even when cuts were being made in city hall. on a personal level, what is so powerful for may, the notion that when a kid begins the school system that you make it clear to him or her that college is a possibility for them i think that is something that cannot be overestimated. it is something that is powerful. in california, only 10% of latinos have a college degree. 22% for african-americans, compared to 40% of the anglo population. that is a huge disparity, and unless we address it in this state, it will have long-term ramifications about the future of this had state, economically and otherwise. i have always said, i have benefited from the fact that i was an immigrant, that i grew up in latin america.

in latin america, it is not too far-fetched for latinos to go to college. every person who goes to college in latin america is a latino, so the notion that a member of that minority group, go to college was something that you grew up with. a lot of our kids do not have that here. we need to make it clear, in this land of opportunity, that opportunity is available to you. and what a better way of making that statement clear, and then by the government saying we are willing to make that investment, because we believe in you? i think that is powerful. if that is going to change the lives of not only these kids, but the lives of their families. so it is really amazing for me to be a part of this. i want to thank everyone who has made it possible. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor campos.

as you heard, we have a number of strong partners here, on the first day that we are announcing the program, to make this program a success. one of our longstanding partners, an organization that is helping low income families become more successful with their money -- earned. i want to introduce to you the president of earn. >> good afternoon. earn is a program that helps families save and invest, and things like college. for too many years, we have seen families save millions of dollars when they have the incentive to do so and use them for things, like college. today, we are happy to announce we are going to match the first $100 of a family's savings

account for their child's college fund. [applause] we have seen the power of a small incentive like this give real life to aspirations that might feel like a dream but might become a reality for families that participate. i want to say, earn has been successful because of groups that we work with, the new america foundation, for example. we are grateful to have some of the two greatest thinkers in the country hear about this subject. they and the san francisco foundation helped to create our organization. i want to thank you all for being here. appreciate your interest in the program. [applause] >> thank you. as ben mentioned, we have a number of strong organizations working with us.

an organization on the national level is cfed, working to build savings for college accounts. i want to reduce bob of cfed. >> thank you, mr. treasurer, all of you. it has been our honor and freedom, i guess, to be working nationally to create a realistic path for every american to go to college, start a business, buy a home. in that, we have gone to look at the emergence over the last 20 years of children's savings accounts, college savings accounts. i want to take that national perspective and just reflect here. i think it is not just san francisco being out there, but

san francisco being out there in front. i want to make three comments on that. there was a lot of research and demonstration that had gone into this. we had a large seed initiative thousands of people in rigorous evaluations. i have some reports from that. but san francisco carefully considered what had gone before and applied the lessons of that. we found out, given the opportunity, even poor families can save, because it is the price of stability and hope. secondly, there is not just one innovation here. there are a series of them. i think they have been called out, but it is worth underscoring. the city has figured out how to create a flexible, spare

foundation for lifetime savings and aspirations that can be built on. and they had the guts to invest in a tough time, knowing that this is about the future as well as the present. the school system totally integrated teaching, where it ought to be in the school system, and within existing courses. we know there are lots of financial education programs. there is very little effect of this to that without an account attached. and then the city, for those of you who have tried to open up a savings account for a kid, you know it is not easy. this cannot happen unless it is easy. the city has figured out a way to do that and it is rolling it out. finally, to my nonprofit partners, it cannot happen in the public sector alone, you

need nonprofit partners. san francisco is the first but it will not be the last. i imagine 10 of the other cities at san francisco has organized for financial empowerment will follow the lead. i hope the federal government will aspire legislation, or some other child account legislation comment as nomerica has been proposing. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, bob. i am proud to announce today the san francisco foundation has also come aboard to support this program. i know everyone is familiar with them here. they are an incredibly strong community support representative. with that, i want to introduce the ceo of the san francisco foundation, sandra fernandez. >> thank you. i think you have to have told city leadership, and you can see

our mayor, treasurer, superintendent, all understand what part they can play. we also recognize as a community foundation that there are many donors and corporations, philanthropic institutions, that really care about the future of california, and the future really was sitting here about half an hour ago. in addition to the research that has been done, the notion that you expect somebody coming in as a kindergartner to go to college -- if you set the expectation as well as the opportunity -- that is what this partnership is about. we believe in as the building as an important means for people to sit -- for people to pursue economic opportunity and be better citizens. we are happy to partner, bring in our donors and other foundations to help with the matching and financial literacy. we are happy to be a part of

this incredibly exciting program. thank you. [applause] >> one of the primary thought leaders on the national level and that we have been working with is the new america foundation. i am proud to introduce our local thought leader, here in san francisco, with the new america foundation. [applause] >> thank you so much. i am the last speaker. i do not think there is anyone else waiting in the wings. i think it has all been said. i am feeling really proud to be a san franciscan right now. our city, in this area, in many others, are not afraid to go first. we are up here because everything we have seen, from the latest research, from the good work of earn, what fed has

been testing -- cfed has been testing around the country, really improves the odds for success for kids. i know that this is a tough budget time. we need to make sure, especially in education, that every dollar we spend is working as hard as it can. from what we know, at this point, this is going to be a small investment there really pays off later. at new america, it is funny, we are a nonprofit institute. when all the kids were sitting there, i wanted to say, who wants to work at a think tank when they grow up? i am sure there and would have shot up in the air. at new america, we are lucky because we get to advance good

policy. specifically, we want to move forward big ideas that really break out of the traditional, left-right way of approaching things. we think this is one of those ideas. again, we are just excited. we are going to work with everyone here to make sure the account is an effective tool as it can be, for kids as well as parents. and we will help other cities who are interested in this approach, make it happen. i think this will also drive and informed some policy innovation. we are seeing it at the state level and at the national level. there is a bipartisan bill to create a savings account for all americans. with that, i will wrap it up. [applause] >> thank you. i know we have taken a lot of your time. i think we have a couple more minutes.

