>> congratulations. before we go to the next presentation, i want to let people know we have hit capacity in this chamber. so if you don't have a seat here you can proceed to room 263 where you can view the proceedings through our closed-circuit tv. is our next application will be presented by our supervisor from district two, mark ferrell. >> colleagues and members of the public it is my honor to present to you crystal brown. [applause] >> crystal began volunteering in our community over a decade ago back in 2000 when we started beginning the process renovating one of our

playgrounds in mosconi. chris cal was very involved in the renovations artestry and following the playground's completion, crystal joined friends of the san francisco public library, marina library campaign which raise ared over $500,000 for the new library renovation and her children, her three beautiful daughter who is i know are here today used the playground and the library today along with my children as well. i have to say it is one of the biggest assets in our community. so crystal, thank you for your help with that. crystal connected with a lot of neighborhood supporters and founded the marina community association. a volunteer organization dedicated to protecting and improving the quality of life. it's where i grew up in san francisco and the m.c.a. is one of the -- you know, the strongest community groups till this day. and the m.c.a. tackled a number

of high-profile projects including doyle drive and the marina. and continues to be a strong voice of the residents of the marina district. as her children grew, miss brown discovered her passion in public education. as a p.t.a. board member, she helped support programs and funding leading to sherman elementary school's success as the best school in the district. in early 2010, the district facing $113 million deficit, miss brown and five other p.t.a. mom organized a 500 person meeting which brought many elected officials to the table to discuss solutions facing our local crisis. as appear plied to sub public education worsened and it became evident that the solutions lay in sacramento, crystal and seven other mothers

found educate our state. a campaign demanding high-quality education for all children in california. the mission of educate our state is to unite californians in providing k through 12 public education and demanding real change. after one year e.o.s. has amassed 20,000 supporters and every representative in the district. she is a 17-year resident of san francisco and as i mentioned not only a wife but a mother of three beautiful young girls who i had a chance to meet in my office right before hand. she's made a huge difference with mosconi with sherman elementary school and now through educate our state i know is going to make a huge impact in our community not only locally but personally as well. thank you for coming down and

on behalf of the board of supervisors and city hall, it's an honor to have you here today and thank you for everything that you do in our community. [applause] >> thank you so much, mark. i'm extremely humbled as i told him on the phone. he must be confused in recognizing me. i really am humbled and accept this on behalf of the hundred volunteers, many of whom are in the room. i have to say that when i started doing some some volunteer work, i had a baby. i didn't like the park in our local area. a couple of years later, a decade later, i guess i didn't stop. i got the bug. it got to me. it's been incredibly rewarding and nothing can exceed the

relationship with people throughout the city and state. in fact, right now, there are hundreds of p.t.a. moms working with me to try to stabilize some of the funding in sacramento and like mark said over the past two weeks, this amass of pissed off p.t.a. moms have written 36,000 letters to every state legislator and we hope it makes a difference. in the spirit of women's history month, i have to admit the concept of women in society and business and politics have been on my mind lately. i hold in high regard every women who gracefully balance family and civic life. it's not always that easy and i feel lucky to have a family that supports me. so thank you to my husband and my three daughters who were here a minute ago. and my mom is here too -- there

she is, documenting every part of my life including my birth, 40 years ago and my brother as well. i just want to say to mr. ferrell, your drive is inspiring. he knocked on my door. he said, is this your house? he's very inspiring with me. i look forward to collaborating with you continuously improving the quality of life in our area and also the city at large. thank you to the board for this recognition. thank you very much. [applause]

[applause] [applause] >> i think the brown family just won the cutest floral presentation of the day. our next honoree will be honored by our supervisor from district seven. >> thank you very much, mr. president. it's my privilege to honor this year yvonne sanjacomo. [applause]

>> in trying to determine who i wanted to give this award to this year, i tried to pick up a little inspiration from the theme of today's event and that theme "our history is our strength." and i thought a lot about it and mrs. sanjacomo's history reminded me of the history of a lot of us who live in district seven. first, born and raised in supervisors wiener's district. she's born in mission, eureka valley who then moved out to district seven. and that is her history and on top of that, her family, those of us -- any san francisco but specifically district three will know one of her family's great landmarks in san francisco.

