SFPD Chief of Police Greg Suhr & SF.CITI Celebrate 3rd Annual Future Graduates Internship Program

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, San Francisco Chief of Police Greg Suhr and sf.citi celebrated the completion of the 3rd annual Future Graduates summer tech internship program, honoring students with stipends and certificates of achievement. The closing ceremony featured representatives from participating San Francisco based technology companies, SFPD Command staff, SFPD Youth and Community Engagement, the San Francisco Police Foundation, sf.citi spokesperson and SFUSD students enrolled in this year’s summer program.

“We are investing in our young people and making sure they receive the best education and have access to meaningful job experiences so that they can succeed in the 21st Century economy,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “The San Francisco Police Foundation, in partnership with sf.citi through the Future Graduates program, is supporting my San Francisco

Summer Jobs+ Initiative, so we can continue to prepare our next generation of leaders.”

A partnership between the San Francisco Police Foundation and San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation (sf.citi), the Future Graduates summer tech internship program was created as part of Mayor Lee’s Summer Jobs+ Initiative to enhance local high school youth access to real-­-world job training, placing students at innovative San Francisco based technology companies in paid summer internships. Preparing them for future success, the program encourages students to graduate from high school, pursue fulfilling careers, and lead productive, healthy lives, highlighting the innumerable possibilities of learning that lie ahead.

“We've been trumpeting that honest, paid employment for young people is essential to their well-­-being,” said San Francisco Chief of Police Greg Suhr. “It keeps them on the right path to making good choices and with a bright future ahead. Happiness lies in the knowledge that you are valued, and paid employment does just that. We want every child in San Francisco to be happy, healthy, and safe. A cornerstone of SFPD’s private sector jobs program, in partnership with SF Unified School District, sf.citi and local community leaders, Future Grads has provided our young people with the opportunity to show what they can do when simply given the chance, and again this summer the kids made the most of it. Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s program happen and for sf.citi’s continued commitment, encouraging our City’s young people every step of the way.”

Over thirty San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) high school students, ages 14 -­- 18 participated in this year’s paid summer internships at seventeen innovative, San Francisco-­-based sf.citi member companies and partner organizations, including: Sincerely, Relevance, Traba, Black Girls Code, Sidecar, Kanjoya, Emerge Digital, Shasta Crystals Inc, AfterCollege, Office of Assemblymember Phil Ting, Assurance Data, AFAR Media, Aemass, AKQA, Shopseen, ThoughtWorks and Mobiquity.

“I've learned the dynamics of customer satisfaction and social media. sf.citi gave me the opportunity to start in the modern work force,” said student Rene Barron, intern at local tech company, Sincerely. “The first week on the job, I was assigned to be the Social Media Manager, collecting content that would attract followers of each social network and each app and account, making sure there were no 'posting gaps,’ keeping the audience or ‘followers’ entertained, while following up on statistics on how well posts are being seen, liked, commented and shared.”

Renewing their commitment in supporting the previous two years of the program, sf.citi again provided a $50,000 grant to fund the student stipends in 2014. The eight-­-week program began in early June with a tech skills orientation lead by sf.citi member company, Sincerely. Throughout their internships, students received exposure to various roles at each participating host company or organization, working on a variety of projects including but not limited to social media campaigns, analytics tracking and analysis, research, marketing, product testing, quality assurance, creating multimedia content, engineering and coding, and software development.

“We are excited to see the great strides our future graduates have made in just a few short weeks. No doubt these students are the future leaders of our local tech sector and community,” said Alex Tourk, sf.citi’s managing director. “sf.citi was proud to again stand with Mayor Lee and Chief Suhr to provide access for young San Franciscans to our local innovation economy, a partnership demonstrating our ‘OneCity’ commitment bringing government, community and tech together to improve the lives of all San Franciscans.”

The Future Graduates Summer Tech Internships program has been an ongoing, integral component of Mayor Ed Lee's San Francisco Summer Jobs+ Initiative. The program has also been adopted by other municipalities as a model for public-­-private partnership, such as the New York City Department of Small Business Services Tech Internships program, and has been honored nationally by the White House Champions of Change program recognizing every day Americans who are making positive changes in their communities.

Future Graduates is a cornerstone program of the San Francisco Police Foundation, a non-­-profit organization formed by citizens in 2011 to aid San Francisco police officers in their service to community. Future Graduates prepares students for success, encouraging them to graduate high school, pursue fulfilling careers, and lead productive, healthy lives.

The San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation (sf.citi) is an organization committed to leveraging the power of the tech community around civic action in San Francisco. Launched in 2012, they have supported innovative policies, advocated for tech sector growth and worked collaboratively with government and communities to find new solutions to historic problems facing San Francisco.