>> good offing welcome to the immigrant leadership awards. [laughter] i'm the director of the office of civic engagement and immigrant affairs. we are excited see this room to celebrate amazing group of immigrants today. before we get started i like to introduce an opening performance. please, give a welcome to our own immigrant right's

commissioner. they will perform a song called, roots. this evening for us. song was created by louisiana, a land fusion of comprising immigrants. this is dedicated to ourim grant youth. take it away. [applause] [♪music♪] [♪music♪]

[singing] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

>> thank you. [applause] >> give it up again. welcome to the 2024im grant right's leadership awards. >> celebrate oir our immigrant community. a reminder we have spanish, cantonese and filipino interpretation available. if you need services go to the back table. to ask for the services. >> we are delighted you are here for the the support tonight honestor contributions of local leaders, supporters, champ yons

immigrant communities. we'll do the ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgment, first. this is done at every meeting we have. ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgment... >> with that, we are joined by

two city leaders. we're grateful to hear from them today. first i like to invatd carmen chu on to the stage. [applause] >> carmen served as assessor. before that, a representative on the board of supervisors in district 4. the first asian-american woman to serve as city add administrator in san francisco. give it up for carmen. [applause]. >> good afternoon i'm carmen chu san francisco city add administrator and welcome you to the san francisco city hall. i want to say it is lovely to see friends i have known for years and so meant awardise recognized last year this . is my favorite events that is able to recognize the contributions

and to uplift the stories of ourim grant communities. gi recognize folks who joined people i thank david chu. dave you'd? gi want to recognize i see dean preston at the end there. >> joaquin torres or assessor joined us. [applause] and of course, many of our commissioners and department heads who are here on city librarian who was here. our department of technology who is here. [applause] and many others. this event is so important for us to continue to uplift the stories and the contributions of the immigrant communities. i think many of you known for my own background my family was

anim grant family of my aunties and mom and dad immigrates here many years ago. it took them a long am time to get rootd and make sure they provided for our family and i know you have a store tow tell about your own family who came or before you. those yet to come who are going to need our help to make sure they have a strong foundation in san francisco. because the truth is our communities helped to build san francisco we know today to builted country that we have today. and the strength of our city and the strength of our country come from ourim grant communities that is an important voice. [applause]. >> i thank the immigrant right's commission and all of the commissioners who have been part of the commission for helping to uplift of the voice and for hosting and creating

this event. where we bring the stories here in city hall. receive government to recognize you, your contributions and family the community. i want to say that the presentation or performance right before was really beautiful upon and if i can repeat the words i heard. because it spoke so much to my heart and what i think about ourim grant communities. they said, you other flower that blooms the river that flows, you are mountain that stands. you other tree that grows. isn't that amazing and beautiful? [applause] >> with that, today. i again want to welcome to you san francisco city hall. i also. to make sure that today weum lift you all front and center and as we tell the stories of each one of the awardees i will not say their names we want to give the irc to

present you in a way that can tell your story. i hope you listen to the store and hes be as proud of the contributions each of the awardees made to our city. without them, would not be the city we are. thank you for all of your contributions and hope have you a wonderful time tonightful thank you. >> thank you. will now i like to invite our city attorney to the stage. >> champion ofim grant rights in san francisco david served as the 17th district rep in the california legislator. and prior served the pedestrian board of supervisors in san francisco. he is the first asian-american to lead the city attorney's office in san francisco.

welcome to the stage. >> good evening, san francisco dom we have anyone of immigrant's back upon ground here in the people's house tonight? >> if you could look on yourself, we represent the diasbestos raof the world. it is humbling every day i get to be one of the public servants that represents the city that was built on the backs of immigrants. presence success dependsos and the future relies on ourim grant community. i want to thank you not just the awardees but everyone of you have played a role in ma what is great about san francisco. i think ooze my public servant cyst are carmen chu said. we have many chu's in san francisco a number of us serves

your elected officials. in is deeply personal. as someone who practicedim grant's right's law. i look out on the room and i see activists who work with me on language access ordinance on the board of supervisors. worked with me in the legislator on theim grant tenant protection academy and folk who is we started this conversation and dareed suggest immigrant parents vote in school board elections. as your city attorney i'm proud that san francisco is not just first city to allow that and legally defends the right of parents to vote in school board elections. >> i have to say we know we are at a moment in our national history when again. our immigrants are under attack

and family measures scapegoat today is important for us at this dark time for us to lift up the stories. lift update experiences. of all of the immigrant families from all community. and as well as the most fun krult cultural events from canaveral to neomatch and he italian heritage parade. i will not spoil the names of champions of justice of the year. i want to take a one point privilege.

