>> thank you all for coming today. hello, everyone, and good morning. my name is christina co-loan. i'm with the director of the office. welcome to the graduating seniors who live in public housing.

(applause) >> it's incredible to see so many people here today to honor the hard work of these graduates. this important milestone and accomplishment marks the next chapter in these young people's lives. today's ceremony includes representation from the elected and city family, special guests from the professional athletic community, private and public sector representation, and most importantly, the friends and family of the graduates who have supported these young people during their journey to this point. we thank everyone here today for showing how important these graduates are, that your participation and attendance. ~ by graduates pay close attention to the stage advice you will hear from today's speakers. all of us older adults were in your shoes at one point, and now it is our turn to help guide you into the next phase of your lives. with that said, let's begin today's program with our first speaker who is the interim

director of the san francisco housing authority, ms. barbara smith. (applause) >> thank you. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. i am thrilled and humbled to be here today with you to celebrate the challenges you've met and the accomplishments you've made as san francisco's 2013 high school graduating class. (applause) >> you make all of us extremely proud and thankful, yourselves, your loved ones, your community, people who have helped you get to this important milestone and share with you all of the joys of your successes. you've shown that you can do anything you put your minds, hearts, and souls to, anything. so, please, take a moment to congratulate yourselves and remember to dream big and

pursue those dreams. the san francisco housing authority wishes you the brightest and best future as shining examples for our community and an inspiration for those young people who are going to follow you. to speak to our community's pride, it is my great privilege to introduce our mayor, honorable mayor edwin lee for his special words of congratulations. (applause) >> thank you. >> thank you, barbara. welcome, everybody, to city hall, people's house, yes. (applause) >> well, this is exciting. i'm sure it's exciting for the students as well because graduation has finally come. (applause) >> and i wanted you to know that we're proud of you. i know there's about 20 of you here today, but you're part of 126 graduates graduating this year and you truly, truly

represent the incredible promise of our city of san francisco. thank you for being here and doing all that you did to graduate. (applause) >> and if you look around the room, you've got a lot of people in our network that wants to and will continue supporting you. right up in front here, our superintendent richard karanza is here, our board president, david chiu. of course, barbara is here. london breed, our supervisor, one of our newest supervisors here. scott wiener, supervisor scott wiener. supervisor malia cohen, thank you for being here. our police chief is here. thank you. and former mayor but still mayor, willie brown, thank you for being here. [cheering and applauding] >> our city administrator, naomi kelly, thank you for being here, naomi. (applause)

>> phil ginsberg, thank you. and one of our great sponsors from comcast, thank you, hong. our mayor's office of neighborhood services and the public housing tenants association, thank you for being here as well. (applause) >> thank you very much. you know, we have -- this is just a part of the city family and there are many other elected officials and department heads throughout the audience and commissioners who support what you're doing for yourselves and for your family. and let me say i am personally proud of what you're doing, proud enough that i'm going to go to work for you every single day because your success means our success in the city of san francisco. and one of the ways -- (applause) >> absolutely. and one of the ways we're going to help each other is by making

sure that this summer ain't gonna be a summer of just hanging around for everybody. it's a summer where we go to work for you, and in return, we create 6,000 jobs for you to go to work and earn your way this summer. how about that? (applause) >> how many of you want a job this summer? all right. [laughter] (applause) >> carl and i are going to joke around in a few minutes. but i want to thank an agency that's here in the audience as well that's united way of the bay area. united way is teaming up with the city of san francisco and some hundreds of companies in the city along with all the 60 departments of the city, including our police, our fire, our public works, our public utilities commission, our school district, everyone working together to make sure there's at least 6,000 jobs targeted for disadvantaged, economically disadvantaged youth in the city, so you can

have a job, you can earn your way to buy the things you need to buy, get ready and continue your education because for the jobs of the future, it is about getting a solid economic foundation and educational foundation for that. these are the best jobs, whether they're in health care, whether they're in administration, whether they're in technology jobs or financial jobs, some of the best salary earning jobs is being on the warriors payroll -- no, i mean -- [laughter] >> is being on jobs that have a technology foundation, jobs that are creative, are innovative, a job supporting major industries in the city, like tourism. you know, hotels cannot do a great job unless they're online, unless they're getting a lot of their clientele online. health care cannot do a better job unless technology helps

them get to their patients. so, health care, tourism, all the kind of industries we're looking at need an under lay of technology. that's why europe is here today as one of our community based organizations along with tech s.f. they're helping to recruit -- yes. (applause) >> thank you, yera, thank you tech s.f. for having great partnerships and working with the city so that if you want that technology base, you can go through that program and get a technology base. you'll be even that much more prepared for the new jobs. but this summer we're going to get 6,000 jobs out there. going to be all earning pay. i want to thank president obama to leader pelosi, to all of the different -- (applause) >> yes, all of the different leaders who helped establish this goal for this city. last year we had a goal of 5,000. guess what? we created 5,200 paying jobs.

