good morning, welcome to mosaic. on behalf of our producer and cohost elizabeth and dale. >> my theme today is service to the community. our churches and our religion efforts has always had concern about the community. it's never been just involved in the walls behinde four walls. we have been involved and concerned about our community from the inception of our ministries. i want to shout out to trey belton of advocates for good

media who has been so instrumental in the programs that we have brought you for the last five months. he was up one morning and he has been a longtime friend and colleague and he saw the program and said he would like to suggest some guests to come and he has sent them five times now. each guest has been wonderful and dynamic. i anticipate the same today with the guests that we have today from a.k.a. great to have you. great to have you both. tell us about your background and what made you involved in this organization that is so famous. >> i will just back up and say i am the president of the alpha omega chapter. we have been serving the bay

area community since 1929 she is one of our community leaders. in terms of our background we are bay area natives. i joined when i was an undergrad. i am an undergraduate at california state university long beach. i joined the alpha chapter. i have been active every sense i joined the sorority in 2002. since i have joined -- i joined for a number of reasons but i am very passionate about serving not just our local communities but internationally. i do travel abroad frequently to support community efforts in africa and the caribbean. locally as a native of richmo california it's always been a passion of mine to serve the community -- the greater

community. >> the pastor has been there for 13 years. what about you question mark >> i was initiated into the sorority back in 2014 so i came in what we call graduate there. a native of the peninsula. the same with tahari, we are coming to the community and serving the community not just locally but the bay area. i currently live in the east bay being from the peninsula i got involved with the organization and have been working with organizations and send it >> you went to high school in san mateo? >> yes. >> i was born in oakland but raised in richmond and my parents worked in oakland. >> i saw you have a masters in leadership. >> yes, from the university of nevada at las vegas. it is a leadership program that focused on developing

leadership skills to service in higher education and outside event as well. currently i am a recruiter, and i recruited for several different organizations here in the bay area. currently i'm recruiting for professional sports team. >> the oakland a's. >> may be. >> i have a masters in psychology. i am currently at community college as a counselor. i work with community college students helping to transfer to four-year colleges. >> that's great. this is a wonderful beginning. we will talk more after we come back. please, join us.

for some --

welcome back. we have been speaking to tahari and unique were about their beginnings and their involvement with the community. psychologists once said that we have three basic needs one for

safety, and one for satisfaction. the other is for connection. this is what i think organizations represent. connection, and community involvement. tell us a little bit about the a.k.a. >> this sorority was founded at howard university on january 15, 1908. we have been servicing the entire world since -- for 110 years. we have what we call the 20 pearls. which means we have 16 counters and for incorporators or for women who incorporated our illustrious organization. since our inception we have been doing several things globally. you are going to edit this part, right?

we have been servicing our local communities with our mississippi health project as well as several other initiatives to encourage people to vote. we had also catered to women and children who are in need of -- who are in need. >> i mentioned earlier you met in houston with 30,000. >> currently and apologies for sounding wonky earlier. we have 300,000 members in our sorority as a whole. i believe it is more than that. each four years we have a different program or area of focus. we met in houston for what we call our [ inaudible ] our international convention. at that point our new international president was installed and she shared a new

program that we will carry out in our local communities. it's called exemplifying excellence. it has a focus on the arts, on education enrichment, global impact, as well as house. those are essentially -- house. those are essentially places i have places of need within the african-american community specifically. >> we have a few members in our church that are active. with as large of a group you have knowing everyone -- there is many chapters. >> we are actually the second chapter founded in the far western region. our sorority is divided by a region in california. we are considered being part of the far western region. we are one of a number of chapters chartered here.

we were the first chapter chartered in northern california. we were chartered on june 8 1929. we are approaching serving the bay area for 90 years. we have a large gala that we are planning for next year. i will be sure to send you an invitation for that. >> estella san juan, is one of our members who is active. she has been active 60+ years. she is excited about that. tell us about you, you are and community service. >> the program that she talked about his exemplifying excellence through sustainability. we rollout a different program every four years. this program is focusing on a program where we do soles for souls. we are going to donate shoes to children in haiti. come togeth with an alliance group and collect glasses.

our platform is to help the community the best way we can. to help those who we know are in need. we can to make sure we are visible and people are seeing we can help the communities. >> what inspired you both to get involved? >> that's a great question. it's something we were just talking about. it does require -- it's as a president or vice president of a chapter of 150 professional women it can get a little busy. we were just in our off-season. during the summer months we typically are little less busy. we laugh about how things are cranking up a bit now. from my perspective the passion that i have from the organization -- i believe in the organization's mission.

it is a beautiful organization with amazing talented women who contribute greatly to the community. i am happy to be a contributor from that standpoint. >> that's significant. thank you. >> i would say for myself the notion of the sisterhood. i have 300,000 sisters. i could go to a different city and look up one of my sisters. also myself being an only child the bond that i have with these women is great. i have 150 women i can bond with and go to with questions about the program or help with anything. >> i recently heard quincy jones , say that when you -- musicians have to have passion,

musical curiosity, and they have to be fearless i hear one word you mentioned passion. you seem to have that passion for what you do. that is critical. >> yes. i know for me it was something that was instilled in me since undergrad. i was fortunate enough to have great people assist with my initiation. they never had a break in membership. they encouraged myself and my sisters to continue on that path. i have six wine sisters from underground -- undergrad. most of us have stayed active. my other sisters from the chapter and she's currently in alpha omega chaptered she stayed active as well. >> we are going to hear more about you in the next segment. this has been good. i'm sure people appreciate all the work you are doing. like you, for being here.