>> and explained to his mostly asian classmates the history of afro-brazilian. and to me, this is what this ceremony is about. it is about uplifting that work and the work of each and every one of you because this is san francisco. this is who we are. and whether folks don't update everwant us here we are here. we are here to thrive and succeed. thank you so much for representing our immigration community. >> next for the inspiring words city attorney david chu

>> excited share that the mayor could not being here she sends regards we are excited share that june has been declared immigrant heritage month in san francisco by mayor breed. >> we have a copy of the proclamation here. i will not read it is lengthy. a lot of contributions we made. >> proclamation reaffirms our commitment to the city in supporting and uplifting our communities. thank you, mayor breed for the recognition. [applause] >> i like to welcome and recognize the members here today. i know -- here with us. [applause] and i like to

recognize supervisors and staff if they are here. president supervisor peskin i see staff. supervisor preston. supervisor safai's office. supervisor preston. [applause] >> and of course i like to recognize other department heads. i see the art's director. disee him. director --? there you are. >> thank you. and opinion public defender. i know i missed somebody i will move on with the list i welcome on the stage all immigrant right's commissioners. join me on stage.

as a commissioners make their way up i would like to introduce the chair and vice chair of the immigrant right's commission. >> thank you. director. i will give a shout out to the vice council fromire lands who joined us this evening. hiding in the corner. we are most pleased to welcome you all tonight for theim grant leadership awards. the san francisco immigrant right's commission held this ceremony in 2017 to commencement rit 20 years of the commission. this is our 7th leadership celebration and 27 here of the commission. we honor local lead and champs of theim grant community for unmatched leadership.

we hope this celebration serves a reminder of the beauty, strength and love our community holds. >> thank you. chair. those of you may not be familiar. here is a bit about us. immigrant right's commission a body to the mayor and board of supervisors on issues related to the quality of life and civic participation of allim glanlt in san francisco. our commission meets on second monday of every month. at 5:30 p.m. all of the meetings are open to the public. and we encourage you all to attends any future meetying or event. >> at this time, we would like to take the opportunity to introduce all of the immigrant right's commissioners and commissioners wave when i call

your name. in order by last name. abdual. [applause] [reading of names] groatings from commissioner wong. lastly we'll like to give a very special thanks and congratulations to commissioners frankton andric arty and louisia. who have served cochairs of the this event award committee. also joining were dmrns saraas the.

and vice chair choudary. thank you for putting this together. [applause] >> before our fellow commissioners return to seats we'll take a break and commissioners if i ask you to come forward, please. jury room like on acknowledge the san francisco board of supervisors have provide certificates of honor to each of our awardees this evening. they will be receiving the certificate when is recognize third degree evening.

now, i will understand that over to the cochairs of our award's commit each franklin ricarty to take it away and begin the award ceremony, please give him a round of applause. >> good evening. thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate ourim grant lead eshs. our first recognizes the extraordinary leadership of immigrant run or owned small buildings. that supports immigrant communities. tonight we have the honor of recognizing masha trig ler. with the entrepreneur leader award. [applause].

>> broke bearers received the title in brazil in 2013 the first time the school in thes world promoted a woman to the highest level. >> >> she began her journey in san francisco in 1982. and foogz share the arts with her community. lead to her obtain u.s. citizenship and build a community in san francisco. for 30 years she has united diverse populations in the mission, and made it possible for many young people to train for free. >> her achievements paved the way for women for the lbgtq+ community and student in san francisco and worldwide. congratulations.

