man, this is a dream come true. housing for homeless veterans and very low income families of san francisco. this is beautiful. ed lee's birthday's tomorrow and he's smiling from heaven. am i right? anita, am i right? okay. this is too much joy. i promise not to preach too long because we've got the madam speaker here and the mayor and you want to hear them more than me.

was i always like to start with some blessing. those of you who know me, i try to do the peoples' blessings. so you have to say the four words. matt, real loud. you're in the front row. we wish the spirit of these four words to bless this bruteful mayor edwin m. lee apartments. so we're going to do together. repeat after me. peace. joy. hope. and love. may those four super ingredients of the spirit bless everyone who comes in and out of this place. in chinese, we call it [ speaking foreign language ]. whoever comes in and leaves out with peace. i'm surprising myself. here we go. we have one of the best mayors

of this country and -- okay. she can brag for herself. let's welcome the mayor. come on. mayor london breed. >> reverend fong, we thought you were retired. let me tell you, revrend fong and ccv, madam pelosi who's fighting the good fight every day. we are so very fortunate to have so many amazing champions and i want to thank you all for being here today. this place has manifest itself as a vision. a vision that our former mayor ed lee had to answer the call, the call that was put out to end veteran homelessness in san francisco and in our country.

and he stepped up to that call. i remember when i first became mayor going to the auburn hotel and how it really did bring tears to my eyes because of the stories that i heard from so many of the formerly homeless veterans who now had a safe, affordable place to call home. tomorrow is ed lee's birthday and today we honor him and this place is a testament to his legacy and we want to thank his wife, anita lee for being here today to celebrate. anita's sacrificed so much because her husband was mayor taking care of so many of us. i miss those days of us working together and now it's so important that we continue to move forward with goals that he set to make sure that we build

affordable housing in this city, that we build housing and we don't let bureaucracy get in the way. the people that moved here in january 2020, they are counting on us to make good decisions and to move forward and not let it get in the way of something so spectacular. this place is magical. this courtyard. the formerly homeless veterans who are moving in here, the low income families who now have a place to raise their children, the teen rooms and the centers and the places that they will have to gather and be a community right in the heart of mission bay, this is absolutely extraordinary and there were so many people that made it possible. it basically took a village. it took a village of a lot of money, not just the mayor's office of housing and workforce

development. it also took state and federal resources and i want to really first of all thank the state of california veteran affairs. i want to thank the office of community investment here in san francisco. i want to thank the mayor's office of housing and community investment for the plow share ccdc. and i want to especially thank our speaker nancy pelosi. her advocacy, her work, her tireless effort to support and uplift veterans through the resources for the federal government, it would not have been possible had it not been for her involvement in this project. it would not have gotten done. and then we had just a bit of a shortfall and then the private sector stepped in. juan conway, alex turk, sf

cities. they helped to raise $4.5 million to make sure we got this project over the threshold. so many people. it really did take a village. this village has been incredible in pursuing opportunities to build more housing and so we are truly grateful that we have over 100 families and veterans who were already living here will continue to thrive right here and hopefully who knows maybe attend a warrior game or two. and, with that, i want to thank everyone for joining us here today, have a wonderful day. >> so, mayor and madam speaker, i know you gave me a video message last year when i retired, but i'm back here because i just can't stay away

from all that's going on. i'm so honored that you are here and weren't you here when we did the first project with the crowd share. you're always here. she's always making time for us. so everyone put your hands together and shout out loud! yay, madam speaker! >> peace, joy, hope, love, norman. he's still here, but we're also joined by malcolm as well. malcolm young. thank you to chinatown community development center. the mayor talked about this taking a village and i want to follow up on her very apt theme. and this village is led by

