>> good morning, everyone. thank you so much for your patience. i appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation about summer jobs, a national initiative. some of the work is happening on the ground. we have wonderful city partners as well as community partners in the room. we are trying to have a real conversation. there will not be any moments of speeches. we will have an opportunity for some engagement. with that, if you will allow me, i am going to tell them who is in the room. it would take too long for you to tell them. let me do that very quickly, and then we will turn to the mayor and the secretary.

we have bridget, our new superintendent of schools. also in the room is roberta -- roberto. we have stephen caroll, with jawbone. chris from go pay go. we have someone from linkedin, someone from facebook. we have glenn harvey from west egg. alexis hunter, are in turn, is right there. rahm and richards is at the end of the table, with internships.com. another wonderful in turn is there from jawbone. a b is there from match bridge.

david chiu from starbucks is here. kim winston, also from starbucks, is back there. david gobot from backtowork.us is there. betsy from youthworks is here. she is with - not giovanni. yes, with giovanni. andrew is here as well. that was pretty good. i did not see john. john did not make it. deputy alvarez from goodwill industries is here. knesha is to her left. as is monisha and chris, two more interns. this is someone from the department of youth and families. rhonda simmons, our director of

work-force development, is also here with us. i did see a trend more -- see trent moore, phil ginsperbg, the direct picture of reparations and parks -- the director of rec and park. i do not see tony whitaker. jason eliot is in the back, from the mayor's office. the education and family services member is here. naomi kelly, our city administrator, is also with us. who did i miss? i know i missed somebody. >> donald leavitt. >> thank you so much. we also have someone from the department of youth and families.

we have the director of neighborhood services in the back. [laughter] [applause] what we would like to do -- the mayor is going to make opening comments. we are literally going to have a conversation about what is happening nationally and locally. we want to hear from our interns. we're going to prioritize that, if you do not mind. >> i want to first of all think eric mcdonald. he is a mover, a shaker, but obviously the great partner locally, on behalf of the united way. a pro-youth enthusiast for san francisco. thank you for your wonderful work. eric and i started this with a number of others.

secretary, i want to welcome you here, and thank you for your visit here. this is a great occasion, not only to welcome you back, because i know you have been here many times, but also to thank you and the obama administration for the wonderful support. when we are at the conference of mayors in january, on my first as elected mayor, when back as mayors. we have our annual meeting. we got a treat, to go into the white house and talk to the president. he told us, if you mayors are part of the answer. i want to challenge you, as the urban centers throughout this country, to create jobs for our youth. as he went through data and statistics about how it was harder for youth to get jobs, how the data recognize how

difficult it is, in these economic times, he wanted us to be bold. i took that boldness. we came back here with the spirit of what he asked us to do. i took him literally. i do not know if every other mayor is doing it, but i got to announce what we were doing in june, and we got a standing ovation in san francisco. we announced we would come out and create 5000 jobs. that was bold back in january, but it was also with a great amount of enthusiasm and initial collaborative support from every sector. i will begin by saying that when we announced this, we had carefully talked to every major department in the city. it was announced to rec and park, to human services, to family, youth, and children, to

work force development. all of us said, the city departments can lead the way. in fact, we wanted to lead the way. there was such enthusiasm. we had been through, maybe, some department successes. i worked with youth back as the head of dpw. come on, kid. do you want to know how to pick up trash? what is that about. but as they did that activity, they knew we were just using that. it was not about trash. it was about learning the operations of the department, learning which supervisors to go to, getting into the workforce, where people depend upon you. that is the other thing. some of these are growing up isolated. we felt that with the individual successes we have in the city,

whether it was doing these jobs at rec and park, beautifying the parks, working with the superintendents to create gardens, to our youth programs and the nonprofit areas -- they have been struggling. but the also thrived. we said we could form the difference. eric and i went about with hydra and others to focus on that commitment. at the beginning of this announcement, the department's all came together, all the major ones, airport included, the port. but all said, we will take on more than half of this. eric and i talked a little bit. that was a good foundation. why don't we take it another level? why don't we talk to our nonprofit partners, who have been extremely at the forefront of this?

if anything, they have been creating training programs for years and years. but they also get a little frustrated. sometimes, we train, and it does not lead anywhere. the youth get to a point where they are ready for a job. then, the economy hits. we hear all over the country. we said, the other not that is missing is our private sector, our companies. some of the early ones here -- starbucks. others stepped up. they said, we can start a trend. if united we can help us coordinate, we can get the private sector. we filled in the private sector, the nonprofit sector, and the city departments. today, i want to announce that, of the goal we announced a 5000 jobs, we have reached 5002.