[applause]. >> first, thank you for the commissioners. thank you very much. for the you know, having my name on the table and be able to be here today. as an immigrant came here 32 years ago undocumented, you said it allism start in brazil in rio. 42 years ago as a teen. i know the benefits that can give to young ones and no age

limit. improving lives and you become a better person you learn to respect yourself and each other. you respect your limitations. everyone have one and you learn how to respect also the limitations work on that >> always room for improvement no matter how old you are. the older you get better you get. >> another thing that i want you to take away from my experience. it is a big advocate for the portuguese language. the world speak portuguese. not through some football. because all the sons sing in portuguese and through that

well. african tradition in brazil by law and could not be practiced. many boundaries that brought you to the history and -- to the word of mouth to the generations they shareit@cbsaustin.com traditions and culture. that's how they came together unique and diverse. time to wrap it up. i thank you again for everyone. [applause] >> so much love. our next award is for grass

root's leader. this recognizes nonprofit organizations or individuals demonstrated extraordinary leadership forim grant communities. we recognize the work of search of the tenderloin opportunity benefit district. search helped create a safe space for families and youth in the tenderloin. since joining the tenderloin community benefit district last year, he started a soccer friday and girl's night out at the tenderloin recreation center. cofounded and chaired the south asian art's coalition the mid autumn harvest festival. executive director of the national alliance and the san francisco international new year festival in un mrs.asm welcome to the stage, search.

[applause]. [applause] lost my notes. okay. there we go. >> all glory to god.

i want to thank my family for the love and support. tenderloin community benefit district for this opportunitiful san francisco immigrant right's commission and civic engagement for rescue niegz my contributions to the beautiful, vibrant, extraordinary community. i have the privilege to serve. when you find yourself at the intersection of your passion the work is a labor of love. >> the pursuit merrill lynch dream and liberty, such as my family. immigrants are not different. both are work hard and tirelessly to build good lives for themselves. and good futures for the families. the tenderloin is if you feel

refuge and he was immigrants from around the world. it is the world's melting pot of people, cult urs and languages. as a soccer player, dad and coach i understood soccer was an international language that connects all of us in the spirit of play. make together world's beautiful game. as a youth manager i discovered a demand in neeftd tenderloin a sauf, fun youth center to play and promote individual and community health through sports activities. alongs way we uncovered moms and daughters who needed privacy for them to feel safe and free to play, too. had weekly friday soccer for elementary aged kids. soccer fridays free teen drop inspect was born in june 9 of

23. and we have weekly of 100 of people every friday. >> division and form provide youth and teens to play in a safe environment feel welcome, valued and recognize period. the space to socialize and learn. so case the tenderloin full of beauty, unique and diverse grouth. negative their if i have people read in the news. >> leaders lead with their vision. collaborating with partners who share their vision. i will leave you with a quote. if you want to go faust go alone if you mean want to go faurp go together. thank you.

[applause] >> our next award is the youth leader awashed. recognizes a courageous leader under 35. who thom insmier youth in their community. we're excited pleasant this award. [applause] >> a registered trauma nurse at the general hospital. a member of the diversity council educateos how to supportim grant communities. helped organize a health expo on

the ethiopian upon community in the fillmore and collaborated with restaurantses to feed frontline workers. she is a power house. she organized protests the part of black lives matter. cochair for women's san francisco and on the board of the mama g street dintory feed 62ed innersecure of the tenderloin. please welcome, saul am. >> wow. i will talk to you later about this introduction. not an emotional or public speaking kind of person. so this is hard for me.

so bear with me. as i stutter and have dry mouth. i will start take tout san francisco immigrant right's commission for selecting me for this award. the work do you is amaze and humbleed be recognized by you. >> honestly, i had a hard time accepting and hearing i was nominated and selected for this award and i felt unworthy and i still do. i'm inspires someone out there and if that what it will do i'm here to accept this award and -- today i accept this award with a deep sense of humill id,

gratitude and responsibilitiful i had a great opportunity, to meet a lot of people who have been mentors. and guide mead through nile journey of activism and advocacy. >> the most being my father. i had the pleasure being raised by a missionary doctor who focused on health out reach and add vo indicating for under served communities. i wish you could be here today. to witness the impact you had on my life. [applause] >> but i have a great support

system. i see my family, friends clothes in san francisco general here today. >> thank you for showing up. let's continue to show up for each other. the immigrant community. and let's amp fight voice for those who can't. thank you so much. [applause] >> you are 1,000 percent worthy of it.

