business owner in district 2 has made a lasting impact in our city and across our country. i want to bring up melissa which -- melissa rich as my honoree for women's history month. [applause] she is the president and founding ceo of a company that is based in district 2. as you know, the presidio is a big part of district 2. the presidio has become an amazing place in our city in terms of entrepreneurs said. -- entrepreneurship. her company was certified as a b corporation in the city of san francisco. it is an amazing testament to what you do. innerscola was founded in 2004. it helps public agencies reduce

waste with sales of surplus goods. they have raised over $15 million in online auctions selling off surplus materials. they have helped divert over 3 million pounds of goods from landfills every single year. they are partnered to work with schools crossandra cisco and about one-third of all california school districts. and destroys all across the united states. as president, melissa has focused her efforts on strategy, fundraising, sales, business development, and the organization itself. despite the economy, it has grown year after year and was named the 2010 -- one of the fastest-growing companies in 2010. melissa was a venture capitalist before with intel and

concentrated on a lot of areas. she worked for classroom connect before coming up with this idea. she is a graduate of both dartmouth and the wharton school. it is great to have you here. thank you on behalf of all of us for all that you do, not only for district 2, but also for the public agencies that you work for and represent. congratulations. [applause] >> i just want to thank supervisor farrell and the board of supervisors as well as the commission. i also want to thank my colleagues here today. my executive team is all women. that is random. it just so happens to be the case. i could not be there without them. i believe them and support them in the business. i was recently listening to a speech by sherrill said bird, -- cheryl sandberg, the coo of

facebook. her closing hope was that sometimes, in some future generation, 50% of businesses and 50% of the world's government would be led by women. as a brand new mother of a three-month old daughter, i hope it is my daughter's generation. i am following the steps of my mother, who was also an entrepreneur. i am honored and thank you very much. [applause]

president chiu: the next commendation will be provided by our colleague from district 6, supervisor kim. supervisor kim: i thought i would switch things up a little bit. we have a short three-minute video about the woman i am about to honor today. and then i will say a few words. lolita cantenar. [applause] you can stand in front of us while we watched this video of you. >> according to the san francisco homeless services coalition, san francisco has the highlights -- the highest rate

of homelessness in any major american city. but people like lolita aim to fight homelessness. lolita is a 66-year-old filipina immigrant. she founded the senior center in san francisco. as we had to her office, lolita will talk to co-workers we meet along the way. once we get in the building, she did not waste time. she met with the seniors group to collaborate with the project with co-workers. and with a client about an incident that happened earlier today. the client said somebody followed and verbally threatened her and said she had to hit him to defend herself.

>> exactly what he said? i only have good things to say about lolita. she welcomed everybody to the center. >> her clients are diverse to say the least. some of them are dealing with substance abuse and it is her job to keep them in check. >> i will see you. >> during her break, she volunteers for another homeless shelter program. the good year project less homeless people sleeping in the church during the day.

>> valentine's day is sunday. >> after work, we had from san francisco to san paulo, to visit a place called st. mary's house, where she volunteers to help young pregnant women and victims of domestic violence. lolita has a family of her own. three children and three grandchildren. i asked if they worry about her demanding work. >> they are worried about me, but they know that i am enjoying my work so they are happy. >> is about doing what you love and love and what you do. for lolita, that means reaching out to people in need. [applause] supervisor kim: i think the

video covered a lot. it was done by cruz and it covered the reason why we love you so much in our office and why the neighborhood loves you so much. lead also volunteers at shelters at a program that works with victims of domestic violence and serves as the co- president of the senior action board. women in our district, the filipino community, and in particular, our senior homeless community -- the night i stayed at one of your shelters, what i was struck by is the age of the women and how many of them were seniors. i am so glad that you're there to be an advocate for this population because it is so important and necessary. we are always amazed that you are never worn down.

you said in its video it is because you love what you do. you are also an amazing mother and grandmother. we want to honor you today. this is on behalf of myself and our office is also here. we love you and we thank you for the work that you do. we also want to recognize that lolita was a leader at the trinity plaza as well. a former resident. there are just so many things i can say about you. many of us are familiar with you and many of your supporters are here. we are here to recognize you and your work. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. let me make this very short period first all, i would like to thank the board of

supervisors. the department of women's status -- i do not know what to say. my family is somewhere here and some of them cannot be here. but i have my exit -- my extended family. these are my family. can i mentioned the senior planning action network for elders. adult protective services. asian-pacific islander legal outfits, the adults open house project, the diocese of oakland senior community volunteers, san francisco state university's intern's, nursing student interns, social work intern's who come to our center to learn about what is happening, and volunteers from city college of

san francisco. of course, the department of aging adults services, and my staff. i do not really deserve this, but this is my extended family and they continued to help me advocate for the services that we do in the community. just to let you know, we have 19 stations for aging and disability resource centers in the city. i would like to recognize viktor from supervisor chiu's office, supervisor chu, who was with us closely, chris from supervisor olague's office, supervisor kim's staff, and

rachel ordonez. i will give you copies for the centers you can go to in your districts, because i do not work in just district 6. this is where you can go and visit us any time when we are there. thank you so much. one more thing -- very, very short, one more thing -- the homeless seniors, low-income and disabled community, let us not allow history to forget us. to every woman here today, i dedicate this award. let us continue to make history in this community. thank you triet -- thank you. [applause] supervisor kim: thank you. here you want the folks who came out with you to be in the

picture with you? i forgot, it was her birthday on international women's day and she turned 68. [applause] >> we have to hurry. >> ♪ dreams impossible dreams to bear with unbearable sorrows to run to write the unwriteable to love to try when you are weary to dream the unbeatable song

this is my hope no matter how hopeless to be with us to give when there's no one to give to be willing to die so that honor and justice will live ♪ ♪ president chiu: thank you very

much. [applause] our next presentation will be made by our district one colleague, supervisor mar. supervisor mar: thank you. lots of surprises today. that was wonderful. to return to women's strength and empowerment, a wanted to thank the commission on the status of women, emily murase, all of the staff and commissioner for bringing this issue to us not only every year, but every day. i will focus on an educational leader for 43 years in our city. i am proud to be here with united leadership of educators in san francisco, the united administrators of san francisco. but our honoree is an incredible heart and soul of the middle school, pam.

as a former school board commissioner and president, we treasure commended administrators and principals. pam comes from three generations that have served the school district in our cities. also, she began her career in 1969 at starting in elementary school as the special education teacher. she continued for 10 years there. 35 years old, she came to our district as a sixth grade math and science teacher. i am really proud that my daughter went to presidio. sandy has been and it parent leader and the former president of the ptsa at presidio so it is

great to have heard with pam as well. i've reached out to a number of people who worked -- who knew pam very well. al wanted me to say that you were the mainstay of presidio during his years there. being there, as a teacher, becoming a counselor and head counselor, assistant principal, and the last several years, the principle of, you have nurtured other people's leadership as well. al said you definitely deserve a longevity bonus if we had something like that. if you continue to be the heart and soul of presidio middle school, one of the treasures of the school district. on behalf of the teachers, parents, counselors, families, it is my honor to acknowledge you as the woman's day honoree

for the richmond district. thank you. >> i want to thank you for this honor. i cannot sing you a song but i can definitely seeing your praises. as a parent of three children that attended presidio middle school, i can tell you that she is the backbone of that school. she has brought her leadership to that school and it remains our top middle school in the city of san francisco. she has convinced me to be a pta president for six terms at that school. it is because of the inclusiveness of community and parents that i said yes to the job, always commanding pam for her great work and appreciating everything she brings every day

to the job. she works tirelessly, many times at 8:00 at night, she is still at the school. there are few people that i can say that we should probably give huge bonuses to -- she deserves much more than that. i appreciate that your commending her today, but i think, on behalf of the san francisco board of education, the we also want to thank her for being such an extraordinary, exceptional educational leader dedicated to the students of san francisco and personally, thank you for being such a fine friend to me and my family. [applause] today, she is joined by many people who love her. i would like to introduce to you as she receives her award,