mayor london breed. she has been on this housing subject for her whole official life and probably before that on a volunteer basis so many of the things that came to fruition here had their roots in her work as supervisor and, of course, now as mayor. let's talk about that village, that village that is san francisco. it's a place that has beautiful diversity and that's why this collaboration between our veterans and ccdc is so appropriate. the diversity of san francisco, our strength. i always say our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power. the unity between ccdc and veterans is what has made this a magical, wonderful occasion. in addition to that, the collaboration as the mayor discussed, federal, state,

local, private sector, ron conway, john kegger, i see others who have played a role. and, for years, many of us have been involved in low income housing tax credit which has been a root to so much. but it has to be combined with other things to make this all happen. i also want to just talk for a moment about our veterans. not a moment, but a moment in connection to what's happening in d.c. right now. right now, the secretary of veterans affairs, dennis mcdonald. dennis used to be the president of obama's chief of staff. and as chief of staff, one of his priorities was about homeless veterans. he came out here to make sure that project homeless connect was working for our veterans. he came out here personally only for that purpose and he

has been following this issue. so the fact that he is now the secretary of veterans affairs in the biden administration, resurrecting what happened between h.u.d. and veterans affairs administration then under obama and now resurrected in the biden administration under dennis mcdonald's leadership and marsha the secretary of h.u.d. who has just recently worked with our mayor. so this, again, is all coming together in deep seeded values in our city, our patriotism, our diversity, our respect for other opinions and collaboration, our respect for the public private, nonprofit sectors coming together and recognizing that it doesn't work without all of that.

our v.i.p. today will be margie televera and we'll be anxious to hear from her. but i just want to acknowledge all who are finding housing here the mayor said to raise their families, to reach their own fulfillment, to have their own comfort, that's what this is really about. it's about the public policy to meet the needs of the people and to do so in a way that is, again, collaborative. i know that supervisor matt haney. the masks are throwing me off a little bit. thank you, matt. for your involvement. jason elliott, former chief of staff. so beautiful. again, when we talk about all the things in san francisco, it's about family and here we are to pay tribute to mayor lee. anita is here.

anita, thank you for sharing ed lee with us so completely and thank you for honoring us with your presence today. anita and, again, when mayor lee came into office. he was ready. the jobs he had in the city equipped him to do the job. when mayor london breed came from the board. she came from the board of supervisors, she was ready. she was ready to bring all our communities together. and when we take some pride, it is only possible because we have initiatives of national significance that spring from our community. so, again, an occasion like this, someone will say it's my

pleasure to be here today, to pay tribute to every aspect of our great city as we meet the needs of the people. and some other good news is that in our rescue package, there's $17 billion more for veterans. it wasn't there before. the homeless aspects have not been i talked about collaboration, i talked about community. san francisco which is a great community has the word community in it. i have this pin. it's a flag that has on it one country, one vision. that's what we can say about our city of san francisco. we have a vision of meeting the needs of the people in a way that's respectful of their

aspirations as well as our capabilities and we want them to have the biggest aspirations and the best capabilities to meet their needs. so congratulations to anyone who had anything to do with veterans. i can't wait to hear from our special guest, representative margie of the people who live here. they are truly our v.i.p.s, our very important people. so, yes, it is my pleasure to be here to congratulate everyone but especially to pay respects to anita and our dearly beloved mayor lee. did you say that, norman? did you say something like that. i'm also imitating norman, what can you do. he has so much to say. anyway. thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you

congratulations on everything that's happening here and thank you mayor breed for making this possible. san francisco strong. thank you. >> i don't think i will say i love you, speaker pelosi. all right. next, we have malcolm young, the current director of chinatown d.c., but before he comes up, let me tell you these are tough times and a lot of young folks are saying it's terrible. and even worse, there's a lot more hate going around. so what's the cure? i'm using their language a little bit. the cure is herd immunity and

whenever city collaborators come together, we become the neutralizing agents of love to counter that hate. one of the best things on earth was getting to know michael fletcher. everyone pays but to actually do something, look, 62 years for formerly homeless vets. and, housing for very low income families. let me tell you, herd immunity in action. but a long timer is malcolm young who is now my boss. i was his boss for how many years? okay. but now you're the boss. make us proud. come on up. >> so mayor breed in the back