next award is the volunteer of the year. this award recognizes someone gone above to support our immigrants in our community with their own dedication of time, care and skill. we're knighted present them to betty stockton. served an immigration judge from 1990 to 2011. the year after she retire in the upon 2012. president obama launched a deferred action for child arrival program. can began volunteer to help people apply. started as aville tear with catholic charities and now with the immigration of the institute. the longest serving volunteers for the san francisco path way through citizen where helpedim

guarantees apply for over 10 years. exetch fies the value of giving back to the community. investigation, betty. [applause] >> good evening and thank you. i am acity councileded by the people who have been introduced and when they accomplish in the

this area of san francisco and the bay area. i am thrilled to be here. and i am certainly hum belled because what i do is nothing comper seed to what everyone cells doing. thank you for this honor and i encourage anybody who wants a second or third career in their life to keep volunteering. thank you. [applause] >> the immigrant right's commission recognizes 4 outstanding community organization. who are celebrating mine stones this year. one is in the 30th year. another 45 years. another 50 years and one of san francisco's longest rung

cultural celebration in the 155th year. these community organizations entirely are mostly run by volunteers. san francisco's culture bear yearns coordinating ensure the traditions are remembered and honored by community members and celebrated. with that, my cochair for the first awardee. >> up first for special recognition the largest celebrations on the west coast. photocopy happened two weeks ago. carnival san francisco criminalitied to the missioning district in the identity for 4 decades. in the time of gentrification it preserves and celebrates traditions. carnival in san francisco began

in 1978 and in 1979 dancers and drummers were in san francisco went aapartment. every memorial day an opportunity to come together. we ever proud to present the honor. accepting this, ward is the executive director. congratulations.

thank you very much the good evening thank you very much to the commission for this special recognition. i'm a san francisco native and the executive director of carnival. before i pass the baton and the mic to two of my fellow colleagues i want to acknowledge our arn cestors and forefathers and elders who paved the way for you to continue this celebration to highlight and uplift and empowerim grant voice in san francisco. and robert or hernandez a mentor

of all of us and carnival san francisco is here. because. him. without during the everfurther adue. rosia. >> i'm festival cord narrator. to begin with we take over the stage. we are -- vocalists as we like to say. for me pivehicle with carnival for 4 years. holds a special place in my heard. it left me i was raised as a [inaudible] kid. and so carnival for me allowed me to learn spanish. two, encourage me it dem in my traditions. and learning about others.

and 3 grow close to my momim know grated here 20 years ago. carnival is roam. to 200 plus volunteer and it is crazy people that come that it am thank you for recognizing us. for me it is what creates san francisco frisch will pass it on to the production team managers.

next wee have another outstanding cultural cell bragdz that reached a huge mile stone of 50 years. the traditions of asian-american and pacific islander communities in japantown. began had 1973 for lead everiship opportunity for young people and honestor cultural heritage of japantown. today, it represents a broad range of a ap i communities. has staid true to original mission. building a community that celebrates culture and diversity. we present this the street fair. accepting is executive director grace, welcome.

[applause] >> wow. i feel the love in this room tonight. thank you to the san franciscoim grant right's commission. of course the director. and his staff. for you know helping to organize this tonight. we were so honored raft e mails from director letting us know we were receiving this honor and frank low we did not know the honors existed. thank you so much. >> the street fair start in the

73. during that time. alost movement in our young people. the asian. movement will was bubble and through that a lot of young people were fighting for their parents and grand parents. we saw community organizations senior service provider. japanese community youth counsels. china town youth counselsful many organization started popping up at that time of we are continuing will to bring the asian american voices here in to san francisco. and we have to show the people outside the city that san francisco so diverse. we have a rich culture. well is something going on every weekend during the summer time especially. we also street fair on may 19,

1974. it was not to celebrate japanese it was to celebrate malcolm x's birthday. fight the power. that's right. we ton bridge the bridges. and continue to work with partners throughout the street fair. i want to. thank the founders. still my brothers we are still moving for our community and embracing all. thank you very much. i'm excited prohibit our next award for recognition of the

parade festival. celebrating 30 years founded by the filipino art's exhibition in 1994 after 4,000 filipino families displace friday south of market to accommodate the mosconi convention center and the yerba buena gardens. born out of the community be activism to honestor legacy of the filipino community roots in what is now the filipino district in san francisco. the submission to broaden awareness and understanding of filipino heritage and traditions. cultural pride and emppower am. today attracts people from all overnight area to the 2 day celebration in august. accepting award is the president of the filipino art's

exposition, al perez. thanks to theim grant right's commission and office of civic engagement for this honor and shout out to commissioner franklin. the award chair for the nomination. i'm honored accept this award on behalf of the upon hundreds of dedicated, passionate and selfless volunteers partners and stake holders.

