i'm thrilled that we host this event today. to kickoff this exciting new project with ignite the vote. i'm a little bummed i did not get the memo about pink. i thought i was making a statement but it is the wrong one. we ksdz be a box of valentines.

so i'm so honored to be here with you and to be part of this event today. we are with gateway high school. more than 10 years ago gateway high school was the first school to pilot the ignite training program for young women to help them get engaged and part of the political press. we have a student who was in that group now a gateway employee. and here with us today. so i want to say, woo hoo. we are excited for this with ignite on behalf of young women. we know first hand the incredible power of young people's voices of gent z's voices and women's voices.

look at the stage, we have examples right here. we see it in our school every day and see it throughor ignite partnership. you know one of the proudest moments i can remember as an educator. i came here in 2008. when we were here with our civic students on election night. our whole senior class was here presenting about the election they had done a voter registration campaign. and we were all together with the results came in and obama was elected to be with a group of students they saw a political process that was representative of them where they could see that their vote and their voice and experience mattered was one of those days i will never forget. i have a feeling that today

might be another one. because we are kickoff this campaign to really engage young women and get them voting and in the political process. we see every day how amazing our women are and how far we can go with women at the helm. i'm excited. i am fortunate to get to introduce a long time friend of mine who is now the head of ignite. i'd lo of to bring up sarah guillermo. its a covid hug. we have known each other since 2008 when i graduated from my master's program at the age of 22. such a long time. i have grown with ignite and gateway along the way.

good afternoon. i'm sarah guillermo i'm ignite coe and excited be celebrating voter registration day and celebrating the youth vote. the power of investing in san francisco's young people in all of the young women across the country. ignotice for those who are not aware we are the largest and most diverse women's political organization training young women to own so they political power across the country and did start here in san francisco in 2010 and this was our first high school program temperature is deciding to be here such deep meaningful impact of everything we have been able to do the past couple years. you are think burglar your student i'm thinking about aland rawho taught here at gateway.

crazy circles here today. since 2010 we expanded 40 different states across the country and welcoming thousands of young women each year in our programming. these women have been taxling issues they know this is what is helping their lived experiences. we wanted to support them as they have their voices heard. and this can take different forms being a political leader in this country can look differently now it is be a policy maker. commissioner. we have a couple of commissioners in the house. or a campaign staffer there is a lot of campaign work and ignite remains by our young people every step of the way within their journal tow make sure they have the resources and the networks and mentorship they

node to unlonghorn their power. of the women that was a really long time ago and many more opportunity and this was the mentorship we need to continue to see within our country. >> as we know we can't do this work alone this is a huge partnership and collaborateeration we need all of you to share in our commitment and ensure the next generation and off the diversity has the upon opportunity to actually embrace our political power. our future and democracy depends on it. the words could not have meant more today then and there they have when i was 18 years old. so that is why we teamed up with the city and county of san francisco to bring the ignite campaign to the city's high school. giving women who i'm so excited for you all to meet. the tools and know how to

mobilize their pierce. the leaders are training piers to mobilize ooshldz their communities and breaking barriers every single day. oh . ladies i will welcome you back up later. you are like you said our names now we are here. we heard our names. and so our mission here throughout partnership with the city of san francisco in the department and with gateway who high school make sure youth eligible to vote are ready to cast their ballot in november and ballots are dropping in october, next saturday. and we than jenz is the fastest electorate in the country now this . is a huge chance for you to embrailles the responsibilities in this election. and we than the generation is going to inherit the challenges

we are face being today. deep breath. this voter registration day encourage our friends and family member fist you have in the texted anybody, feel free to do so. and embrace leadership and voice today. their voice matters all votes matter today more than ever. i am going to bring up our next speaker. the 45th mayor. san francisco a role model for us at ignite the mayor london breed. it is a reflection and result of your leadership as i have been watching. to credit a resilient and equal san francisco for all. il welcome you up and go this way. >> upon good upon afternoon.

i think it is i have been up since early this morning. first of all i used to go to this school when it was benjamin franklin middle school. this used to be the locker room where the girl's locker room was. but when i walked in here it to being me become to my junior high school days. i know you all are in high school but i tell you this story. remember the uniform it is you put your name on it and get dressed for the gym? this is where we did that. i remember it takes me back to we all than sometimes there are the prettiest girl in the school. prettiest girl at bench min middle school was sarah rodriguez. sarah smelled really good.

