member at sacred heart nativity schools in the washington neighborhood in san jose. so i started to see that the story was reating itself with students like francisco. they did everything right. they went to bellarmine, santa clara, they graduated, and they came out wondering, what do we do now? and how do we how do we get ahead in our careers? so as an entrepreneur, i decided to talk to companies. companies said they're seeing 60% of gen z is not ready for the workforce. and i started to see the opportunity in developing professional skill sets for all of generation z. but with a first generation lens, so that we're included in the technology and resources. and jen mentioned not ready sylvia, how are they not ready just is it a confidence thing? they have the degree. how are they not ready. you're right. it's more than just a confidence

thing. and what we're seeing the research that we've done is there are three key themes that are are really gaps. one is motivation and personal skills, professional skills and communication. so those are the reasons why, you know they're really struggling. and it's really kind of been made bigger because of the struggles during covid, because of mental health issues, that there's a lot more awareness. but also, you know, that's just grown with covid and with the rise in digital media. so all of this is really contributed to kind of the gaps that we're seeing and what the employers are saying as well. so yes, all of that does lead to confidence. so they need help more than ever. and what we're doing is we really are, you know, really trying to help generation zrepare for the workforce because of that gap that jen mentioned. but we want to do this with the first geneneration ls, because what we've seen is the needs are unique. the needs are unique for first gen. they're not in the same spaces. they're not getting that help in the beginning of

their careers the way maybe someone who's a continuing education student might have the benefit of. so this is this is a unique situation. and what we want to do is make sure that we're really democratizing access to support and coaching much earlier in their careers to give them that help. yeah, well, all four of us on the screen here are first generation. so i think we can all attest to what those challenges are. but francisco, you overcame them, whatever those challenges might have been. and you're on your way to success. tell us about it. thank you. thank you for having me. i'll say that navigating today's job market is extremely challenging, especially for first generation professionals like me. and i feel like career guidance and resources were essential in landing my software engineering role at google. their support was invaluable and i'm incredibly grateful for the impact they've had on my career. i'm thankful for the community that they're building and i'm really excited about the future. what is the trick or the key? jen, what is it that's working

that you all are doing with cura? what we focus on, for example, in our signature program, the cura academy, how to be at work. we focus on micro learning. we focus on not just telling our young professionals to build their linkedin profiles. we're telling them how to do it in digestible, easy to understand manner that takes into account where they actually are. we try to meet them where they are. and this is it's here to stay, right? sylvia? this is something an idea, a coept, a venture that is only growing. absolutely. it's here to stay. and all of the data that we have pulled, we recently published a white paper called early career in a first generation lens. we did a lot of work to really understand what the gaps were, what the needs are, and what we can do to really help the emerging professionals, the leaders of tomorrow kind of get them there faster. so we understand what is happening here and what the trends are, especially in the workplace. the workplace is seeing that they're

really experiencing loss and productivity, motivation, engagement and all of that results in loss of revenue. and so not only are the first professionals experiencing that, it's a tough market. it's really tough to even succeed in the workplace, right? generational differences don't help. but also for the workplaces, there's a lot more. that's a growing part of the workforce. it will be 30% of the workforce in a handful of years. so when you think about that volume of those entering the workforce and what the needs are, it's going to be a much bigger problem. so we want to make sure we do what we can to get ahead of it now. and francisco, i'm a chismoso by trade, so communication was never an issue with me. what was a couple of the barriers that you had? maybe i think some of the barriers were just connecting with working professionals at tech companies. so for example, cura connected me with a lot of people at google, and they were able to give me advice on how to like, navigate the interviews and do

well in those. all right. well, i'm glad that the way the success is going for you, jen, any final thoughts here on comunidad del rey? the last thing i want to share is that the companies we're here to help we understand and see your problem from a gen z lens, but also from a first generation lens. first generation students have increased from 18% to 54% since 2011 to 2020. so this is not just a trend. this is a seismic shift in the workforce. so all technology resources need to be considered and built through an inclusive lens. as a proud lban stanford entrepreneur, i am here to help solve some of the problems and build a team with co-founder like sylvia and please visit us at kira, dot us and join us on our instagram on cura at early career. sylvia, gen and francisco, thank you so much for inspiring a lot of us here on this thanksgiving weekend. thank you for being on the show. thank you for having us. yes. thank you. and again, that website,

