enterprise advisory committee, with the efforts of the airport commission and psa, the transit lounge was created at the san francisco international airport to host visitors who are under review for citizenship in the u.s.. she worked to start the human trafficking awareness campaign, resulting in the creation of the san francisco coalition against human trafficking and today it consists over -- over 100 organizations working to end human trafficking. please join me in congratulating her. [applause] >> thank you so much. thank you for this wonderful award. i am truly honored to be in the

company of so many of wit -- amazing women who are working diligently to make a difference in give a voice to the voiceless. i had the privilege of working with norma on human trafficking. when we started on that, no one knew what it was. it took a lot of talks and going around to bring a bit of awareness to human trafficking. but through the coalition against human trafficking, we have succeeded to increase the awareness tremendously, but we are far away from ending this horrific crime. i would like to give a shout to page for the amazing work they have done with exploited women in general and i would like to welcome our international women to this conference today. thank you for coming and for all of the work you have done in this field. i also want to talk about equality in general.

the spirit of equality reside in all of us. we all want a better life. for our children, families, and communities, and for the world that we live in. due to global economy and technological advancements, the world has become very small. this has many benefits as -- and pitfalls, as anything else. our geography has tremendously improved. now we know where greece is. we even know where afghanistan, iraq, and iran are. i remember when i came to the united states from iran to go to school, i had to fill out some applications and they have some boxes. the boxes were caucasian, black, asian, hispanic, etc.. i had to give a bit of thought to the purpose of these boxes in which box by fit in.

so, i was born in iran and it is in the continent of asia, a marked agent. so, in asian. you should have seen the look on the administrator when i turned in my application. today those boxes no longer applied. we all live in one world and we are all the same. we are part of the same energy. we can no longer take the attitude of not in my backyard. in today's world, if someone in china sneezes, we all catch the flu in san francisco. we have seen the impact of such a ripple effect in the recent economic crisis. in today's global economy, peace in the least, the aids epidemic in africa, the world hunger crisis, and making sure that

every child has access to a decent education is all -- our responsibility. we have to use diplomacy to prevent war. we have to have compassion for mankind, no matter which continent they are from or which color they are, creed or religion. we all have to do our part to bring peace, harmony, and equality to the world. thank you so much for this amazing award. [applause]

[unintelligible] >> congratulations. before i give the next award, we have about 10 more minutes if everyone could please stay, that would be great, thank you. our next award is the community advocate of the year award. this goes to sandy. [applause] she is a founding member of [unintelligible] founded in 1971 and served as development director until retiring in december 2009.

she's also a founding member of the national pacific research center on aging, based in seattle. she was appointed by the late mayor for the kent -- the commission on the status of women, where she served from 76 until 8. she was the first asian-american woman to chair a city commission in 1979, where she served on the national committee. please join me in congratulating her. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. first of all, i would like to thank shelley and the global arts and education organization. when you do advocacy work, you do not do it alone. i learned most of my values from my parents, especially my mother, who just turned 99. [applause]

she still lives in her own home. i want to thank my friends and colleagues who are here today, because they are the ones that i have worked with all these years, supporting senior issues, dealing with japan town cultural preservation issues, we have all worked together and that is what it takes to get things done. this award is very special to me. not only did i know norma, because she succumbed to the health commission to testify and advocate for her beliefs and goals, also another reason why this is special is because the first person that got this award was one of our health commissioners. [applause] i knew norma as a very inspirational woman who was very

committed. you heard so many wonderful things about her, and they are all true. the fact sheet rate -- created this organization and that the interim director took it to another level to where it is today, i just want to say that as we celebrate international women's day today, let's not forget all the women who have gone before us who have done amazing work and brought us to this place where we are today and have made a lot of progress. thank you very much. [laughter] [applause]

>> let's thank our first lady of san francisco for her help in honoring these wonderful people. thank you so much. i am willing to bring -- there is something very special, a little surprise getting ready to happen. i want to bring kayla up for a very quick moment. >> i wanted to sing a song.