many others who throughout the year make this celebration of filipino community and cuisine to be proud. andism grant stores under represent in the mainstream media, tv. and we saw the few opportunity where we can learn about filipino history. remember our roots, honor the challenges and triumphs of those who came before us. cell brit a rich heritage. i have been a volunteer for over 20 years and i learn something new about my culture year after year. we are an all volunteer

multigenerational nonprofit organization and the it is an honor a labor of love. it is a reflection of the things we can do when we work together to everit should a common goal. we would love for you to join us at our [inaudible] happening on august 7/11 with a parade. at the yerba buena gardens. follow us on social media and visit us on our website. and lastly, i'm delighted to stands with fellow organizes from the market street fair. carnival and italian heritage parade. thank you very much. >> next award for special recognition the oldest parades

in the country. dating back to 1869, the san francisco italian heritage apaid the longest running italian heritage parade in the united states. it cell bralts the history and culture of north beach and accomplishments in the san francisco area. each year they recognize the contributions of community leaders and welcoming participates from across the became accepting this award is the san francisco italian pride president paul. congratulations.

[applause] thank you to the commission we'll get on this in a being second the award winner s you do the heavy lifting. we get to throw a parade. we have the fun part. it has been awhile, 1869. we'll be 156th this october. the thing that is in common when you think about the i talityians have been here starting in 1850 with 230 residents. to the early 19 huh's where there were 20,000 the largest in the country. to today. still, on our board of 22

members we have a number of italian americans with the first or second generations. and they are on the board of the parade today. i hate to tell you this to the leadership winners your work is never done. and you are getting started. >> so, it is a long tradition. we are proud. i'm paul. and i want to introduce to you our vice president this year joe. [applause]. leave it to the most person things the food. we say mafrja bena viva benny. eat well and live limp come have pizza and enjoy the food we have in the city. thank you very much, everybody. the parade is sunday october

13th for future years it is the second sunday in october. same weekends of. the past raid concludes when the blue angels get start today it is a great day we love to see you in october. most importantly like to thank our chairman of the board steve for leading us at each year. and want to make sure we thank the grant for arts without their generosity and contribution to our parade would not be possible. they step up to the plate every year and are we can't express our gratitude to them come thanks to the san franciscoim grant right's commission for this honor. and know that the immigrants in the room and throughout san francisco even though our cult urs diverse, our mark on san francisco through generations is

palpable. with this diversity everyone has their story. their struggle. successes. and they leave their mark collectively as a group that makes the city great. thank you. wee will move on to the final award i like to again thank our immigrant leadership award cochairs. i would like to express my gratitude and my admiration for off the awardee this is evening and you are inspirational we are so grateful for all of you.

>> our final award is the vera hail champion of justice award. this special award names a memory ofim grant right's commissionering vera hail amount powerhouse. a lifelong advocate forim guarantees. seniors and under serve the communities this . is for an organization, individual that is demonstrated courage for justice and equality. we are proud to present this honor to tom ryan of the san francisco labor council. [applause]. tom ryan has been fighting for union workers for decades and work centers on building opportunity for immigrant workers and families. he worked setum rise sf the only full service legal immigration

center in union labor council in the country. [applause] he worked on the creation of sisters with tools focus black and brown women getting career in union construction jobs. [applause]. and supported the sustainant of institute [inaudible] fighting wage theft for over 20 year in san francisco. [applause]. as the union leader tom has to ensureim grant workys have the seat at table accessing legal service. fighting for rights in the work place and supporting women of color to access high paying job in thes trades. tom, congratulations. [applause]

>> i know everyone is trying to get out of here. [laughter]. i will not be that brief i will be somewhat brief. >> i want to say that i am honored receive this award. the champion of justice award and i'm clear that the whole team i work with belongs here to accept recognition for the tremendous work they do. many of them are in the audience.