the 365 club was founded by her father. and then truly where the theme our history is our strength comes in is the role she plays as a mother and a grandmother. before getting to her civic work, really as a mother and a grandmother to me is why she really warrants this award because i've had the opportunity to get to know her and get to know her family. i think it's safe to say there is no greater joy in her life than being able to call herself a mother and a grandmother. the way she lives with her family, the way she cherishes her family is truly an inspiration to anybody who's had the opportunity to get to know her. and that in and of itself would warrant this award. but over on the top of all of that, all that she does for all the amazing charities that she

supports and i think it's worth mentioning specifically the ones she's very active in. the merrilack academy, the hospital, the city youth now and the parents' education network. and then the one -- well, she could tell us which one she thinks she's had the biggest impact but certainly the one from an outsider's perspective it appears she's had a bigger impact on st. anne's home. she started the red tie gala. you read about it every year. this was her brain child. this was her event that she does every year that does such amazing work for all the beneficiaries at st. anne's home. there are thousands of lives that you have touched because of your amazing work and i can't tell you how much i appreciate just simply being

able to call you a friend and call you -- knowing that i can call upon you for help. you've touched thousands of lives and you truly are an amazing woman. and on behalf of all those wonderful beneficiaries, i would like to say thank you and give you this award and happily declared you as the district seven woman of the year. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. >> well, i'm sorry, i didn't write anything out. i don't know what to say except i love this city. i love all the causes -- there are so many causes. we all have to get involved with some of these causes to help out because everybody's not as fortunate as some of us. i know i'm very fortunate, blessed and -- anyway, and

little sisters is one of my favorite because i think sometimes the elderly are really forgotten -- nobody -- you know, it's the young kids. so we're trying to get more and more young kids to this red tie gala so they will spread the word around. you know, i grew up on castro. and my dad came from italy with like $2 or a $1 in his pocket. and he worked hard and that's what so many people have done in the city. we have to take care of this city and keep going because i'm very prejudice. i think this is the most wonderful city in the whole world. [applause] and i'm very privileged to do what i do.

with every little bit that i can do. and i think all of you people are very privileged with your jobs and so forth. so i don't know what to say. but i love all my family. i love all you people. we have to spread good will around and we have to keep this city going and do the best we can. and i thank you very much. i'm in the company of all these wonderful women that have done so much. i just have to work harder as long as i can. so thank you very much and thank you for having me do this. and i'm in such good company and like i said we all have to do the best and you people that are kind of in charge of everything, you've got to work real hard and keep this city going, ok? thank you so much. thank you. [applause]

>> continuing in reverse alphabetical order. i would like to acknowledge our supervisor from district four, supervisor khu. supervisor chu: if i can invite kimberly ellis up. supervisor cohen, of course wishs that she could be here today to properly honor you but unfortunately, thess in d.c. so it is my honor to read her statement. kimberly was an original founder of emerge america in 2002 which is a parent organization of emerge california. emerge california is a political candidate training program for democratic women in the state.

it is a national movement to address the underrepresentation of women in office as a local, state, and at the federal levels. prior to coming the executive director, kimberly was the national affiliate director. kimberly also brings personal experience to the emerge program and the mission of the organization. she is passionate about empowering women and helping emerge bolster its brand, continues to strengthen and to grow. she excels in the private industry. she is also a commissioner for the community development commission in the city of richmond. she has two children, one husband, a dog and a turtle. she holds a b.a. in english from jacksonville university, a j.d. from the j.f. kennedy school of law and of course, on behalf of supervisor cohen, i say thank you and congratulations on this honor.

[applause] >> similar to miss yvonne, i didn't know that we were supposed to prepare remarks. first of all, thank you to supervicor cohen for this award and thank you to supervisor chu for directing it. i am the president for emerge. we have trained over 200 women in the san francisco bay area, half of whom who have already run for office.

half of them have won. we are very proud of the fact that we have more than 100 points which is important in the bay area because it is usually the first step to get your name out there to run for office. half of the women who go through our program are women of color. so we're very proud of that. emerge california, though is not just about getting more women elected for the sake of getting them elected. emerge california is really about changing the dialogue and conversations that we're having in america. it's about changing the tenor and the tone of politics in this country. and it's also about changing our priorities to focus on what's most important. so whether your issue is choice, education, the environment, universal childcare, or marriage equality, know that through emerge california, i am helping to cultivate the future generation of women leaders to

push forward and to work on progressive policy in all of these areas and many more. i absolutely love my job because it allows me to encourage and inspire women to step into leadership and step up as a player in the world of politics. and so in that respect, emerge california is not just about getting more women elected, it's about changing our world one san francisco bay area community at a time. on behalf of all of the emerge graduates and the organization, i would like to thank you supervisor cohen and chu for this award. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now i'd like to bring up the district four honoree today, angela tickler.