[applause] there are different stages, so we have commitments that extend all the way to the fall, with private businesses. we have engineering programs. we have companies that have attached themselves to the water system, offering these jobs. all of them, by the way, pay. we are not fooling around with free internships anymore. we learned that to the school district as well. it is hard on the kids today. this whole age group, 14 to 24. the other thing the president and secretary made a point of is to focus on the disengage community, the ones who have really had a hard time with turning the corner on the training aspect.

we worked for years on this training. people want to be paid and earn respect. when you are near success, that is what sustains it. that is what sustains you. that is the spirit i came back with. this is the association i have had with the departments, with the community, with businesses, with nonprofits, all working together on this wonderful goal. we have not only reached it. we have exceeded it. and we have suggested this is not just a summer thing. we are going to turn this into a year-long, and year round. kids go to school. they need that income. it is hard. without the city embracing this and encouraging the private sector -- we are so fortunate that we are at a time when business is picking up. we are doing other things successfully to build confidence in our city.

our unemployment rate in the last year and a half went down from 9.8%, a year ago, when i first started, to 7.8%. we are still going further down. i want to thank you for your personal involvement and leadership in the administration. you saw some of this happening, and you wanted to make a federal investment. $5 million for us to make sure there is no digital divide in our communities. when we create all these tech companies, and technology overlays with manufacturing, with fashion, with all the things happening, we have to spend extra time and resources to bridge that gap, to make sure city college and the school district can emphasize science and math, and that we do the training not only for the kids, but also for returning veterans

and people that want to change mid career and get into the new economy. everything is tied-oriented, whether it is working at a restaurant or hotel. i was at a manufacturing plant last week. they have technology that was put on the cutting machines, just so there is a precise cut. there were doing it on an h-p had. -- pad. that is a cutting machine in a blue-collar setting. the have to be able to read that stuff and input it. that resulted in some of these neat ipad covers. the have to have precise cuts, because they are using sustainable material like bamboo. it has to be precise. they are doing 90,000 of this this year, to give you an example. it all goes to show that when

federal policies get right down to the neighborhoods, and that you have not only a mayor, but a school district and community partners that are taking this to heart, that we can do this. we can offer not only temporary jobs. we can build a lifetime -- a lifeline, changing lives for years to come. it really does work, this policy, and the kind of investment that is coming out of the administration. it has been extremely helpful. it is an update for you. but it is also an announcement that we got there, and we are committed to build a platform around it for years to come, and get these kids engage. we'll also talk about, as we learn how to improve the workforce investment act, to share the ideas with you. we are excited about helping undocumented youth also get into

the workforce. we know the decree the president signed onto would give us another opportunity to bring in more youth that is right now disengage. now, there is hope. we are going to be committed to bringing them in. i want to thank everyone in the room. you will hear from the youth involved. you will hear from some of the agencies. it is a great start. it is a great time to be in san francisco. i want to thank you again for igniting a spirit around this. it is great work. >> thank you. [applause] >> thank you for being here. >> it does not take much for me to come back out to california. this is home. i want to say how proud i am to be here with you in san francisco. while i was raised in los

angeles, we are only a stone's throw away. whatever happens in l.a. and san francisco, we are married. i have always used that, in terms of my professional career. mayor, i want to thank you for your leadership and enthusiasm. obviously, you have done tremendous work here. you have turned the unemployment rate, where it was so high. we know that some many families were suffering, and businesses were hurting, and people of all ages were looking for hope. we know here in san francisco that they have good leadership, people who are accountable, who want to make sure everybody receive some relief. it is coming together. you have just given, i think, my speech. this is about giving partnerships together. all of you here today -- especially, i want to hear from the young people. but more importantly, to think the business partners.

to be honest, i often get asked -- you are in charge of the department of labour. how many jobs have you created? i do not create jobs. i help incentivize partners. thank you for your enthusiasm. and also to all of you. the bottom line is about helping our engines of growth, whether it is a non-profit, an educational institution, the city government, or the private sector. that is where the wheels turn. that is where the jobs are going to be made. san francisco is in a unique position. it is taking off, because of the investments the president has made. he has looked at investments in high tech, in energy efficiency, remapping our schools. i am so happy you are here to hear about the wonderful things happening to captivate our young people, so that learning is real to them, and it is not just

sitting and listening to lectures, but also getting on the job training, critical thinking, being exposed to what the real world is, in terms of work. that is something i think all of us are learning. i run our department of labor and job-training programs. we know how important it is now, especially for our area and people, to understand it is not good enough anymore to have a ged. it has to be much more. we have to work in partnership with our industries. our industries want to have credentialed people. you are right on target about the new technology that is having an overlay effect on all of our jobs. even in blue-collar jobs like manufacturing, there is an overlap of technology that is immersed in this industry now, whether you are producing old widgets or new widgets. it all comes together. the basic premise is having a broad base of support -- math,