i didn't understand. in the same locker room where i learned about this deordorient lady speed stick with the pink cap what is interesting i'm like almost 50 and i still use the same product. than i discondition today i was anxiety row i had to order it and finds it and able to buy a bunch but i still use the same one. and i know you all are like why am i telling this story. i'm because that's why we are here when we get young people to start their lives off as soon as they turn 18. they are registerd and they are voting. something about that gets you hooked. makes you want to do that every year. because we know how important voting is. and voting became so important to me because my grand mother

raised me. she grew up one generation -- away from slavery. grew up in the [inaudible] and would tell us how people would die when they would try to vote. they were lynched and killed and hung. in the will south. not too long ago in the history of this country. she would tell us that and she took a lot of pride in going and showing up. and voting. she wanted her voice to be heard. that's why we are here today. because we know that a lot of times even in a place like san francisco especially with women we make up the majority of the population. 60% of women are registered vote in san francisco. and out of that 60% only about

52% showed up to vote for the 2018 election. and what does that tell us. it tells us we have work to do to support and motivate the next generation. if we don't do this. we will continue to see those numbers decline. we will be stuck with the consequences of people who say, you know what, i don't make a difference. i can't do anything about temperature you can do something about it. whether its making sure your voices are heard because you are registered or getting actively engage in the a capacity. even if not as like many of us who are really actively engaged we help i was in ohio when you

talked about the election of obama, i went out to ohio and worked 2 months when i heard the results i got in the car with the other work and we fell arc sleep and did in the wake up until it was time to catch a plane. i remember how proud i was i played a tiny roll. in helping with that result. ignite the vote is trying to aggressively make sure that we are doing our part to get people registered. we are in the telling you who to vote for. we want to make sure especially young women, you know we have power. in san francisco i played in the upon band and we played band regular low we were known as the

mayor's bond 've band the first woman mayor of the city of san francisco. so who do you think was the second. 30 years later, me. we have a lot of w to do. but i'm proud that the district attorney i appointed is a woman. person who is the fire chief of the city of san francisco is a woman. that our city add administrator and many leader in san francisco over 55% of like our commissioners, our directors and people who have a role in running this city are women. it is so important that we support, uplift and encourage women and know our voices can be heard. we don't look at ourselves as if we are in the cape okay. we are not good 95 when i was at this same school do you think i thought i would be mayor?

i never thought. never thought this would possible for someone like me. fact i'm here shows proof no matter who you are, no matter when neighborhood you are raided n. what is going on you can do what your heart's desire. but also an important part of that is to stay active low engaged to make sure you make your voices heard. and that's why we are here today. teaming up with the commission on the status of women for san francisco. working with ignite. going around to all high schools. trying to make sure that young people are registered to vote. that will be important because once you get started down that path. our hope and what data has shown. i want to do it and feel empowered when you do. you walk arnold your red sticker and you are like this and somebody say i will give you

free ice cream because you voted today. people are smiling at you all day because of that red sticker they are proud of you. they are praud this you exercised your duty to make sure your voice was heard. and that's why weer all here today at gateway high school former low known as upon benge min franklin middle school temperature is grit to be here. it is -- shot now after the global pandemic it is grit to be anywhere. it is great to be here with you and why am i wear thanksgiving bright suit and why did i not western to you wear your sun glasses before i wuk in the the door. so many people recognizing initial voter registration day where we highlight this and motivate people to vote. i love what women are doing in light of what happened in this country. with the woman's right to choose it is devastating to not just

women and the country as a whole it is important that women come together and part of coming together there are women around the country celebrities and hillary clinton and somebody we are dressed arc like from the suits a company from argin that appear in the san francisco to shine a light on voter registration day to get more women. majority of the other organization that is working with them to bring more attention and more awareness for the need for people to register to vote. i think it is voting suits you will see the famous people i will be with them. today is encouragement and support and today is about recognizing the need for all of us to do our part. it is great to be here with you. it it is like a lot of grownup boring talk i know how it was

when i was in high school. i did not grownups coming to my school telling me nothing today we are telling you something critical to your future. we are here temporary we are trying to prepare the city and country. this planet and what we need to do around the environment for. our hope is that you will also be the stewards of the country of the planet for the next generation. this is how it should be. and a lot of it starts with who we vote for. it starts with the ballot initiatives and the other things that have an impact on our lives every day. i want to thank you and bring up the next speaker today who has taken this and run with this. ignite has been an organization to promote and train women to run for office but kim elis has

been a part of dog that through programs as well. this it is a perfect marriage. twom partner and advocates. please, welcome the director of commission on status of week for san francisco. kimberly elis. mruz mrauz. >> thank you, madam mayor. i like to say hoe is redefining 45 as the 45th mayor of san francisco. we all are. i want to give an acknowledgment today is voter registration and getting more women. young women. nonbinary registered vet and a shout out to the men and the boys in the room today. i want to harken back to manage