♪ >> ♪ you are an angel an angel with wings -- with no wings but your feet never touched the ground you have got dreams you make me believe

you make me believe you make me believe in angels you taught me to envision so much more or else be imprisoned in a world too small utah to me to be mightier than the greatest -- you taught me to be mightier than the greatest and no matter how heavy a load

i always take the high road end because of you -- and because of you you make me believe you make me believe you make me believe you make me believe in angels and i am just one more fed their -- one small feather

in your dream ♪ [applause] for us, and it makes me emotional, because that song was absolutely perfect for the reason that jules is going to , and so is rose. ladies, get on up here. as i mentioned to you earlier, our fiscal sponsor his women's in a cultural network. it was started by an angel, and we are all the others in her wings. one of the most incredible women. she has worked for years with planned parenthood. she created women's and a cultural network and another program attached to it called california women's agenda.

you will have been all over the state of california, the thousands of women in a heartbeat. she has dedicated her life to it. she just came back from 10 days at the u.n. conference for women advocating for the city of san francisco among others to get the fifth world conference on women here. we cleared a hurdle and are closer to bringing the world conference on women here. we will be hearing more about that. [applause] for me and for these women, because we have talked about it, we could not have made it without this incredible individual. i want to bring up for a special lifetime achievement award, someone that we love dearly, ms. marilyn fowler. [applause]

[applause] >> a couple of words. shelley is just full of surprises. she is right. i just got back. san francisco is known worldwide as working locally and globally. we are on the move forward.

family, where are you? -- emily, where are you? [applause] we have been partnering with the commission on women here from day one, and it has become a model globally. we convened some panels there. i moderated their panel, emily and the commission's panel. emily moderated the panel we did on merle and indigenous women, which was the theme of the un conference. everyone knows that you cannot do anything with those kinds of partnerships, without governmental and non- governmental women working together. we also did that with secretary clinton in september.

she had her aipac conference. one of the meetings i had when i was on the east coast was in the secretary's office with water for foreign policy advisers who said they really need our help and following up the aipac conference with a non- governmental women's. we are pretty sure we will have a world conference on women. and xtech is to hold it here in san francisco. -- the next step is to hold it here in san francisco. [applause] we have these buttons. you need to be wearing these. thank you for coming, thank you to shelley for putting this together for us. thank you for helping to take women globally and giving them a voice. that is our mission. [applause] >> we have to keep that spirit

-- and we had to keep that secret for a long time. like a lot of you, she would rather be on vacation, but she is up doing work, even when she is not feeling well. thank you all for coming. i posted on facebook i would probably sound like they'd been a downer with all the statistics, could you send me some of your favorites of lifting statistics? this one is from eleanor roosevelt. no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. this is on my car, which i have had for two decades. well-behaved women seldom make history. no offense to the men in this room. this is from an anonymous. women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. certain men.

i thought was funny. speak your true, use your voice, and spread the news. [applause] and if the award is the comeback of to the stage, we would love to get your photos. >> feel like it really is a community. they are not the same thing, but it really does feel like there's that kind of a five. everybody is there to enjoy a

literary reading. >> the best lit in san francisco. friendly, free, and you might get fed. ♪ [applause] >> this san francisco ryther created the radar reading series in 2003. she was inspired when she first moved to this city in the early 1990's and discover the wild west atmosphere of open mi it's ic in the mission. >> although there were these open mics every night of the week, they were super macho. people writing poems about being jerks. beatty their chest onstage. >> she was energized by the scene and proved up with other girls who wanted their voices to be heard.

touring the country and sharing gen-x 7 as a. her mainstream reputation grew with her novel. theses san francisco public library took notice and asked her if she would begin carrying a monthly reading series based on her community. >> a lot of the raiders that i work with our like underground writers. they're just coming at publishing and at being a writer from this underground way. coming in to the library is awesome. very good for the library to show this writing community that they are welcome. at first, people were like, you want me to read at the library, really? things like that. >> as a documentary, there are

interviews -- [inaudible] >> radar readings are focused on clear culture. strayed all others might write about gay authors. gay authors might write about universal experiences. the host creates a welcoming environment for everybody. there is no cultural barrier to entry. >> the demographic of people who come will match the demographic of the reader. it is very simple. if we want more people of color, you book more people of color. you want more women, your book more women. kind of like that. it gets mixed up a little bit. in general, we kind of have a core group of people who come every month. their ages and very.