there asked me on the side, are you sure you're the director of this organization. my response to her was not on most days. you know, it's really an honor and distinct pleasure to be here opening the ed lee apartments in addition to tomorrow being mayor ed lee's birthday. may also marks the month of api heritage month and it also marks affordable housing month. i want to call out the affordable housing month in particular. right here we have a through line of champions from the local to the state to the federal and they've been champions for the entirety of their career. that starts with mayor lee. many people look at mayor lee, but to me one of his most

important legacies was how he brought affordable housing into the main stream of san francisco and made it critical for the city to do and he reintroduced that concept to us and this mayor mayor breed has passed it and now she's incorporating affordable housing into the capital plan make interesting part of the infrastructure which brings us to our next and most amazing champion speaker nancy pelosi also shepherding the infrastructure act in congress that will also incorporate affordable housing into the infrastructure of the nation. i wanted to say it started here in san francisco, mayor breed, your work is resinating throughout the country and speaker pelosi is going to bring us home along with president biden. so thank you for that.

all right. now my written remarks. this is where it gets boring. so, first of all, i just want to say thank you to anita for coming up here and being with us. it means more than we can express to you. you know, i just want to say this building is a testament to mayor lee's legacy. i've always thought as i mentioned before, one of the most critical things mayor lee did was champion affordable housing and i hope you're proud of us and i hope he's proud of us and i want to just thank everybody for that. i want to call out why this building is a particularly good example of that aspect. like ed, this building aspires to bring together diverse populations to bring together a single community. keyly watt told me last night and i want to quote her,

veterans and families guarded alongside one another in our community garden. they water plants, they share vegetables. one family has twice donated greens to veterans. the residents have come to look out for each other and sometimes they do it in ways you wouldn't expect. veteran recently spoke on behalf of an asian family here worrying that the family's garden may have been a target of hate crime and we know that's been an issue this past year. it turned out it was a hate crime. the asian family said it if felt good to have that sense of community where neighbors watch out for each other and that's what we're trying to build here and that's what the residents are moving towards. so thank you keely. she's in the back somewhere because bringing together veterans and families is not the first thing you'd think of

whenever you create a community, but san francisco has a track record of bringing together unconventional communities and families pairs with an organization of chinatown to an organization that serves veterans. who would of ever thought that. but in all seriousness, i want to thank sorts of cloud share. this is the second building that we're working on with them. we're working on the third building on treasure island, but really the thing that i want to say is thank you to the residents here for showing us that this door of these unconventional pairing is worth keeping open for the community that they build. thank you so everyone who supported this project and effort and thank you so much to our leaders for making sure the dream of affordable housing and affordability is going to continue well into the future of this community.

thank you. >> earlier michael bleker from source house said "it's like we're married." i just wanted to say that. but madam speaker wants to introduce you. it's better than me. i always tell tomb jokes. this is unplanned. >> thank you, norman. this is very unplanned and unprecedented that norman would give up the microphone ahead of time. right. here we go. but i really want to say to you what i say to my colleagues in washington, d.c.. this is a model for our nation. i've had to meet the needs of our wets in a way that is personal as well as pragmatic to get the job done. i've appointed michael to the

department of veterans affairs commission on care where he brought his deep knowledge of what was needed to take care of our veterans. his courageous disagreement when necessary to that he was enormous value added. i wanted to see him in action. i started with sorts of cloud share. so i've seen him work with at least four mayors and of course, now with mayor breed. he understands that it all starts with meeting the personal needs of our vets. to recognize the challenges that they have and that when we talk about homeless vets, it's a challenge to our conscience in a very particular way and so when we want to meet their

housing needs, we want to deal with it with a particularum of care. and nobody does it better in the country and i meet regularly with the veteran service organization. michael from time to time has been able to join us and every time he does, it gives me the opportunity to take pride in what he does, take pride in how our city has recognized the value in what he is doing so i appreciate norman giving me the opportunity to say a few words and welcome to the podium, a real american hero source to crowd shares. >> thank you so much.