our mayor said that is had we are experiencing today in this country and all across the world really is going to take all of us supporting one another in every way we can. and the research is clear. that when you have more women and young girls and nonbinary active and participating in all parts of society; it helps everyone. including boys and men. so, i realliment to thank the boys and men here today who understand the importance of showing up and supporting our women and girls and nun biin it is superintendent we node you as allis and partner and excited have you here. so good upon afternoon again and happy national voter registration day. today is a civic day of celebration for democracy and the opportunity to official low launch the department on the status of women's new civic engagement and empowerment

service your. national voter registration day was created more then and there a decade ago. the purpose of bring more to the fact that one in four eligible voter in the country is not registered vote. we know that benefitting from particular only occurs if citizens and residence denials are active, engaged and educateed leverage the tools available to make an impact in their communities. and our partnership with ignite and the ignite the vote campaign is a critical step ensure genz is influence decisions that have a direct impact on lives and livelihoods. we know that when young people, young women and people of color turn out to vote. change happens. dosw is thrilled civic

engagement through a host of trainings, educational workshops and public service campaigns with the goal of getting women. girls organized, registered vote. educateod issues and actively participating in all levels of gentleman. san francisco is known for being a trail blazing city that sets the tone, tenor and the direction for other cities and states to follow. today, san front is setting the stage for thousands of young people to cast their ballot in the mid term election. and not guilty process help to create a generation of lifelong voters. today's department on the status of women is informed by data and infused with confidence, conviction and clarity of purpose. we are deeply grateful for of the mayor for creating a city

that invests in improving the lives of women, girls and young people including empowering them with tools and resources to build path ways to health and he practice perrous futures. including and especially register to vote. thank you to ignite. thank you to all of you for coming out, thank you to gateway high school and let's go ignite the vote in san francisco. [applause]. >> thank you. director elis and mayor breed. okay. 2 more speakers. if you would like to join me up here. both of the fabulous humans are leaders of ignite the vote campaign and they will share a bit about who they are and why than i are doing this.

>> good afternoon, everyone. i'm ja mia and i'm a journal at gateway high school and an ignite the vote youth leader. the reason i became an ignite youth leadtory encourage peers to vote and help get more engagement with voting and why we should vote. and learning the history of voting. it is important for every youth to realize they have a voice and political power in every youth. >> thank you. [applause]. hi i'm rasan i'm a junior at gateway high school and ignotice to vote leader. i'm a leader because i want to teach more youth about voting so had they turn 18 they know what to do. in the past i never learned about the voting process hi saw the opportunity to be a leader i

sdieted to apply. teaching pierce about how voting is important and how collective low as a group we make an impact on decisions in society is important because i want everyone to know they have a say in our futures. >> thank you. [applause] thank you for being here all today we will take our photo and i think we are not going to have q & a but hang out. folks have questions. so, are we ready for our photo? yes! [music]

i'm currently an h2 firefighter for the san francisco fire department. i served active duty in the navy. i wanted something that was going to be in the medical field, but not necessarily stay in a hospital setting and i didn't want to stay in an office and this job kind of combines everything i was looking for. everyday's different. there's always something new and to learn.

and my first introduction to the department was being surrounded by people of the lgbtq community. and so we were able to get, you know, it just made things a little more comfortable that you could talk to people about things that people necessarily wouldn't understand. i've had to hide myself. able to come out. being able to understand many his and being able to do things in had that sense, it's very liberating to be able to speak like this, this city in particular, it's a mecca for the lgbtq+ community. you know, there's so much history behind it and being part of this community that now accepting us for who we are and what we do, we're able to just be ourselves. any time somebody finds out i am a member of the gay community, i don't get anybody talking about me, nothing at all. it's just oh, cool. you have a partner? like yes, i do.

they start asking about that and how my life is. you become part of the family and here in the san francisco fire department it really is just one big family. you know, it was my dream to be a san francisco fire department member and i'm here.

>> as many important decisions to make on november 8. tonight's forum will give you a opportunity to learnburn before you vote. the questions were submitted by district 10 residents and community organizations. now, let's begin. we will start off with 90 second opening statements in alphabetical order. welcome and thank you for participating in the forum. please introduce yourselves, tell us which neighborhood you live in and why you are running for district 10 supervisors. brian, you may go first. >> thank you so much and good evening to everyone. my name is brian (inaudible) i live in district 10. excited to be district 10 supervisor to try to better represent the district. th