[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]

>> like two of the previous speakers, i did not prepare remarks or i should say i didn't write a speech. but i wrote down some names and the names are other women whom i salute as leaders in san francisco all of whom are friends of mine. and i treasure them. they are definitely making history in many neighborhoods across san francisco. i would start off with debra garafalo who serves on the community police advisory board. also from russian hills my friend lucretia vowel who has

been the promote tor and watchdog of -- promotor and watchdog of safe heart. she makes -- also russian hills. tina moyland who's president of russian hill neighbors and she's guiding that group very successfully. moving down to north beach, telegraph hill, my friend june austinburg who has taught me so much through her writings about the waterfront. she's written more about the waterfront in the last half century than anyone i know. another friend former president of the dwellers, she said you must come back to the board. kicking and screaming i did and

became vice president and then president and well -- thank you june, i think. then vetica hill who is just finishing her fourth term. she's an incredible it will gator in her career -- it will gator in her career. -- litigator in here career. i have never seen a presentation like the one she could do when presenting on 555 washington which as you recall a huge fight between neighborhoods and developers. she present add better case than the project sponsors. so i just have great admiration for her. i also admire and salute nancy shanahan who knows the planning code better than most people in the planning department. i salute my friend marlene

morgan who's president of cathedral hill association. marlene, i have worked -- seven years have been involved in this proposed cpmc project and is currently on the negotiating team between neighbors and cpmc. i salute don treanor who is the warrior of middle polk. she's a tiger. she's a warrior. she's shaping up middle polk, something you started president chiu. i salute my friend judy hoyam who's the president of the neighborhood network. she's a d.r. expert and i can count on her for advice on how to deal with the planning department on d.r.'s. i salute my friend elena

sterness who is here from -- she's manager of the north point center. she has been president of the fisherman's war of -- wor of, the fisherman wor of association. she's president of the telegraph neighborhood center. i sa salute judy dirkwitz the president of the san francisco neighborhoods who is a model of patience and determination in keeping that group together. i think you know what i mean. i salute my friend chris schaefer from the university of terrace. she is -- has fought the bat with the university of san francisco and is negotiating with them to accommodate neighborhood requests during their expansion time. i salute anne talhorn who less

than a year ago decided to take on a project in the due bose triangle area dch dubose triangle area and won her case. i support my friend dennis mccarthy who was executive director of the telegreaf hill neighborhood center. my friend lee yeah pim men tell who -- lia pimmentall who is a supervisor and think she'll make it. i salute my friend jennifer clairey who is active on the waterfront. in the neighborhood network which was founded on the premise for like-minded people who believe in good government

and good planning, and so i mustards two women on the planning commission who inspire me. one is president christina olague, the other is commissioner kathrin moore who brings professionalism of an architect in an urban planner and common sense unlimited. -- to the commission and i appreciate that. finally, politically, my two heroes are nancy pelosi, house minority leader now. and in the audience jane morrison who is i think approaching her 91st birthday this spring. jane is the elder states woman of the san francisco democratic party. it's a pleasure to be here today. you all inspire me. thank you very much president

chiu, members of the board. i'm a very happy lady. [applause] >> our next two commendations will be presented by supervisor john avalos. >> thank you president chiu. i would like to thank the commission on the status of women for giving us this opportunity to honor the wonderful women of san francisco. thank you emily morasa, for the great contribution of the city of san francisco. i am going to be honoring today supervisor's campos' honoree who i'm very excited to honor as well. it's an honor to call up

marlene hanson. here you are. [applause] you're my honoree as well. ar lean, i've known for about 11 years. i first met you on the run-off election and from there on i really admired you tremendously and see you as a wonderful principle person. it's an honor to honor you here today. she's served san francisco in numerous ways as a feminist activists, the intersection of race, class, and gender are are alwaysed a -- always at her work nationally and internationally. she served for six years on the san francisco ethics commission focusing on campaign finance reform, building transparency and integrity in government and

setting the bar high on governmental ethics not just in san francisco but nationwide. arlene helped create this people's budget and an budget for numerous organizations in san francisco. many of these organizations still exist today. the people's budget has had a new generation of people's leaders to protect our safety net in san francisco. she's committed herself for h.i.v. and ltbt work during the height of the aids crisis serving as the executive director and the public policy work for the women's aids network and the aids legal referral panel. today she coaches organizations and individuals to success, inspires those who seek balance and integrity as they manage a commitment to social justice and a full and sustainable

life. david campos and supervisor avalos honor reey len hanson -- honoree ilene hanson. [applause] >> thank you so much supervisor avalos. i very much appreciate you presenting on behalf of commissioner chi in such a heartfelt way. i also want to thank supervisor campos for this recognition and for -- as he does so often thinking citywide in this honor. so thank you both for your incredible work on the board of

supervisors. i am honored to be a part of this community of women today and i am so honored to be a part of the san francisco community. this community is cutting edge. it's brave. it's smart. it's wise. it really thinks through the challenges that we need to take on for the city and for the country. and we worry about the details to achieve those challenges and i'm a proud resident of san francisco really doesn't want to live anywhere else because that's how i like to do the work. and i thank all of you for doing that work on behalf of our community. because i define my communities so broadly and deeply, though work never ends and so i particularly thank my community of friends and supporters and my partner of 28 years, dennis

wells -- [applause] yes. who supports me, who encourages me who puts up with my endless projects and ideas and we do it together. as i leave my six years on the ethics commission, i'm reminded of a campaign slogan that was created by many of those who came today who honor me today and that is a city for you not for sale. and as i leave my work with the ethics commission, you have my commitment top continue to build this city. that is for all of us. that is not for sale. that is, indeed, for all of us. i would finally say presente for those who have gone before who forged this task, le