and i want to thank all of you for your support. in order to make change, i believe it is critical that those most affected be included. to be at the table to have a voice and mostly to have power. if you want to impact strategy for change those things are necessary. i believe i'm honored today the marker for the work done by amazing organizations. that i work with. organizations that impact the lives of immigrant workers each day. the most recent you heard about, first, we rise sf. we rise is an amazing multilingual legal immigration providers. within the san francisco labor movement. we work with hundreds ofim grant union member and families to become citizens and improve their citizen. to date we worked with over 50 countries and in exist annance

for 8 years. this work changes lives. [applause]. >> second is institute [inaudible]. we provide wage assistance for the vulnerableim grant workers. and returned in this year alone about more than a half a million dollars through wage settlements that range from a few handled to 40 or 50 thousand. the settlements help individuals and families, of course, validate worker beliefs their right in each settlement can be won. and -- the way i lo toik see the settlement system they are brick in a wall. and each brick -- that we add tells employers in san francisco not in our town ump can't exploit work and get away with

t. the third organization is sisters with tool this is organization and sustain nemgz union building trade's jobs have historically excluded women workers. the women go from their current employment to long careers making 60-80 an hour as an plumber with health care a pension, hope and a future. as a cohort they will change their fells in their communities. providing table anchors and role molthsdz says what women can achieve. all the organizations are focussed on making life better for sectors of the immigrant or black community. each of the efforts organization is staffed by lead by women and

men from those communities they are trying to impact. my role has been to support efforts and provide sustainability to do our work. i continue to learn usually i stands in awe of the strength and skill that thes staff, volunteers and fellow and participates demonstrate. san francisco buildings and construction trade's council. united way and critical funders from the city and departments like ocea and moh the state of california. and supporters in the ranks of workers across all the trades. and for me issue personally i could not have done this without my wife and partner. in all the of this work. who is in the audience.

what can be done and how far to reach our potential on have a labor move and want strong are san francisco. in closing i like to say, two prawn. grassia, thank you. [applause] give it up for the honorees tonight. [applause] our program concludes

i would like to thank you for being here this evening. together let's uplift each other. work, and celebrate our accomplishments, culture and diversity. i like to invite to you stay after for closing performance for reception. with light refreshments by foodism. and the irish immigration center. [applause] i want to shout out and thank you to the staff at the office of civic engagement for making tonight possible. to our language access team providing interpretation and translation and interpretation

tonight. to our dream sf fellowship partnered with the art's commission to create frescos in the back. and shout out to the community ambassador team who teach our neighborhood safe and support events like this. [applause]. i want to thank the planning committee who helped make this possible. in the spirit of this great celebration i like to introduce mixed persuasion a dance group performing traditional dance this evening give a welcome.

mixed persuasion on stage. [applause].

[applause] [♪music♪] with that

our program conclude and go and cell brit and congratulator hornorees tonight. have a good evening. clear clear

>> # >> >> >> >> you are watching san francisco rising. >> hi, you are watching san francisco rising. reimagining our city. he's with us to talk about how our library's economic recover.

mr. lambert, welcome to the show. >> thank you. i'm glad to be here. >> i know it's been difficult to have books going virtual. have we recovered? >> yes, we are on our way. our staff stepped up big time during the pandemic to respond to the health emergency. since last may, we have been able to steadily increase in person access to library facilities. currently we are at 95% of our precovid hours of operation. in the coming weeks we are going to fully restore all of our hours. we have four branches that we are going to bring back to seven day service. they are currently operating at 5 days a week and we are going to go to every tag line and i

know all the foot traffic has not returned to san francisco, but our library is seeing a resurgence coming back. >> can we talk about programs after covid? >> absolutely, that is part and parcel of our mission. we were doing that work precovid and certainly the library stepped up during the pandemic. we doubled our level of programming for personal finance, small business help, jobs and careers. we have a dedicated small business center here at the library. there is a wide suite of programs that our librarian led. we have a financial planning day coming up in october and we have financial coaches that members of the community can come to the main library and take advantage of their expertise. >> i understand the mission is in the middle of a renovation.