[applause] >> and today we've been blessed with so many people in this room whole have done so much. today ilede like to draw attention to a small -- i'd like to draw attention to a small business owner who has made such a big difference. this is angela tickler and it is my honor to present the special accommodation to her. she is the owner of the hardware store on irving street. it's a wonderful, wonderful clothing store. so if you're looking for a cool sunset t-shirt, go to angela. but just for a little bit of background on angela. she moved to san francisco when she was 4 years old and has actually lived and worked in stun seth and richmond district in the 40 years since then. a graduate of the university of san francisco, she spent her time living and owning a small

business. there are so many things that she's done there, really being able to revitalize that coroner the district. but she's very innovative in her work. she's pioneered something called a drive-through shopping program, where shoppers phone in their orders and under 30 minutes can come pick up their merchandise. if anybody's in a bind go, to the hardware store. despite owning a small business -- and i understand how difficult it is to have a small business, she's continued to give generously. she's donated and really provided for charities and many of the schools for 100 different events in the district and the city. she's been part of our local merchant association bringing together the first christmas light program that we had on irving street and helping to get district four, irving street on the map. so for all of your contributions being a business

owner, helping to contribute to the community, making sure there are people walking by places to shop, you have contributed to our community, schools and making district four really a better place. i just say to angela, thank you so much for being a great partner and for all of you, go to the hardware store. [applause] >> thank you very much. it's a better than a great

honor to be honored for something that you love doing. i opened a small business just a few years ago right before the economy collapsed. it's been an incredible challenge ever since and the financial rewards have been questionable to say the least but owning my own store has allowed me to live and work differently in my own commine community and allowed me the time and the choice to be able to put what little resources i have where i would like to. which has been a great, great part of this endeavor. i want to thank you supervisor khu and katy tang for their great support of our merchant and professional association. and also my loved ones, friends, family, co-workers for all of their help and support. the sunset district is not generally considered one of the city's great tourist

attractions, which is a huger >>. our slogan is all around the world is right around your corner and that we are one of the best kept secrets in san francisco. so as we work towards the goals of raising awareness of what is available in the sunset district and how much it has to offer, the support of the community, and the supervisor's office is very critical to that. it's an extremely diverse community. we have over 120 different businesses in our -- in our eight-block business district and have a significant amount of multilingual challenges which is the office has been great in helping us with. and through our work, we were able to -- when we started the effort with the holiday lights, more than half the people kind of initially said that they didn't necessarily want to be involved. and this was despite multilingual walks with merchants, multilingual flyers.

once we got it through and started putting things up, all of a sudden the community started realizing what's going on and started participating. the people who didn't want to be a part, now wanted to be a part of something that was bigger and something that would help bring some beauty to irving street and also promote some business. so coming together as group as strengthened our businesses and community and we will continue to grow in strength. small businesses set a stone and example for their neighborhood because really whether you care and sweep the front of your store or remove your graffiti and put up lights those are the things that help every district different and a place where people want to go. so being part of that being able to set that example has been a tremendous experience. owning an independent store is

tough. but one of the most attractive features again is being able to choose what i'm able to do, supporting schools is a very passionate cause of mine and also the leukemia and lymphoma society because i have a family member with that. again, one person can do a lot of things. our leukemia and lymphoma team raise more money than any other individual group in san francisco and again that's just people giving, you know, time even if not money, things that can help. anyway, i'm often asked why i'm doing this because i work a lot of hours and i don't eat a lot of expensive dinners these days. this is why because this is what you get to be able to do. so i hope to continue to be

able to be a small business and be on irving street and serve the community. and yes, we do sell quite a number of city centric shirts so feel free to come on in. i guarantee you we have a t-shirt from almost every district and i look forward to just continuing this work that i love. thank you. [applause] >> it's my honor to make the next presentation. but before i do that i first of all want to congratulate all of you in this room. as one of the previous awardees miss sanjacomo said, we love our city of san francisco. part of the reason why we're a great city is the generations of women not just the ones here

but every one that has made our city better. we have so many women particularly in my district who i would want to think about honoring but it is my honor to ask jerry crowley. jerry, you are a true treasure to san francisco. for those of you who do not know gerry, she's the neighborhood activists of neighborhood activists. she serves for four terms for the neighborhood dwellers which is one of the moster fective associations in the city. she was the found turnover san francisco neighborhood network pulling together neighborhood associations across the city to fight for what is true and special about the characters of our neighborhoods. she's someone who's delivered time after time for our northeast neighborhoods. for example, she helped to rehabilitate pioneer park at

coit tower. she fund raised the -- fund raised "the telegram hill." it captured the histories of doeses of italian americans living in north beach. she's someone who not only served as a leader and a board member of countless organizations like moist of the honorees today. but she's someone who has been a political force on her own. she won several elections to serve on our city's democratic party central committee. she's advised not just myself but my spread sessor here as president of the board of supervisor. you can credit her for any decisions that you like and blame me for any decisions that you don't like. we watched the devastating footage coming from japan. think -- i think many of us

think about if we're prepared for our next earthquake. gerry founded the north beach resiliency initiative which is a neighborhood council bringing together associations, merchants and residents to prepare for our next disaster. the mayor and i spoke last week about how the north beach resiliency will likely be the next model here in san francisco in how we prepare for our next disaster. gerry, we all love you. thank you so much for all you've done for san francisco. [applause]