i just want to say this is sort of like a miracle to create this housing and former mayor ed lee said i want to have this. it's just like an asphalt parking lot and now it's beautiful. the courtyard and everything. this is going to be home for this r them and should they pass away or leave. so the housing stays for veterans and that's part of the magic of this collaboration, the fact that you bring federal subsidies into the city. you bring all these incredible sources, but for investors it's backed up by the public sector

so it's a tremendous. but, of course, all the work that goes in and we look forward to future projects all the community networks. it's all part of the deal. we're all working together on this to make it work. we're kind of that little engine that could. i think we fought the good fight. and part of that's been a big partner with the veteran's administration making sure we protect the veteran's administration as a solid top notch health system that needs to be protected and, if it doesn't, it will be skirted away to private health insurance and we have to stop

that and the va's playing a major role. but it all comes down to how do you care for them. we know the veterans from my generation are sicker and pourer and in worst shape and they need that kind of care. whether it's dropping care. where their needs are. housing. residential treatment beds. we do that. it's crucial outreach that we do. it's ensuring that the emergency hotels that we're active with that and making sure the people that leave the hotels have a place to stay. we like everyone here, we roll our sleeves up and we do the work because that's what we have to do. that's why we have the honor. i appreciate everyone being here and you're all part of

this big support. so thanks again. thank you. >> okay. change of schedule. since we've got the big shot secretary of california department of veteran affairs here, we would like to have vito embossini. you're coming on board right now. hang in there, margie. >> thank you. >> good morning. thank you reverend fong for the introduction. madam speaker, madam mayor and all the guests and community leaders responsible for this project. i'm the secretary of the california department of veterans affairs and i'm here

today, may the 4th, there are too many startrek fans. the force is with us. the forces of partnership. the forces of civic governmental leadership. the forces of community, charity, the forces of philanthropy all here today in this very spot on may the 4th. this is always going to be a great day when we can dedicate new housing for veterans and their families. as we look at this beautiful new facility, the edwin m. lee apartments, i'm looking at much more than a successful completion of a routine construction project. this property is so much more than just architectural drawings and building materials. the windows of these buildings are windows of opportunity for veterans looking to make their path forward more secure.

in these ed lee apartments, the walls to them are like burls that will provide sanctuary for veterans who gave so much in their service to the nation. i see roof tops and all of this is based on firm foundations upon which veterans will not build their future, but flourish in it. these buildings are in essence reflective of the love and respect we share for those who defended our constitution and our freedoms. securing housing for veterans is one of cal vet's core missions which is why i'm so very honored to be here today in addition to advocating for california's 1.6 million veterans, our agency helped to fund this project through our veterans housing and homeless prevention program known as vhhp, a program that we

administer in close collaboration with the california department of housing and community development. vhhp helps to fund the development or rehabilitation of affordable multiple family housing for veterans and their families. and whether it is permanent, supportive, or transitional housing, it comes, all of it, with an emphasis on veterans who are experiencing homelessness or who have extremely low incomes. at a rate of about once a year for five years now, vhhp has awarded more than $357 million to 72 projects all over the state of which this is one contributing to the production of more than 4,700 housing units throughout california, over 2,500 of which are specifically reserved for veterans but still, our work is by no means done.