we're serious about this. it apt just a number. we really can get to 6,000 jobs and hit every youth and public housing, if they want a job, earn their way forward, we can do that. ~ ain't so, as we embark on this, i want to make sure you know that our city family is behind you. you are the best investment we could be making in our city. that's our youth. and, so, not only is it graduation time, it's time to announce who our investees are, the people we're investing in you for your success. we're counting on you to be successful because if you are, you can take my job pretty soon. you can take a supervisor's job. you can take the police chief's job. you can take any job you want because you've got the talent, the focus, and the background to do it. that's what's open up here in san francisco for you. and be proud of it. i also want to say i'm proud of your family, your friends, your

parents who are here, the people that have been with you all these years to support your focus on your education because it does take a village. it does take everybody saying, you've got to get through this, and you've got to do it right, and you've got to learn your way forward and you've got to put that academic record together. because looking forward, there's a lot of things open to you when you keep your mind focused. and, so, i want to say thank you. congratulations. we'll have other speakers coming up. but you hear directly from the mayor, we are proud -- i am proud of all of you. and i'll be personally helpful to you in your career. if you need a letter of recommendation, if you need a letter for a job that you're looking for, if you want to go to the next step in education, i'd be proud to be an author of a letter of recommendation for you. thank you very much. (applause) >> thank you, mayor lee. and now we will hear

congratulatetry remark from the member of the board of supervisors starting with the president of the board, district 3 supervisor, david chiu. (applause) >> good morning. anyone excited today for the class of 2013? let's hear it for these folks. [cheering and applauding] >> our mayor has thanked a lot of our dignitaries who are here. i did note he did miss one person who happens to play for one of our local nba teams, and i just want to welcome carl landry here. [cheering and applauding] >> but i also want to say that the most important folks here, while the warriors did very well and we know next year they're going to do even better. while our giants this year won the world series, today we are celebrating our young giants, our young warriors, the class of 2013edthv this is to you. (applause) ~

>> and all of us who are your elected officials, and i'm glad to be joined by many of my colleagues today, we all know the challenges that you faced. we know the challenges that our housing authority has face and had has overcome. we know the challenges that our school district has faced and is overcoming. we know the challenges that our law enforcement and our police officers have faced and we are all moving forward. i want to echo the mayor in saying that part of why all of us are here for you is we know that at some point in the very near future, those of us who are sitting in front of you, we're going to be gone. you are the future leadership of our city. you are our future tech workers. you are our future doctors. you are our future lawyers. you are our future elected officials. and like the mayor, i'd like to invite you, if any of you are interested in having an internship in the office of district 3 supervisor david chiu, i want you to let me know. but more importantly, i think it's important for you to know

just how much we are counting on you to bring san francisco into the 21st century, to be our giants and our warriors. congratulations. (applause) >> and now we will hear from supervisor malia cohen, district 10 supervisor. (applause) >> good morning, everyone. today is an exciting day! my goodness, all the mothers and father's and uncles and aunts and godmothers, and aunties and sisters and cousins, everyone that brought us to this pointed to, thank you. and i want to highlight something. i think we've got 126 graduates, right? but 67 of them are from district 10. [cheering and applauding] >> that's because we are leaders of the pack, are we not? leaders, that's exactly what

we're talking about here. so, i've just come to say congratulations. i'm so excited. like the mayor said in his remarks, that the future is really right in front of you. i understand that we all go through some challenges in life. but, you know, we are not defined by our challenges. as a matter of fact, what defines us is how we handle those challenges and we use them to continue to build and to continue to move forward. so, you guys are set up for an incredible life and i'm happy that you're here and i want to wish you all the best. and i, too, am here to continue to support and nurture and inspire and up lift you every single day of the year. thank you very much for your hard work. (applause) >> and now district 8 supervisor, scott wiener. (applause) >> good morning, and congratulations to all of you. you know, we've been reading a lot in the paper recently about

some challenges at the housing authority, and thank you to mayor lee and to others for really focusing on moving the organization forward. but i think it's always important to keep in mind that, you know, as many challenges as the authority has, we still have a thriving community and we have lots of young people like you who are moving forward and are going to do great things in the community and in your lives. and, so, i think it's always important to keep focusing on the positive, about the amazing community that we have and we're going to turn this around and everything is going to go in a positive direction. you know, i also just want to congratulate the partner here to the housing authority, that is our school district. our public school system is so on the way up and, you know, it started with elementary schools, moving up to our middle schools, and the back bet -- i am now after the school sign-up letters went out, i'm happy to share this,

getting people who are so mad that their kids didn't get into mission or balboa high school. [cheering and applauding] >> and we weren't necessarily getting those five or ten years ago and that is a real testament to our school district and the partnership with the city. and i know that we're all going to move everything in a very positive direction. so, congratulations and here's to a great life moving forward. thank you. (applause) >> and now we will hear from our district 5 supervisor, london breed. [cheering and applauding] >> hi, everybody. i am just so honored to be here. i grew up in public housing. i grew up in plaza east. i see some of my folks here. [applauding] >> on eddie and laguna, spent more than half my life there. and sadly back then when i was graduating from high school, a lot of the people that i grew up with were not graduating with me. i looked over this list of

young kids. i see kids i know from -- well, you guys are not kids any more, right? you're adults. and it's really -- it's like none of you are my children, but i know what you went through growing up in public housing. i know the challenges that we faced in this city and how i know as a kid, i felt neglected. i felt lost. i felt that there was no opportunity for me, but had it not been for some incredible adults, mentors, some mayor youth employment and training program, i don't know what i would have done. my brother didn't graduate from college. he's in jail. my sister -- excuse me, my brother didn't go to high school. i lost my sister to a drug overdose. i had some serious challenges growing up. i went through college, made it. i know each and every one of you can make it. you can make it. if i can do it through everything that i've been through -- and i know there have been some challenges, i know that there have been some

losses, i know you want to turn back, you didn't want to deal with the teacher or deal with your mom or deal with the community -- i know what it feels like to want to walk away and just give up. but you can't because something is waiting for each and every one of you and that's an opportunity. an opportunity to be successful, an opportunity to grow up, become a member of the board of supervisors and do everything you can to try and change the environment. that's exactly what i'm doing right now as a member of the board of supervisors. i want to make sure that each and every one of you have an opportunity for a great job. yvonne has been coming to me for many years, i want to work, i want to work, i want to work. the mayor and all these officials have made a commitment to kids in this city that they're going to be working and they're going to be thriving and we have to make sure -- it's our responsibility in working with you to make sure that you have an opportunity. so, don't play around with us. we're not here to play games. we're here to make success stories out of each and every one of you. (applause)

>> so, today is a beginning of those success stories. congratulations and i'm looking forward to working with each and every one of you. thank you all so much, family and friends, for being here. (applause) >> and now mayor lee. >> so, who inexpires you? who makes you think about what's going happen tomorrow for you, yourself, what you want to do, what you're thinking about? ~ inspires in this room there's a lot of people with a lot of inspiration. whether it's london and how she went through in her life, or malia or scott, whether it's our school district superintendent who has been doing great work. this year there were a lot of

people on teams that inspired me, and that's the role of professional sports, i think, is that they play this wonderful game, games -- whether it's football or baseball or basketball -- and they get past the regular season to be outstanding for ourselves. and we watch them. we watch the confetti come down during the roofs. we watch through inspiration when they score baskets. we even see some unique poses this year after some scores. some poses that i don't think i can do and get the same kind of reaction this gentleman is doing. he's been an inspiration. graduated from purdue, played basketball there, basketball association six years. and came to the warrior, and my

first year, boom, everybody is a warrior because this gentleman not only on the court, not only communicating with the fan, but becoming an inspiration for all of us. and for me, i finally found somebody taller than supervisor scott wiener. [laughter] >> carl landry, inspiration, power forward, sixth man on the team comes in. not only does he make room underneath, but when he scores, you know it. and then everybody's got to pay attention, and that's why the whole national basketball association paid attention to the warriors, because individuals came on the team. they showed what they can do and they contributed every night, every game whenever they were called on, whatever role it was, and usually for mr. landry, it was get in there and make some room, clear it out. and then everybody takes notice.

and this is the inspiration that he had coming off the bench. he is recognized as one of the great team members to come here. and i want to ask for his inspiration going forward. let me introduce to you golden state warriors forward power tom landry! [cheering and applauding] >> thank you, mayor lee. on behalf of myself and the golden state warriors organization, i want to say congratulations to you guys. i mean, you have already beat the odds. it's not easy, but again, i want to say congratulations. i sat in a similar situation as you guys in high school where a lot of people around me, you

know, it just didn't look good, you know. but i continued to fight and i continued to do the things that it took to be successful and i made it through. so, i'm standing here as a living witness to say that it is possible for you guys to be successful and do whatever you want in life, you know. you need to continue to set goals. if i had an encouraging word to tell you continue to set goals, i know you have goals. keep working hard and don't let go of the rope because the sky is definitely the limit and you can be whatever you want. you can be an nba player, you can be a doctor, a nurse, you can take the mayor's job. [laughter] >> you can do whatever you want. don't let your past determine your future. if i had something to tell you, plea don't because no matter how it looks around you, that's not who you are. you're special and you can be whatever you want. and just continue to work hard because you can do whatever you want. and again, on behalf of myself

and the warriors organization, i just want to say congratulations. [cheering and applauding] >> thank you, mr. landry. and now we will hear from the director of government affairs from comcast, mr. hong chang who graciously under wrote the projection of today's event. (applause) >> thank you, christina. thank you for allowing comcast to be part of this celebration and to the class of 2013. you know, you have every reason to be proud of what you have been able to accomplish today. you know, there's a great future for you. and the message from me is pretty simple. just be mindful that you're not on this journey or in this fight all alone. you always have your families, have your, you know, friends,

have the mayor, have the elected officials here, have everybody in the community behind you to achieve your dream. just, you know, congratulations. always remember, you know, it's not always going to be just moments of celebrations. there will be moments of you feeling very tired. you will feel you have setbacks, you have heart breaks. but, you know, you have a village here. the village by the beautiful name of san francisco working to be here for you. thanks again. (applause) >> and now our last speaker who is the superintendent of san francisco unified school district, mr. richard karanza. (applause) >> so, good afternoon, good morning, congratulations to the class of 2013.

how about another round of applause for them, huh? this is great. (applause) >> anything that i could add would just be redundant. i mean, when you hear the mayor speak, when you hear supervisor breed speak about her experience, i just want you to understand that where you start is only where you start, right. it's how you finish and how you finish strong. we are so proud of the fact that you're all leaving here today, you already have a diploma that says san francisco unified school district, right? that's your gate -- that's your ticket, that's your key to the future. and only you know what that future is going to be. i want you to come back and take my job, seriously. you need to do that to give back to our community. now, a couple of you asked, so, what happened, why are you on crutches? i could tell you, except i promised carl that i wouldn't talk about our audition game when i had to go one on one with him. [laughter] >> aside from that, mayor lee said he's somebody taller than supervisor wiener. well, he's met somebody shorter than supervisor wiener, too.

so, all i want to say to you, is somebody gave me great advice once when they said, when you give remarks, keep it real and keep it real short. so, i'm going to keep it real short and we're looking forward to giving you your certificates. and again, congratulations. we're looking forward to you taking the world by storm. congrats. (applause) >> and we now have two announcements. i'm going to have ms. linda martin from the housing authority and mr. justin davis come up to the stage. (applause) >> good morning. the san francisco housing authority would like to present five graduates with a scholarship to assist with the expenses of higher education. these graduates have been accepted into two or four-year colleges. a big thank you first of all from the housing authority does

go to our graduates because you are now examples, both in your families and your communities and in san francisco. so, without further ado, the first scholarship goes to mariana sanders who has been accepted to sweet buyer college in virginia. (applause) >> the second scholarship goes to juan, attending a two-year college. (applause) >> the third scholarship goes to gregory sail bury who has also been accepted and attending a two-year college. (applause) ~ >> the fourth scholarship goes to deja moore who has been accepted and attending san francisco state university. (applause) >> okay, juan has to be here. juan jones who has been

accepted and attending city college. [cheering and applauding] >> the other checks will be mailed. thank you. [cheering and applauding] >> congratulations. and now we will hear from mr. justin davis who is the program manager of the college bound brotherhood [speaker not understood] for social impact. (applause)