-- thank you, for being here. we will be right back. please join us here on mosaic.

boss: it's a big responsibility. employee: oh, it's huge. i know, it's huge. boss: and the salary... employee: oh my god, yes. i was literally about to move in with my parents and right before... yeah, so this saved me. boss: i really believe in you. you know? employee: thank you. it's nice to hear that from someone.

boss: these are cool. did you...um? where did... back to mosaic. it has been great to host mosaic again as these two dynamic women in their involvement in the a.k.a.. tell us more about what you do. >> as i mentioned we have a chapter comprised of 150 members.in few years we have done thousands of hours of community service. we provide scholarships to local high school students. we also mentor local high school

students as well. we just wrapped up our mentoring program which is called a send it it was an international program that just recently ended. we had 12 students that came out to participate in several efforts. >> we mentor high school students. that program had high schools students boys and girls. we did programs with them. we had a chance to go to the museum. we had an etiquette program. we taught them table manners. we taught them proper etiquette when you're going to a restaurant or out in public lead we did a black expo. we took a group of students to get information about hbc you. we went to bridget -- visit

colleges. we provided information about financial literacy. we hosted a literacy program on getting ready for college. we talk to them about financial aid, choosing a major, about just becoming a responsible -- the process of being a student and being a responsible student. >> that seems extremely helpful. what i was thinking and i'm sure others are thinking this how do you become a member? what is a qualifications? >> it secret. >> [ laughter ] >> it depends on when you decide to join. if you join at an undergraduate level you can join a chapter at your local campus. that is what i did. you seek out -- do your

research and seek out to might be a member. we have membership information on the graduate level. if you are in the bay area we have membership info on our website. there is a membership section that you can find out all of the requirements to join and what the steps might be. we do not -- membership is not an ongoing ing. it's when -- thing. it's when we decide when we would like to expand our chapter. >> going to our website and looking up information on what's required. when you think about membership organizations such as ours or any other this is a life membership. you want to really think about

if this is the organization you are going to commit to for life >> i have been a part about -- of a few organizations. you had to get invited to the ones that i am in. >> it is by invitation only. in terms of when that happens again is as a chapter we decide to expand our membership. >> i see. there is a limit to that. >> maybe. yes. >> do you have to have college degree? >> if you join at the graduate level you do need to have a bachelors degree. if you join as an undergrad obviously you are a student so you would be joining at a student -- as a student at that level. >> you mentioned earlier there

might be something coming up in october? >> we have several activities on the horizon. one is our celebrity bartender event. we typically partner with an african-american restaurant or bar in the area. we have yet to lockdown that specific location. i don't have much to share but i am happy to provide info at a later date. you can expect a late october timeframe. all of our vans are posted on our website. >> -- all of our events are posted on our website. >> we also have a facebook page. i am inspired. >> i know many young women and older women would love to be a part of your program.

i want to inspire you and challenge you to continue to do the work you do because you are doing great work. we are going to come back in the next segment and wrap it up and say anything else you would like to say to the audience. our congregation. thank you, for being with us. please join us in our last segment.

we have been talking about this service to our community here on mosaic. the a.k.a. group has an a tremendous amount of service going back to 1929. many years of service. would you like to say a few more things about what you do? >> i just want to say that we are very fortunate to be a part of this illustrious organization. our founders had this amazing vision and our charter members as well. this is the second chapter here in northern california. we actually are the home of an

international president which is not common for chapters in the far western region. we also have a long history. we have always remained relevant and responsive to the changes and patterns in our local community as well as internationally. we are excited to carry out this new program that was rolled out at our international conference in houston. i am just excited to get even further and deeper into the community. >> when you talk about president and vice president you have to run for office? >> yes. these are elected positions. we were elected to serve. this is my first year. my term is for two years. i will wrap up my term next year. >> you would -- have also been

elected as vice president? >> i was appointed. i am finishing out her term this year. i will be most likely running for my position this year. hopefully things will work out. we are alike. -- elected. >> do you see competition? >> of course. we have great sisters. everyone is talented and eager to lead and take charge on things. >> i think you probably have a better reputation than some fraternities that we know of your --. >> we are part of the divine nine. >> if you get past and the introductions. >> we are part of the divine nine which is the umbrella

organization for the national council are what we call members of the national panhellenic council. they are all doing amazing things locally and globally. we are fortunate to be able to partner with them. >> thank you. thank you, for coming this morning. i know it was an effort to get here. we appreciate you being here. thank you, for being here. >> thank you. >> in closing i would like to say in our service to our community when we began ministry we started in hillside presbyterian church. i was president of the organization. vice president i should say. we always believe that our church should be involved in the community. i am saying this now because he

burton, has been you quite some time now. he fell down at is how good he was injured badly. we want to send out our prayers and thoughts to him. to his family as a surround him. i was with him in the hospital this last week. we are with him. elizabeth, and i, want to make sure he hears our prayers and thoughts for his family. gail, in the family. god bless him.

live from the cbs bay area studios this is kpix 5 news. >> she is a serious person and she had a full life. she didn't need to bring this into her life. >> sister in law of christine blasey-ford is speaking out when she learned about the accusations from judge kavanaugh. a self-pay woman slipped and bawled -- fell to her death while taking a stealthy. -- selfie. >> reporter: we are starting off with me