and we still have a long way to go. over 1,000 veterans experience homelessness on any given day. even though our veterans here only account for 4% of our state population. and what's more distressing, california alone has a quarter of the nation's homeless veterans and over one half of the nation's total unsheltered veterans. so clearly providing a roof and four walls is a great start, but it doesn't completely resolve the issue of homelessness in the long term. we now know what's required to give veterans housing stability, a sense of community, a sense of compassion and the necessary services delivered in a culturally competent matter to support veterans as they address the issues that contributed to their homelessness and that's why we're so proud and delighted to

support crowd shares. their work in providing services and housing to veterans over the last 40 years is a testament and commitment to the dedication to their entire staff. furthermore, the support of their development partners in this project, chinatown community development center and the city of san francisco and several other cities over the years have benefited countless lives and i believe mayor lee would be very proud on how this undertaking turned out. so i leave you with this. this dedication ceremony could only happen because so many of you dedicated your time, your efforts, and your hearts to make these walls of sanctuary, these windows of opportunity, these roof tops of protection,

the foundation of so many solid and promising futures. thank you. >> okay. wow. get ready for the video. we are honored to have margie televera to come up and share her story living here. she's a vet and she lives here. she's going to share her story, but there's going to be a video first. i always wanted to say this. one, two, three, hit it. >> when i was able to move here, i thought i won the lotto. it's brand new. i was like i'm the first person in that. that's a big deal for me. once i was living in my car and often living on couches.

that is difficult when you're independent female. you're saying thank you because you're not in the street, but it breaks your heart. >> i spent eight years homeless, i guess. in and out of homeless. my mother says i wasn't homeless, i just wouldn't be still, but i was homeless because i was in shelters. i was tired. physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually tired. and this place is beautiful. i couldn't believe it for awhile. >> you can't underestimate the value of safe housing for people. i think you've seen that on both sides of the chinatown community. what we've given people here and what they've given us is a sense of belonging. we're starting to see

friendships, people starting to get to know each other. >> when the children come in the courtyard when they're laughing, it just makes you feel good. so i always work out and i see them playing. >> we were tasked with building community when we first opened here. one day a week. one of the veterans volunteered. so if you cook a meal, you're starting to take a leadership role however small in the community. the chinatown community development center offered grants for artists. so the very first person whose piece isn't finished is randal larson. he did a piece that involved the community. one that started is a leather worker. all of these things have a huge impact. the environment being a catalyst for them to start thinking about change that they perhaps didn't think was possible for them. >> when i lived in the shelters, i didn't feel safe, you know, sleeping.

but then to come back home, that's beautiful and it's peaceful. i have a peaceful mind. >> i just look around and say "i'm okay." that's a great feeling. i wake up, i'm okay because i know when i go to bed i'm okay and when i wake up it's like i told you. it's this great feeling. everyone should have that. >> to find that you can be stable and actually mattering to the world, it's happening because you're living in this place. we're starting to see how communities built. veterans are reaching out to each other and when ed m. lee apartments is a place of hope and peace and you can't underestimate any one of those factors in the success of this place in just one year.

[applause] >> okay. margie. give it up for margie. i forgot your dog's name? is it bear? >> "little bear." >> hi everybody. little bear. yes. i heard 17 billion and i went, "oh, wow." yes. let me say first, this is beauty. this is what i see every day from that window and it makes me feel good. i live in an apartment that's brand new. i'm safe and i'm happy. i represent the veterans here and i live with families as well. this is our hamlet and

management here looks out for us and encourages us to communicate with each other and become part of society again. coming from the streets into a new apartment can take awhile to get used to. but to know that now i can make my own breakfast. i can get up when i want. i can sleep when i want. and i feel safe. that's huge. do you know what it's like when someone rings your doorbell now? i'm sure you all know and you go, "hey, come on in." a lot of people take that for granted. now, for us, man, my sister, "come on in." i couldn't do that before. so san francisco, edwin lee, just the name of this place

should indicate to you how great this is. i remember him. he would smile all the time and if you saw him on the street, he would go like this all the time. and i remember he used to always talk about building the city up and he would tell us that and he was always smiling. well, look, look at this. if you want to know who san francisco is, what san francisco is, this is san francisco. diversity, family, looking out for each other. it is about working together. it is a struggle, but this is a picture of beauty. this is peace. this is ours and this is yours. welcome to our home. don't be a stranger.