if there was just a question that we could answer? >> [inaudible] >> i think the question was how much money families could put into the account to make it successful, make sure that they are advancing inflation and things like that. the obvious answer is, the more, the better. our goal is to make sure that they are putting in at least what they can, perhaps $5, $10 a month would be a good start. we hope that they can bring in other family members, friends, employers -- we are or to work with them to make sure these accounts are successful. we just started our negotiations with citibank. we will make sure that they are low cost for the families and

the city. we know that this is the right thing to be doing. it is good business for the bank, the city, and account holders. >> there are no minimum balances or fees for the parents who have these accounts. those 25 students, those are 25 potentially future college graduates, hopefully bankers of san francisco. for all of us, it is an investment over time. they all seem like good clients for the future. >> just to put it in perspective, $20 a month, you will have $14,000 when they are 18th. -- 18. that is not bad. i know that is a lo of money for some people, but when you kept on hearing today -- which

is an important part of what is happening today -- the flat former notion. this is not what we are announcing. we are announcing a platform that can be built on. earn is going to match $100 in savings. who else is out there? citibank says no minimum, no cost. who else is out there? stanford is looking at this. who else is out there? this thing can be built upon. if you are a philanthropist in san francisco and you do not know how to give back to the city, maybe you can put up $100 to these accounts. i am serious, without speaking out of school, i took a bit of my salary and cut it. what greater return on

investment, direct investment, on the quality of someone's life? in 10 years, we are going to look back, a remarkable moment, but we do not know how remarkable. that is why i am so excited and proud to have these partners. and this just started today. >> [inaudible] the initial investment is not a lot of money. as we go through budget challenges, how do you justify spending this money? >> we invested more money this year in health care. we invested more in preschool. we are going to complete maria su's vision of after-school from years ago. we are making investments.

you do not just make cuts. i am sick and tired of the politics in this country. it is a zero sum game. either or, you tax and cut. there is a third way to do things, target investment. it is so inevitable, i cannot believe it. the money is important, but the minimus, we have already attracted more money than we have invested. that is my kind of investment. [applause] >> with that, i want to conclude things for today. a number of us will be sticking around for those of you who have questions. thank you.

>> hello, i'm meg, welcome to "culture wire." for this episode, the director of cultural affairs, luis, will take you on a journey through presidio has been tet. -- presidio habitat.

>> welcome to "culture wire." today i'm at the presidio trust, a treasure within san francisco, because the presidio trust is really a national park in the center of an urban setting. it dates to the very founding of the city. national park. toting me today to talk about this amazing exhibition at presidio habitat is cheryl hanes. can you tell me a little bit about the idea of the presidio habitat? >> succinctly, i have been long

involved in the presidio. i was here when it was still a military base in the 1980's. i remember driving down walmart to the golden gate bridge and seeing the military guard at the gate and being utterly fascinated. >> so presidio habitat is an exhibition where you have invited, how many artists to think about the habitat? >> we put together a list of possible participants, local, national, or international, of people who are concerned with environmental concerns, made some sort of contribution to the landscape and conversation we're having here. we said that broke -- proposal requests and we received 25 back. from that 25, we went through

and chose tend to realize in the landscape. >> including this building, which is an amazing example of recycling. >> we are proud of this space. it was designed by a local architecture team. we said, we need something that is a temporary structure, something that can be brought onto the presidio in pieces, act as an exhibition space for one year. we came up with the notion of shipping containers. it was important for us that we made this project for the place, of the place. what i mean by that is participants would also used repurchased materials. >> we will be speaking to one of the artists that you selected.

what excited you about his idea? >> have many things. first of all, i am a fan of his architecture. because of that creativity, i knew that he could come up with something unique. i love the fact that he was specifically addressing the landscape around here, and it was also about the human interaction with this place. >> what are your expectations with the people coming to presidio habitat? >> we really hope people will come with their family, dogs, and come back a number of times the works will change over the year. the feedback we are getting is you cannot do all of them on one visit. it is really better to come back and have different

experiences. >> thank you. i am with mark jensen of jensen architect. he was one of the architects to be chosen to do the presidio habitat. when you heard about this project, what inspired you about that call? >> our inspiration is a great blue heron. it was the site itself that attracted us. this is an incredibly beautiful outdoor room. we did a bit of reverse engineering once we knew we wanted to work here. which animals live here? the great blue heron jumped out at us. we walked around, and quickly, you get into another pace. you slow down, leave the city behind you. you can feel the wind and the

breeze. in our increasingly frenetic, fast-paced, connected life, the chance to be of here and slow down a bit was part of the agenda. as part of the installation, it was suggested that this would be deliberately not mowed because it would allow the sustaining of insects, plants, that would graduate -- that would gravitate to the area. >> that is right. i think you quickly notice that. >> thank you for being here. presidio habitat is an exhibition at the presidio trust. it will be in san francisco through may 2011. we hope you will come out to experience this amazing exhibition and great natural treasure. >> to learn more about the other

habitats installations in the presidio, visit presidio, visit

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♪ twinkle, twinkle... ♪ announcer: the odds of a child being in a broadway show are 1 in 11,000. the odds of a child being diagnosed with autism? 1 in 166. the odds say it's time to listen. to learn the signs of autism, visit autismspeaks.org.