we're going to flash it on the screen so you can jot that down. it's kira's first generation career accelerator. they're here to help here on comunidad del valle. up next here on comunidad del valle. nourishing neighbors stay with us. set sail for ana hawaiian barbecue and discover the thrill of the ono keiki meal with fresh, made to order food and quality ingredients that bring the fvors of the island to your family. disney's moana two now playing only in theaters. rated pg. your emblem of devotion. have your engagement ring custom made by the jewelry exchange. choose a one carat lab grown diamond for 5.99, or a natural gia for 1990 18. k mounds are 4.99 thousands of choices. always the best dea. the jewelry exchange, redwood city. your day started like any other. you drop the kids off at school and head to work. little do you know, in the next moment a truck is going to run a red light and hit you. changing your life forever for everything that comes next, you won't be ready. but we are the attorneys at sweet james will help you recover physically and

financially as we defend you against the insurance companies that promise to protect you. you pay nothing until we win, so if you're hurt in an accident, call sweet james today. well, as we've been reporting, the need is only growing. that's why nbc, bay area and telemundo is teaming with safeway and the bay area food banks to urish our neighbors. with me is blanca garza jacobs, representing the second harvest food bank and representing the alameda county community food bank. is arlan murillo here on comunidad? welcome to the show. thank you so much for having us. thank you for being here. blanca. i mean, we're on the news almost every day talking about the food banks and food distribution. the lines get longer, the need keeps growing. the need keeps growing. and this is damon. the. like you said, the need is up and donations are down. unfortunately. but this is the most challenging time we've ever seen. in second harvest in 50

years. that we've been in the community. so you can just imagine what's going on in our households, in the bay area and the struggles that our people are going through, because, you know, everything is so expensive right now. and unfortunately, the first thing that this food insecurity is causing in our communities is to, you know, just not buy as much food or cut corners and, you know, maybe not having the three meals a day. so, yeah, we're going through a very tough time right now. yeah. and i mean, these folks, a lot of these folks are working. they're working two jobs. that's just not enough to make ends meet. i'm imagining ireland that the situation is similar in alameda county. yes it is. and throughout the holidays, we're staying extremely busy, as you would expect. but as you know, our work is year round. so yeah, food insecurity continues to be a reality that many of the community members in our county are experiencing. currently, 1

in 4 of community citizens of the county are experiencing food insecurity, which is a really high number. in fact, it's higher than than it was before covid, before the pandemic. and it continues to grow. and so when we when we look at those numbers and we think about the, you kw, 1.6 million people in the county and one out of four are suffering this food insecurity, it's really it's really challenging. it's very challenging for us and it's very difficult to hear. so currently, the food bank is spending $1.3 million monthly to buy food and try to support and supply food across the county to different distribution sites to help support the families that are in need and it's, you know, it's heartbreaking, blanca, when you see the need. but it's so heartwarming when you see the outpouring of support from the volunteers to the donors because they're getting for thanksgiving, they're getting this food box that contains maybe 150 to $200 worth of thanksgiving food. and i was just going to say that. and, you

know, ireland is talking. i'm like, he's making so much sense. and in your questioning and everything, it's just like, you know, i just want to burst into saying, but the good news is that people can help, people can donate, people can come and volunteer, you know, so it is a very tough it's a challenge right now. it's hard. you know, times. but we can all make a difference. you know, we can all stand together and support our community. and if we don't have, you know, $10, five, $1 because $1 is two meals for us represents two meals for us, for our community. you can volunteer. we have about 900 places that you can go and volunteer for second harvest. so i mean, let's just all come together this season and all year round actually. and whether ireland, whether it's the googles who might donate a couple of million or dona juanita, who is going to show up

with a $5 check, it all warms the heart right? because it's all going into the same cause. it does, and it makes a difference. you know, a dollar, $2, whatever you're able to donate. and it is really important. i'm glad that it was mentioned that you can also volunteer which which makes a huge difference. it's a very, very good way of helping and supporting the community as wel, because it helps us get the food out and making sure that the food gets to the to the families that need it most and say, sorr, damien, go ahead. before i forget or we run out of time. thank you to nbc. thank you to telemundo and safeway for helping us so much this season. as always, thank you. thank you so much for everything you do. yeah. no,e are in partnership. thank you, blanca, for prompting me with telemundo and safeway and the food banks, because you go to safeway and you can just donate $10 when you're checking out, and that goes to fill those boxes that are behind ireland there on the screen. yes. those boxes with food and turkeys and chicken and ham, whatever they

might need. and so the more the merrier. ireland. absolutely. and yeah. want to mention that i was at safeway the other day and at the register, the lady that was helping me reminded me that i could also make a donation. obviously she didn't know i work for the food bank, but i thought it was really sweet. the way in which she presented the program and the campaign that is running right now. so yeah, absolutely. thank you to everyone that's been supporting and all the folks that continue to speak on behalf of those who need our support.nd blanca, i've known you for a lot of years and you're you're a great donor yourself. you sleep well at night. your head goes on the pillow very nice and warm, knowing that when you do donate, it's going to a good cause. you're helping feed one family for a couple of days. it's going to an amazing cause. and i'm there with the clients and i see their faces. i see the children's faces. they light up when they see the boxes of fruit and vegetables and produce eggs, milk, grains, everything that they need to have a nutritious

meal at home. and parents don't have to worry about how they're going to feed their kids. they will be fed through our, you know, you know, multiple and multiple sites that we have. and they can they can actually go to our website and see they just put in their zip code and see which one is closer to them. and if they want to do a drive through, if they want to do market style, we have different ways to for them to get their food. and we are accepting frozen turkeys, chickens and hams. this year for all the families. so if you guys want to donate any of that, you know those items, please go to our website to find out where our offices are and you're welcome to do so. all right. thank you. blanca. arlene, any final thoughts? visit us at food, food, food now dot net. if you are in need of food, you can also reach out. call us at our number at 5115106353663, which is for linea de ayuda for

immediate need of food, we want to make sure that everybody has a plate of food that is able to at least, you know, celebrate and family during the holidays. so please give us a call if you need some assistance. well, thank you both for being there at a time of need for this entire community. thank you so much, blanca and arlene, second harvest food bank and the alameda county community food bank. thank you. all right. we're going to show you those websites. now if you can donate, there is one for second harvest and also for the alameda county community food bank, nourishing neighbors with nbc bay area, telemundo and safeway. up next, we're on comunidad del valle making a wish deebo season after season, they've been knocking on the door. is this the bills yea? do the other side as the playoffs lauren now is the time for a 49ers breakthrough. sunday night football on nbc and peacock. let's just try to stay calm. you stay calm. oh yes, i'm

the diana ross around this plac. you are diana ross. you aren't even bob ross saint dennis medical tuesday on nbc and peacock. the holidays are comin. but for many foster kids, being away from family can be a bit lonely and hard to help create holiday cheer. mancini's sleep with them. the ticket to dream foundation are hosting a holiday gift drive for local foster kids of all ages. a new toy or gift helps foster kids feel special, play and even learn. bring any new unwrapped toys and gifts to any man. see me sleep world and make the holidays a little brighter. learn more online at sleep worldcom christmas in rockefeller center on nbc is sponsored locally by scratchers from the california lottery. welcome to the most spectacular party of the season. light up the holidays with a star studded musical celebration. live! i love christmas so much. christmas in rockefeller center wednesday on nbc and peacock,

christmas in rockefeller center on nbc is sponsored locally by scratchers from the california lottery. give the gift of play my brother joe and i lived right across the state line from each other. we worked our whole lives here, so when he got mesothelioma from working in the yards, we knew who could help whites and luxembourg. their results and experience are hard to match now. joe's wife and kids are taken care of. i'll never regret making that call as soon as i did call whites and luxembourg today at 800 885 miso, that's 800 885 miso. nbc bay area's microclimate weather certified. most accurate a make-a-wish greater bay area is making things a little easier for many people here. locally with me is john villanueva, who is a giver with the make-a-wish foundation. john, what does it feel like to be called a giver?

i. ordinary person, just an ordinary person trying to do the right thing and make a difference in someone's life. that's that's what i kind of sum it up as. yeah, well, a few technical difficulties here on comunidad del valle today, but we're going to work through them on this thanksgiving weekend. tell us about make-a-wish and who you're helping out there. well, so make-a-wish is an incredible, incredible charity, one that affects so many lives because when a child gets a diagnosis of a life threatening illness, it's not just terminal, it's a life threatening illness. and a lot of it is cancer. but it could be anything from complications from the liver, the lungs, everything from sickle cell anemia to diabetes to anything that's life

threatening. and there's many illnesses, but when that child, when they're trying to go through their most precious fun times of their life to be dealing with treatments and painful procedures, bless our doctors, bless our medicines and hospitals and all the staff. but that's not the that's not the what a child should be looking forward to. but it's about making a difference in a child's life and letting them forget about the medicines and the doctors and all the treatments. and let's let them be a kid and select a wish that they want to do. oh that's beautiful. you know, i sometimes i'll walk into packard children's health at stanford for a news story, and i don't like it. i don't like going there. i mean, you look at the children who have one thing or another, and you think to yourself, this just isn't fair. i mean, how can these children be going through it? but there's just so many children who are who are going through it and who are in many ways are stronger

than me because of what they're going through. they got to inspire you. at the same time. wow. i mean, yeah, it breaks my heart and when i first became a volunteer, i tell you, i had to carry around a box of tissues. but what is neat and amazing is you have the ability to make a difference in that one child that doesn't have a lot of positive things. maybe with all the treatments going on. and remember, it's not just the child that's going through the treatment, it's mom and dad, it's the siblings. it's the grandparents. it's the cousins. it's everyone around that child that's also going through these treatments. and if you can make a difference and if you can make a change and let them just take a little break from and forget about, like i said, the treatments and get give them a little bit of normalcy. if it's going to disneyland or disney world or taking a trip to go see their favorite baseball or meet their movie star or or entertainer that just lights up

your world. you just you just never know what kind of impact you make. just in a small gesture like that. and what you do, john, is you match the child and their wish with wish granters and then you make the match that way. so actually, that's all done through the head office. that's what's what's what's really great and real easy. so basically the head office does all that in the san francisco chapter. shout out to them. they get it all set up. they get all the referrals and everything and what they need is someone locally. so i cover the tri county area of monterey county, san benito and watsonville, santa cruz. and so basically a wish kid that's local. i'll get an assignment. hey, there's this wish kid that's available to see. is anyone available? and a lot of times i get a lot of the bilingual requests and that's what we need. just a lot of bilingual spanish speaking and other languages. but bilingual is really, really the need and we go say, yeah, we'll go volunteer with another wish

partner. always in twos, and we go see them and we're the ambassadors of make-a-wish. we just go there to greet and help and take the request of what the wish want of the wish kid wants. and we submit that to the head office in san francisco. so it's a lot easier. and like i said, you could select the times that you want to volunteer. that's what's awesome. well, that's why it makes you the giver. you're the good guy and everything john. thank you. we're going to keep you for another segment. but if you want to get a hold of the make-a-wish foundation, greater bay area, we're going to show you a qr code. there it is right there. that'll take you straight to their page. but there is a page on the site for their giving tuesday efforts. it's make-a-wish greater bay area. we'll be back and wrap it up with john villanueva here on korbin albert. stay with us.