>> you almost made me cry. bye, little bear. all right. wow. i love it. passion. hope. joy when we need it most. we have anita, mrs. lee, ed's partner in life, and just to let you know, she's going to just say a few words, more if you want. but she drove all the way up -- okay. andrew drove six hours, you went fast, to be here with us. let's welcome her with a big hand. mrs. anita lee. this is for you. i just got it. >> okay. thank you all for being here

today. i have to look. okay. we are all honored that this project has beared some memory of ed. affordable housing was his passion and i know this would have meant so much to him. thank you so much. >> now you got the flowers. we're supposed to sing happy birthday. we need all your help. camera people too. we'll sing happy birthday to mayor lee, okay ed lee. ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear ed lee happy birthday to you ♪♪

>> thank you. i think this is a time for question and answers. i'm not going to answer them. who's coming up to answer them? change of schedule. i'm flexible. >> madam speaker wants to cut the ribbon. >> okay. all right. >> are we ready? margie, you ready? let's do this. five, four, three, two, one! yes!

>> after my fire in my apartment and losing everything, the red

cross gave us a list of agencies in the city to reach out to and i signed up for the below-market rate program. i got my certificate and started applying and won the housing lottery. [♪♪♪] >> the current lottery program began in 2016. but there have been lot rows that have happened for affordable housing in the city for much longer than that. it was -- there was no standard practice. for non-profit organizations that were providing affordable housing with low in the city, they all did their lotteries on their own. private developers that include in their buildings affordable units, those are the city we've been monitoring for some time

since 1992. we did it with something like this. where people were given circus tickets. we game into 291st century in 2016 and started doing electronic lotteries. at the same time, we started electronic applications systems. called dalia. the lottery is completely free. you can apply two ways. you can submit a paper application, which you can download from the listing itself. if you apply online, it will take five minutes. you can make it easier creating an account. to get to dalia, you log on to housing.sfgov.org. >> i have lived in san francisco for almost 42 years. i was born here in the hayes valley. >> i applied for the san

francisco affordable housing lottery three times. >> since 2016, we've had about 265 electronic lotteries and almost 2,000 people have got their home through the lottery system. if you go into the listing, you can actually just press lottery results and you put in your lottery number and it will tell you exactly how you ranked. >> for some people, signing up for it was going to be a challenge. there is a digital divide here and especially when you are trying to help low and very low income people. so we began providing digital assistance for folks to go in and get help. >> along with the income and the residency requirements, we also required someone who is trying to buy the home to be a first time home buyer and there's also

an educational component that consists of an orientation that they need to attend, a first-time home buyer workshop and a one-on-one counseling session with the housing councilor. >> sometimes we have to go through 10 applicants before they shouldn't be discouraged if they have a low lottery number. they still might get a value for an available, affordable housing unit. >> we have a variety of lottery programs. the four that you will most often see are what we call c.o.p., the certificate of preference program, the dthp which is the displaced penance housing preference program. the neighborhood resident housing program and the live worth preference. >> i moved in my new home february 25th and 2019.

the neighborhood preference program really helped me achieve that goal and that dream was with eventually wind up staying in san francisco. >> the next steps, after finding out how well you did in the lottery and especially if you ranked really well you will be contacted by the leasing agent. you have to submit those document and income and asset qualify and you have to pass the credit and rental screening and the background and when you qualify for the unit, you can chose the unit and hopefully sign that lease. all city sponsored affordable housing comes through the system and has an electronic lottery. every week there's a listing on dalia. something that people can apply for. >> it's a bit hard to predict how long it will take for someone to be able to move into a unit. let's say the lottery has happened. several factors go into that and

mainly how many units are in the project, right. and how well you ranked and what preference bucket you were in. >> this particular building was brand new and really this is the one that i wanted out of everything i applied for. in my mind, i was like how am i going to win this? i did and when you get that notice that you won, it's like at first, it's surreal and you don't believe it and it sinks in, yeah, it happened. >> some of our buildings are pretty spectacular. they have key less entry now. they have a court yard where they play movies during the weekends, they have another master kitchen and space where people can throw parties. >> mayor breed has a plan for over 10,000 new units between now and 2025.