how is that going and are there other construction projects in the horizon? >> yes, we have major projects in the pipeline. the historic mission branch library, carnegie library over 100 years old and we are investing $25 million to restore that facility. we are going to restore the original entrance on 24th street, the staircase from the lower level up to the grand reading room. we are going to push out on the orange alley side of the library and expand space for teens and children, we are going to create a robust community room, a multipurpose space. we are also investing $30 million in the chinatown branch, we are going to upgrade the mechanical systems to the highest level of filtration as we increasingly respond as cooling centers and air respite

centers and open access to the roof. it has some unique views of chinatown to create the inspiring space it is. >> i believe you have programs for families that have free and low cost entries for museum and zoos, is that correct? >> yes. it's a fabulous resource. go to our website. with your library cart, patrons, our residents can go to the public library and get passes to the museums, all of the incredible cultural institutions that we have in san francisco all for free with your library card. >> how are these great free services paid for? how is the library system funded? >> we are so fortunate in san francisco. we are funded for by

the library fund and those that taxed themselves just for library services. we also get a dedicated portion of the general fund. that together allows us to be one of the most well supported libraries in the nation. we have the third most library outlets per square mile of any municipality. all of our branch libraries have professionally trained librarians on-site. service that we are able to provide, the collection, we are a leading library in our country. >> that lead know ask about your biggest annual event in the city. how does the event work and what's happening this year? >> we are excited for this year's one city one book.

this is our signature annual literature event. we have everybody in the community reading the same book. this year's title is "this is your hustle" named after the pulitzer prize nominated and pod taste. this is about the population. one nice thing about this selection is that they are both local. we are going to have several weeks of programming, kicking off next month. it will culminate here in the auditorium november 3rd. so our library patrons will get to meet the authors, hear from them directly, and one other important aspect about this year's selection, we have our own jail and reentry services department. recently the foundation awarded

the san francisco public library $2 million to work with the american library association to shine a light on our best practices here in san francisco, and really help our peers in the industry learn how they can replicate the service model that we are doing here in san francisco. >> that's great. well, thank you so much. i really appreciate you coming on the show, mr. lambert. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, chris. that's it for this episode, we will be back shortly. you are watching san francisco rising. thanks for watching.

♪♪ >> san francisco! ♪♪ >> this is an exhibition across departments highlighting different artworks from our collection. gender is an important part of the dialogue. in many ways, this exhibition is contemporary. all of this artwork is from the

9th century and spans all the way to the 21st century. the exhibition is organized into seven different groupings or themes such as activities, symbolism, transformation and others. it's not by culture or time period, but different affinities between the artwork. activities, for example, looks at the role of gender and how certain activities are placed as feminine or masculine. we have a print by uharo that looks at different activities that derisionly performed by men. it's looking at the theme of music. we have three women playing traditional japanese instruments that would otherwise be played by men at that time. we have pairings so that is looking within the context of

gender in relationships. also with how people are questioning the whole idea of pairing in the first place. we have three from three different cultures, tibet, china and japan. this is sell vanity stot relevar has been fluid in different time periods in cultures. sometimes being female in china but often male and evoking features associated with gender binaries and sometimes in between. it's a lovely way of tying all the themes together in this collection. gender and sexuality, speaking from my culture specifically, is something at that hasn't been recently widely discussed. this exhibition shows that it's

gender and sexuality are actually have been considered and complicated by dialogue through the work of artists and thinking specifically, a sculpture we have of the hindu deities because it's half pee male and half male. it turns into a different theme in a way and is a beautiful representation of how gender hasn't been seen as one thing or a binary. we see that it isn't a modest concept. in a way, i feel we have a lot of historical references and touch points throughout all the ages and in asian cultures. i believe san francisco has close to 40% asian. it's a huge representation here in the bay area. it's important that we awk abouk

about this and open up the discussion around gender. what we've learned from organizing this exhibition at the museum is that gender has been something that has come up in all of these cultures through all the time periods as something that is important and relevant. especially here in the san francisco bay area we feel that it's relevant to the conversations that people are having today. we hope that people can carry that outside of the museum into their daily lives. president kiy

brandon here, vice president kiy gail gilman, president. commissioner. willie adams here. commissioner ed harrington here, and commissioner stephen lee here. the san francisco port commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the ramaytush ohlone , who are the original inhabitants of the san francisco peninsula. as the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance with their traditions, the ramaytush ohlone have never ceded, lost nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. we wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders and relatives of the ramaytush ohlone community and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples. item two is approval of minutes for the april 30th, 2024 port commission meeting.