we definitely have some folks who are straight. >> the loyal audience has allowed michelle to take more chances with the monthly lineup. established authors bring in an older audience. younker authors bring in their friends from the community who might be bringing in an older author. >> raider has provided a stage for more than 400 writers. it ranges from fiction to academics stories to academic stories this service the underground of queer fell, history, or culture. >> and there are so many different literary circles in san francisco. i have been programming this reading series for nine years. and i still have a huge list on my computer of people i need to carry into this. >> the supportive audience has

allowed michele to try new experiment this year, the radar book club. a deep explorationer of a single work. after the talk, she bounces on stage to jump-start the q&a. less charlie rose and more carson daly. >> san francisco is consistently ranked as one of the most literate cities in the united states. multiple reading events are happening every night of the year, competing against a big names like city arts and lectures. radar was voted the winner of these san francisco contest. after two decades of working for free, michelle is able to make radar her full-time job. >> i am a right to myself, but i feel like my work in this world

is eagerly to bring writers together and to produce literary events. if i was only doing my own work, i would not be happy. it is, like throwing a party or a dinner party. i can match that person with that person. it is really fun for me. it is nerve wracking during the actual readings. i hope everyone is good. i hope the audience likes them. i hope everybody shows up. but everything works out. at the end of the reading, everyone is happy. ♪ >> what if you could make a memorial that is more about information and you are never fixed and it can go wherever it wants to go? everyone who has donated to it could use it, host it, share it.

>> for quite a great deal of team she was hired in 2005, she struggled with finding the correct and appropriate visual expression. >> it was a bench at one point. it was a darkened room at another point. but the theme always was a theme of how do we call people's attention to the issue of speci species extinction. >> many exhibits do make long detailed explanations about species decline and biology of birds and that is very useful for lots of purposes. but i think it is also important to try to pull at the strings inside people. >> missing is not just about specific extinct or endangered species. it is about absence and a more fundamental level of not knowing what we are losing and we need

to link species loss to habitat loss and really focuses much on the habitat. >> of course the overall mission of the academy has to do with two really fundamental and important questions. one of which is the nature of life. how did we get here? the second is the challenge of sustainability. if we are here how are we going to find a way to stay? these questions resonated very strongly with maya. >> on average a species disappears every 20 minutes. this is the only media work that i have done. i might never do another one because i'm not a media artist per se but i have used the medium because it seemed to be the one that could allow me to convey the sounds and images here. memorials to me are different from artworks. they are artistic, but memorials

have a function. >> it is a beautiful scupltural objective made with bronze and lined with red wood from water tanks in clear lake. that is the scupltural form that gives expression to maya's project. if you think about a cone or a bull horn, they are used to get the attention of the crowd, often to communicate an important message. this project has a very important message and it is about our earth and what we are losing and what we are missing and what we don't even know is gone. >> so, what is missing is starting with an idea of loss, but in a funny way the shape of this cone is, whether you want to call it like the r.c.a. victor dog, it is listen to the earth and what if we could create a portal that could look

at the past, the present and the future? >> you can change what is then missing by changing the software, by changing what is projected and missing. so, missing isn't a static installation. it is an installation that is going to grow and change over time. and she has worked to bring all of this information together from laboratory after laboratory including, fortunately, our great fwroup of researche e-- g researchers at the california academy. >> this couldn't have been more site specific to this place and we think just visually in terms of its scupltural form it really holds its own against the architectural largest and grandeur of the building. it is an unusual compelling object. we think it will draw people out on the terrace, they will see the big cone and say what is that. then as they approach the cone tell hear thesery