is complex and difficult to study. we don't know enough and we can't identify and invenen e unless we now how to treat it. here innovation is critical. our questions are not going to be answered in a traditional way. it would have been solved already. we have to explore the under pinnings of violence with a fresh view, with no assumptions. we need to create technology that allows us to visualize and measure brain functions in an affordable, accurate, and an accessible manner. in our scientific careers we have seen over and over again, seemingly impossible puzzles solved by young, fresh, thinkers. they don't know the rules.

they don't live in a box of assumptions. and therefore, they are free to imagine. and that is why we are so thankful for jim and ron and the sandy hook promise. and owe them a great debt of gratitude because this is what they are asking for. they are asking for people to imagine. first, imagine what it is like to lose a loved one at the hands of a deranged gunman and let that motivate you to do something. imagine that we can identify people at risk of violent behave ors early in their life and intervene, imagine the communitis that support one another. embrace diversety and recognize the value of brain health and then let's go to work. let's create technology that

allows us to visualize, and measure brain functions in an affordable, accurate and accessible manner so we can change the landscape of brain health and stop someone from committing a tragedy like these, ever again. thank you. >> tom pitman. i am one of the co-founders of sandy hook promise, at this point in time we would i like to take some of your questions. it is far too easy. any questions?

>> yes. >> (inaudible) >> actually, from... please. please. the effort is just starting it is a hard to predict. but our hope would be that we see lots of innovative ideas and the 30 vcs luminary vcs and angels will syndicate funding around those ideas and i can't predict a number, i know that it will be a big number because you can't stop innovation. >> yes? >> do you envision the group working in conjunction with the federal lobbying and some of the legislation that we have seen introduced to play a part in that as well. >> of course, legislation is

very important as a part of this effort. and we have been very involved with what has been going on in our state and in washington. but legislation is really just one element and we can't rely completely on that and that is why we are here. i have been in the tech industry for 30 years. i have seen what the tech industry can do. i am very excited about this innovation initiative and what we will be able to do in addition to the legislation that is going forward. >> yes? >> the question was can the tech industrial, alter the software and tech industry. i think that is something that we need to understand as a society and be open to looking at is how do things that are more cultural, such as video games effect our society? and again, that might be something that wouldn't be legislated but it is something

that we have to do, that we the people have to do to look at as parents, for example. >> (inaudible) >> well i think what we need to understand, one thing that we want to do is shine a spot light on those cracks. and on those gaps. and on things that are slipping through. identify those. and then we can look to solutions. and the solutions might be changes in legislation and it might be scientific changes and it might be technology changes. so, our main goal at this point is to say, this is something that needs attention and needs focus. here it is. so where are the issues and what can we do to work on that together. and again, we are hoping that this innovation initiative, this is not just about gun

safety, this is about mental health, this is about other technologies that can help with school safety. so certainly we think that it is broad enough to look at all of those. >> i know that one of you said that this was a marathon and not a sprint, do you have a time frame maybe of telling us publicly about your first really good idea? are we talking about weeks or months or something that is going to go on for over several years? >> well, the things are going to happen very soon. things are going to happen very late. we are going to have efforts that evolve over time. from a marathon perspective, when you look at cultural change, you look at society change that is generational. this could be 20, 30 years, this could be similar to how we deal with drunk driving and how we move forward there. it was not something that happened quickly. in terms of innovation? i believe that we have already seen innovation, and one thing that we are hoping will happen here with more funding is that some of these innovations will

see the light of day and come to light and mature sooner and we hope that some are soon and some will take longer. >> do you want to add, please? >> companies already exist in this space and we are going to talk to some of those companies at the town hall at noon. so, it is early days, but this sector already has companies in it for gun safety, and mental health and school safety. what we want to do is innovate more. so, i would say in a year from now we will be able to point to start ups that started after today that are just starting to grow. i was an early invester in google, facebook and twitter, it takes two to three years before those companies reach scale. but a year from now, we will be

able to point to the googles, the facebook and twitters, who are working in gun safety. this is a huge sector for innovation. >> you were asked what sort of a budget this is. this will be better if you give us a low figure and you give us a range. i can tell you that this is going to play better with the financial figure. >> i am happy to give you an estimate. i am hoping a year from now, that the tech community has invested $15 million in brand new start ups who are seeking innovation for the reduction of gun violence, mental health and school safety. and companies already exist. and this would be seed funding probably in 15 to 20 companies. >> one of the problems in congress is obviously is a lack

