Being a part of The San Francisco Foundation’s Multicultural Fellowship Program has driven me to think about my work in a way that it is reflective of the Bay Area’s spirit of cultivating change and closing gaps of social inequity.
In the months before the start of my fellowship, it had been my hope that I would have the chance to be involved in the multitude of programs and initiatives that run throughout The San Francisco Foundation. I wanted to understand the issues of community development in the Bay Area and understand what issues were being taken on by our Public Policy and Civic Engagement Program. Eight months into my fellowship I have been able to experience exactly what I was hoping for. I have had the opportunity to collaborate on several exciting projects that span the breadth of fields that the Foundation works in. Together with our Environment team, we’ve funded initiatives that bring healthy, local food to community schools, and with our Arts and Culture Program, we’re funding art education in community schools throughout the Bay Area.
We’ve worked with the Immigrant Integration Fund to co-fund an advocacy group that works with Bay Area immigrant communities to address LGBT immigrant youth issues. And together with the Community Health Program, we funded LGBT Legal Aid organizations to advance their work in addressing LGBT health equity issues in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act throughout the state of California.
These experiences have helped me understand how The San Francisco Foundation works collaboratively to support and build on the strengths of the community. It is my belief that this is essential in understanding how social justice work must address the interconnected nature of the communities being served. It has been an invaluable opportunity to see what happens when these values are embedded, not only in our funding objectives, but in the very groundwork of The San Francisco Foundation.