her husband, a former educator, and her son. [applause] >> thank you so much. i am sincerely overwhelmed by this award. and this magnificent, beautiful room in the most beautiful city in the world. i am very proud to be standing here. thank you to emily murase, also the executive director of the department of the status of women. yes, emily, thank you. for the past 40 years, i have had the privilege and pleasure

of working with young people in san francisco and i can say firsthand that the greatest tool for empowering them to lead successful and productive lives is through education. there is no stronger tool for fighting poverty and inequality and helping students gain confidence through education. none of us do this alone. no one is better than the team that they are surrounded with. i have been surrounded by the most wonderful, talented, committed team of teachers, staff members, parents, family members, and i am very grateful to all of them for helping me and for also helping make children's lives better.

i thank them for giving me such a fulfilling career. of course, i would love to a big shot for my family and thank them. my daughter is unable to be here tonight. she is in london, poor thing. i would like to thank my son, graduate of san francisco public schools. my husband, for being patient every night, listening to my stories. sometimes my accomplishments, sometimes my frustrations. i want to thank my husband for making sure i have a nutritious meal every night. thank you again for the recommendation, supervisor mar. [applause]

president chiu: our next presentation will be provided by our newest member of the san francisco board of supervisors, supervisor olague. [applause] supervisor olague: i would like to call up sheila harris young and toni gomes. i will speak to all of you at the same time. i was unable to decide -- there

are so many incredible women in district 5. i will give it to a new set of friends and an old friend who i have been wanting to honor for some time. the theme this year is women's education and women's economic strength. i will give an honor to women's economic strength and education and i want to thank the commission for allowing the ability to honor both of you, all three of you. sheila harris young and tony young make up the dynamic mother-daughter team. for three generations, they have shared a family generation for cookies that led to their dream of running a business. sheila harris young's mother taught her to bake when she was growing up in washington d.c. and she remembers making her first batch of cookies for an orphanage as a girl scout.

when she became a mother to toni, she passed along her recipe and love for baking. after decades of sharing cookies with families and friends, they began to sell their cookies online and even partnered with local grocery stores to sell locally. after the initial success, they finally decided to start their own independent, family-owned business. it has been over one year since the initial opening and they have been getting accolades for their delicious recipe on yelp, 7x7, and they're being recognized as one of the best cookies in san francisco. congratulations. in addition to their hard work and keeping their business running, they are both rooted in serving the community and sharing their compassion. prior to becoming a small business owner, she was an intensive care nurse for three decades. she remained active in the community and volunteered

regularly at the catholic church and shelters. today, we commend them for their work and for being trailblazers for women of color entr epreneurs. i also want to commend the work of nancy. i was reminded of the importance of faith-based communities to the health and well-being of this city. we are in an era where fundamentalism and spiritual arrogance seem to be the focus of the day. we forget sometimes that faith is where -- and faith-based communities are where people learn their values, around family, around compassion for others, where they develop a sense of community.

and where we frequently will see values and actions. they are the ones making it happen. i wanted to honor you. i was there for a brief time but it was incredible to see the work you were doing with children and their families. also, you work quietly and holly getting boxes of food ready for delivery to homeless shelters. i just think it is important to remind ourselves that there is a very positive contribution that faith-based communities still land to our city. i did not realize that when we added you to our list of honorees. all three of you are very involved and very committed to creating a better society. when i mention this to phil, a member of your congregation, and i believe his children attend

your religious school, he used a word that stands for "repairing the world." i want to honor all three of you for your work, not just with your families and businesses, but trying to repair the world, making it a better place. i am happy that you will receive these awards carry -- these awards. [applause] >> i am not one to stand during

ceremonies, so i'm going to sit down. but i just want to thank you all. >> thank you to supervisor olague and to the board of supervisors for having us here today. we are humbled. every day that i get up, i think of ways to serve others. it is an honor to serve our community. thank you to our friends and family that showed up to support us today. thank you. [applause] >> i would like to thank you, supervisor olague, for shining a light on the work that is so important to me. i would like people to know that when i moved to san francisco 44 years ago, i have been in district s