of unity around what needs to be done particularly around the gun safety issue. within your own, with 50 or 150, how is it handling those differences in opinions about what needs to be done? could that derail this who process? or is there a complete unity? >> in this community? in the tech community? >> yes. >> are you asking about the tech community? >> sure. >> okay. yes. part of the beauty of innovation is that it is non-partisan. and part of the other beauty of innovation is the best solutions prevail. and so, when we strip away points of view, and focus in on what technologies will actually work. we shift the equation from rhetoric to pragmatics. which products can get get to be field tested? which smart gun technologies

will pass the government lab testing? and right now, if you wanted to buy a smart gun, you would have a very difficult time doing it. but what we can do in technology is advance the state, such that you have that option. and so, we are really careful to make sure that we focus in on innovation and use a tried and true, trusted process in the silicon valley and let the best ideas be the ones that are the ones that are commercially viable. >> give us some ideas, (inaudible). >> sure. the field of smart gun technology is an interesting field. it spans academic research, commercial research, a lot of the federal funding for smart gun technology in the u.s. stopped in the late 90s.

and so, part of the excitement that we have here today is the ability to reignite, the innovation and creativity around some of those promising technologies. some of those include pass codes, others include electronic firing pins and others include rfids and so that you need to be in the proximity of a wrist band, of a ring, in order for the gun to fire. so when we called upon the tech community earlier in january to send us all of their ideas, we heard that there were a lot more ideas that could be pursued. those include gps, and having software systems on the guns. and a bunch of ideas that may seem crazy today. but through the innovative process, we can see which ones are actually viable for safe schools, a lot of them have

centralized pa systems. we have pushed the talk systems today. such that there does not need to be a centralized point for emergency response. and these are just some of the ideas that we have already heard and today it is through our nationwide call that we hope to hear even more ideas. and then, see which ones are the most promising. >> thank you very much for your attention. i think that one thing that you are seeing is we believe that the american way is more than just legislation, the american way is also about using our innovative spirit and we are igniting that today and so thank you very much. [ applause ] ♪

all right. every year we come out to celebrate arbor day in the month of march and i'm happy to kickoff this year arbor day here at this special location. joined with us today we have several guest. i know dan is here, larry stringer is here and our colleagues and our partners in arbor day. today like many other days, trees will be dedicated in someone who has contributed to san francisco either through their work or given back to the

environment through culture, through arts and through many of the hard work and we will unveil who will receive this dedication today. as many of you know trees are very important for our communities. they provide us shade, they deter water from going into our storm systems, they provide a place for birds and butterflies and of course they help us clean our air. arbor day is a very important event. it is celebrated not just in america, but all over the world and i'm honored that we are kicking this event. i would like to thank the mayor for bringing arbor day back to san francisco. this is our 8th

arbor day. i will welcome mayor lee to the stage. >> thank you the dpw, the recreation department, to all of those who helped us in working today. arbor day, it is an annual celebration that we have struggled very hard to make sure this city appreciate because the trees are part of a great answer and solution to reducing carbon emissions and be sure we have greenery and beautification for our citizens. a lot of my friends celebrated chinese new years in china and this year for chinese new years, wilhelm wundt

wilhelm wundt of the one of the gifts they gave to the employees is an air mask. if you don't start contributing to its purification, you don't get the kind of air like you do in san francisco. this is why trees are so important to our nature and this is what i love about the city because when it comes to our environment, we do make some serious investments, whether it's green buildings, waste management or going into electric vehicles or getting everybody to change their habits, one of the habits that we want to continue having is planting trees. and so every year for the last 8 years, we have select a signatory to plant and we have taken the

liberties of honoring people that have contributed to the quality of life for all of us. in past years, people like rosa parks, caesar chavez, people that we know and are familiar with, along with people that we are not that familiar with but have made some great contributions. today we thought we would take this opportunity to celebrate an icon of san francisco. the brown twin sisters have been with us for many decades. mary is here today, she's here in celebration and memory of her sister as we all are and we want to take this opportunity to use the arbor day to have a cedar tree, a tree that will

grow taller than mary or i. it will grow to be a hundred feet tall. it will be a tree that will be celebrated here in san francisco for generations to come and we thought it would be not only appropriate, but we thought it would be our honor by planting this tree in recognition of vivian and her wonderful contributions to our city. and we are especially blessed with maryann honoring us with her presence. it's not that easy for her to get around these days but she has and continues to be part of an incredible twin sisters. but now she's also missing vivian as much as we are and we felt this would be a proper way to create a celebratory atmosphere on how we miss vivian, how much

she meant to us and take this opportunity for arbor day to plant this tree in her name. how is that, maryann for a great celebration? >> wonderful. i know my sister from heaven is watching. >> all right. she said vivian is up there applauding us and we have a great time of celebrate. ing. with that, supervisor lee, you should know, it's always been under dispute as to who is supposed to be responsible for this piece of land. was it the highway folks, the residents who built their homes here, was it dpw, we are trying to gift it to rec's and park for nothing because it's an incredible responsibility. look at how beautiful this place it.