2222 2222 2222 2222. 2222222222222222222222222222222. happy holidays and if you ever need us, we're here for you. just remember our number 1-800-222-2222. we're the law brothers. been here before or haven't been here at all? your next favorite thing about this place is waiting to be discovered. did you know you can do this? pretty cool right? and you don' want to miss that. you can also ride this and then race on over to do this. and before you leave, you definitely want to see that. and we're back with john villanueva of make-a-wish. and john, i can imagine your reaction when you see the smile on the faces of those children

when they are at disneyland or when they come back from disneyland, or when you tell them that they're going to disneyland. there's no greater joy. there's absolutely, positively no greater joy. i mean, i actually think it does more for me than it does them. life changing is what i say. it puts everything in perspective. and when some days i say, oh, you know, i'm going to complain about this or complain about at, or, you know, someone in my family is going to complain. i tell them a story about a wish child that just got completed. we're not complaining. we're like, you know what? we're thankful. and grateful for everything we have. and my goodness, what an incredible, incredible joy it is. and a blessing to help just one child. but there's many that we have the opportunity to touch and help and give that spark of hope and encouragement to. yeah. of course. and i think that there was a misconception years ago that make-a-wish was only for kids who were terminal. but tell

us the stories about the kids who come back 15 years later and still remember what you did for them. oh, absolutely. you know, a child has been affected with a life threatening illness, but many of our child's and many of the other kiddos grow up to be. i ran into one that went to college and finished, and they're now married and doing great. my niece samantha is why i got involved in make-a-wish and she was 12 at the time, and she's 38 now and she's doing great. and she has her babies as her career, and she's doing phenomenal. so a lot of our kids do go on to leave great, encouraging lives. but i'll tell you what, when you run into these kids in the community and they come in and tapping you on the shoulder and it says, hey, you remember me? and i'm like, you know what? a little bit, because, yeah, you were my wish granter 15 years ago or 20 years ago. and look, i'm all grown up and i finished college and i got a career, and i'm even married. oh, i can't tell you the joy

that that brings. and that's exactly why we love make-a-wish. and this isn't even your job, john. you're a volunteer. you have your own job. you're a professional in another realm. this is what you do. probably as you mentioned, to fulfill your soul and to warm your heart. absolutely, absolutely. you know, anyone can give no matter what. and i'm super busy. i also give to our local church, you know, here at the encounter church in salinas. but it's about giving. it's giving just that time that you can to carve out and make a difference. and it will be worth so much for you to do it. but like i said, just try it. just try it. just one time. be a shadow or reach out to someone and just even going on make-a-wish org and looking at the stories. your life will not be the same. is it that the more volunteers there are like yourself, that the more children you're able to help? that's right. well, and actually, there's a growing list of kids that are waiting because they need some need bilingual people

wish granters so they actually have kids that are waiting, waiting weeks. if not months for an interview. but like i said, if everyone can give a little bit and like i said, it's all on your time. you get an email letting you know that there's these kids available. and like i said, make-a-wish provides all the training and all the resources to help you just make it easy and enjoyable. and you're the ambassador for make-a-wish. so make-a-wish sets up all everything they pay for everything. and so you get to be santa claus with make-a-wish money and the wonderful charitable giving that they have arranged. and it just makes you be the hero. but you're making an impact in the child's life because they know someone cares and reach out to them. yeah, well, if you're able to walk on two legs and two feet and you're healthy, otherwise count your blessings because there's so many children out there who are not as fortunate. john, thank you so much for what youou're doing for the children of the bay area. and best of luck to you. my pleasure. thank you so much. thank you. john. again,

we're going to show you that qr code for the make-a-wish grerear bay area. they would like too as john said, they need some bilingual volunteers. so you can log on there how you can see how you can help. you can get ahold of us on conan. you can follow me on instagram. my handle is at nuguse. damian trujillo. there's also my email address right there. thank you once again for sharing a part of your thanksgiving weekend with us, and we'll see you back here again next week. buenos dias. accidents happen, and when they do, every second counts. whether you've been involved in a car, truck or motorcycle accident, waiting to reach out to my winning team of attorneys could be a costly decision. evidence fades, memories dim and vital details slip away. your case deserves immediate attention. don't navigate the legal maze alone. at sweet james, we're here for you. let us fight for the justice you deserve. time is ticking and so is the strength of your case. call now for a free consultation. your future depends on it. if there's one word that describes shag carpet,

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