science, engineering, critical thinking skills, and the ability to learn on the job. i am so happy about this initiative we are here today to celebrate, and the 5002. that deserves a round of applause. [applause] mayor, especially because we know, in these tough economic times -- in the last two years, we did not get the same amount of startup money we got in the recovery act at the beginning of this administration. we were not going to just let that fall. in this time when we are still recuperating, we know there are good business partners, and i want to thank them and our nonprofits for stepping up to the plate. it makes a difference. i am sure we will hear from the young people what that has done for them. it is about giving young people

respect and dignity, teaching them the work ethic of showing up at work, understanding the discipline it takes. even though you may come from a household where nobody is working, or someone is not there to show you the ropes, or the decorum in an office or manufacturing facility, that you can come to work and get that given to you through these programs and efforts. it is priceless. you cannot put a price on that. the value that instills in young people is so important. i am sure everyone of you in this room could think about your first job, your first summer job. my first summer job was a recreational and ada. i was 15 years old, 16 years old. i remember thinking, this is going to be a fun job. it is summertime. i get to hang out. not at all. show up to work on time.

the responsible. give directions. listen to your supervisor. i got to distribute mills to low income families. i also learned how to supervise other people and youngsters, who have a lot of time on their hands, and take them out of our local city to go to activities outside the have never been exposed to. some of the kids where i grew up and never been to the beach, never done any kind of out of such activity. it is very limited. even the small nuances helped to change me and them. but the best part about it was that at the end of my first two weeks there, i got my check. i remember coming home and saying, mom, look at this. i knew i could save that money, put it away, and have helped for school that coming fall. i grew up in a large family,

with seven kids. mom and dad were working. but just the value of knowing somebody placed a concern on me, and said you are worthy enough to get a job here, but you have to work it out, you have to show up and fall into all the things that require you to be a good employee -- i learned that. just by being exposed to that experience at an early age, meeting new people encouraged me and pushed me to do more. thank goodness, because now i am secretary of labor. i have high school counselors who said i was not college material. just think, if i let that person hold me back. i had other people encouraging me, people that were not even family members. that was a life changer, for me to be exposed to these kind of efforts, which have a very important structured approach to how we can make things better in

our communities and our neighborhoods, and help young people, to give them hope and inspiration, and help to give back. that is something i think all of us are gaining from this experience. we have taken this whole program, the summer youth initiative, to a new level. we have over 100 corporations. we have mayors across the country that have come on board, even the mayor of los angeles. also in philadelphia, detroit. they are all coming in with their own sense of, "my goal is 5000 jobs." i bet we can still get more mares to jump on board. so we are not done. we still have more to do. the fact that we can set this up through the department of labor, our own internet, and put this up and create a job bank, where we can interchange and work with our partners to make sure that employers can list the jobs and

that young people can go on very easily and get more information. the point is that we need to have some structure for young people. young people right now and need this. our communities need it. we are able to do it, and we should be doing it. the president is strongly behind this effort. while we know we still need to do more, we need to talk about expanding programs year round for youth, for dislocated workers, and for our veterans. we have a lot of veterans coming home who are between the ages of 18 and 24. the qualify for these programs. some of them will come back with some challenging effects. they are going to need a lot of encouragement. i hope the business community steps up to the plate and allows them the opportunity to serve, and maybe take advantage of the tax credits available to hire veterans and disabled veterans,

incentivizing businesses to take advantage of the tax credits the president has put forward, to say it is good for us to make those investments here in the u.s., to bring jobs home, to do in-sourcing, and cut the loopholes that have incentivized corporations to go abroad. we know it is a competitive global environment. it is fine. but make sure we take care of our base. our base is around this table and around the country, looking for leadership. we need the mayor, civic leaders, and business leaders to make the investment. that is what it is about. i am here to listen, to hear what exciting things you have been involved with, and hopefully take that back and encourage our leaders across this country, and businesses to get engage. it is about all of us working

together, and about equalizing opportunities. i still believe, in my heart of hearts, that this is the best place to grow up and live in this great country of ours. it has so many opportunities. our young people need to understand that it is yours for the taking. if you do not move on it, somebody else will. now is our opportunity to build that support, to build a sense of family, that we are all working together, and that we can all lift each other up in that way. i am excited to be here, and want to tell you how deeply appreciative i am of your support. i am delighted to be able to go back and talk to the cabinet members and the president about the successes here in san francisco. thank you very much. [applause] >> i know that the mayor and our