we do keep it up. it does barrier the intense traffic that we deal with here. i travel quite a bit and everyone i know always glances here and takes a breath of fresh air a midst all of this traffic. this adds beauty and value to this area. i would like to give this proclamation to maryann and have her treasure this and the permanent memory of her sister and how we celebrate people who are part of our culture as the brown sisters have been and also have been on literally

every page of our wonderful visitors galleries, they have been in movies, commercials, they have become a part of what we see in san francisco and how we advertise ourselves around the world as a great place to live and work in. with that, with this proclamation, declares today to be vivian brown tree day in san francisco and also appropriately names this california cedar to be the tree for vivian brown in san francisco. >> beautiful. thank you all for coming. >> all right. like the mayor said, this is a california

tree. the tree bark was used for making medicine for people with stomach aches. it's also been used as a wind break and been used in many many parks. tree comes from the cypress family and the botanical name. i'm happy we are adding such a tree to san francisco and to honor the vivian brown sisters. now like we've done in many of our events, it's always an honor to introduce the supervisor of the district and like he said, we are very familiar with this piece of land. this land has had many trees that act as a buffer to the neighborhood and the neighborhood appreciates it but

we are still trying to figure out who is the legal owner of it, but in that process, dpw and the neighbors always join and the one thing we do know is we need to take care of the trees and we do that with that, i introduce the supervisor norman yee. >> thank you, i'm just one of many san franciscans celebrating this day, arbor okay for vivian brown. i'm so glad that we have an opportunity to have a celebration in this district 7 to be able to celebrate more intensely this great icon of san francisco and i just hope that i get to see the tree when it's a hundred feet tall. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you. also as part of our partnership as many of you

know we partner with many of the non-profits i see san francisco beautiful here. welcome, kristin who is a great partner with us and we also partner with other great cities. i would like to ask mr. -- to come up and talk to us if you would. >> thank you. it's an honor to be here to celebrate arbor day with you. this is an okay to celebrate our trees, in 4,000 open acres of our city we are able to enjoy and benefit from over 140,000 trees and a couple interesting facts on arbor day, there are trees and responsible for the creation and monterey

pine and different types of trees which you can find in the panhandle which was a laboratory to find what best trees can grow and they settled on those three specific trees. what i would like to say and i can thank another partner mohammed a friend of the forest who cares for the city so well. i also want to give a big shout out to the men and women who take care of our trees, the gardeners, laborers. mary, i would like to end, did you read the book about a tree that gives and gives to a person who started out as a young boy and all throughout life he came to

visit that tree and took a little bit from that tree until the tree had nothing left to give. i think you and your sister have given so much to this city and have contributed to its spirit that there is nothing that is more fitting in honoring the two of you than planting a new tree to give and give back to the community. so congratulations and i'm over joyed to be part of this honor. >> san francisco [inaudible] you take care of people and that is wonderful. we have always enjoyed living in san francisco. it's you people,

people that make this world. what would this world be with no people. so we love san francisco. never leave your heart in san francisco. always come and find it here. [ applause ] . >> okay. and also as part of my job being responsible for many trees and i can tell you that this has become one of the harder parts of my job and we have gone out and tried to get people more involved and between the right of way there are about a thousand trees and from the parks about other 120,000 trees. we are working very hard to make sure we preserve that asset. many of our trees have aged and we need to start a process of reforestation and it involves good planning. i will ask the

veteran of the department who has the policy group to advise us on what we should do as the city. melanie. >> thank you. good afternoon, everyone. it is an honor to be here on behalf of the department with all of to you celebrate arbor day. this is a department of the environment, one of our favorite days. what we support is the climate program. we look at what is our carbon inventory and where is our carbon emission come from. we know it comes from the environment and we are working

very diligently to mitigate the carbon sectors. we know that many trees is the answer to reduce the carbon emissions further. in addition it's critical to our adaptation strategy thinking about if we can't ward off, trees will continue to help us with storm waters and they boost property value where they have a robust urban forest. i wanted to mention when i first moved to san francisco, i lived on russian hill, i would sometimes take the cable car and i would often see you and your sister see bo