we will start construction on about 2,000 new units just in 2020. >> we also have a very big portfolio like over 25,000 units across the city. and life happens to people. people move. so we have a very large number of rerentals and resales of units every year. >> best thing about working for the affordable housing program is that we know that we're making a difference and we actually see that difference on a day-to-day basis. >> being back in the neighborhood i grew up in, it's a wonderful experience. >> it's a long process to get through. well worth it when you get to the other side. i could not be happier. [♪♪♪]

>> my background is in engineering. i am a civil engineer by training. my career has really been around government service. when the opportunity came up to serve the city of san francisco, that was just an opportunity i really needed to explore. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] i think it was in junior high and really started to do well in math but i faced some really interesting challenges. many young ladies were not in math and i was the only one in some of these classes. it was tough, it was difficult to succeed when a teacher didn't

have confidence in you, but i was determined and i realized that engineering really is what i was interested in. as i moved into college and took engineering, preengineering classes, once again i hit some of those same stereotypes that women are not in this field. that just challenged me more. because i was enjoying it, i was determined to be successful. now i took that drive that i have and a couple it with public service. often we are the unsung heroes of technology in the city whether it is delivering network services internally, or for our broadband services to low income housing. >> free wi-fi for all of the residents here so that folks have access to do job searches, housing searches, or anything else that anyone else could do in our great city. >> we are putting the plant in

the ground to make all of the city services available to our residents. it is difficult work, but it is also very exciting and rewarding our team is exceptional. they are very talented engineers and analysts who work to deliver the data and the services and the technology every day. >> i love working with linda because she is fun. you can tell her anything under the sun and she will listen and give you solutions or advice. she is very generous and thoughtful and remembers all the special days that you are celebrating. >> i have seen recent employee safety and cyber security. it is always a top priority. i am always feeling proud working with her. >> what is interesting about my work and my family is my experience is not unique, but it is different.

i am a single parent. so having a career that is demanding and also having a child to raise has been a challenge. i think for parents that are working and trying to balance a career that takes a lot of time, we may have some interruptions. if there is an emergency or that sort of thing then you have to be able to still take care of your family and then also do your service to your job. that is probably my take away and a lot of lessons learned. a lot of parents have the concern of how to do the balance i like to think i did a good job for me, watching my son go through school and now enter the job market, and he is in the medical field and starting his career, he was always an intern. one of the things that we try to do here and one of my takeaways from raising him is how important internships are. and here in the department of technology, we pride ourselves

on our interns. we have 20 to 25 each year. they do a terrific job contributing to our outside plant five or work or our network engineering or our finance team. this last time they took to programming our reception robot, pepper, and they added videos to it and all of these sort of things. it was fun to see their creativity and their innovation come out. >> amazing. >> intriguing. >> the way i unwind is with my photography and taking pictures around the city. when i drive around california, i enjoy taking a lot of landscapes. the weather here changes very often, so you get a beautiful sunset or you get a big bunch of clouds.

especially along the waterfront. it is spectacular. i just took some photos of big server and had a wonderful time, not only with the water photos, but also the rocks and the bushes and the landscapes. they are phenomenal. [♪♪♪] my advice to young ladies and women who would like to move into stem fields is to really look at why you are there. if you are -- if you are a problem solver, if you like to analyse information, if you like to discover new things, if you like to come up with alternatives and invent new practice, it is such a fabulous opportunity. whether it is computer science or engineering or biology or medicine, oh, my goodness, there are so many opportunities. if you have that kind of mindset i have enjoyed working in san francisco so much because of the diversity.

the diversity of the people, of this city, of the values, of the talent that is here in the city. it is stimulating and motivating and inspiring and i cannot imagine working anywhere else but in sannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn