S.F. plans to provide teens jobs, internships

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is expected to unveil an initiative Wednesday intended to give as many as 3,000 high school students paid internships and job-training opportunities by next summer.

“Opportunities for All” is aimed at providing youth with more chances to earn a $15 hourly paycheck, receive guidance from mentors and explore careers in real-world settings.

City officials are working to create more internships in government departments, but the initiative will also require the voluntary participation of nonprofit groups and the private sector.

The city is also looking to raise $2 million to help create more internships. Companies that can’t bring on paid summer workers can donate to the fund, and the money would be used to create openings at nonprofits and other organizations.

In a statement, Breed framed the initiative as a way to confer some of the benefits of San Francisco’s booming economy to the city’s

youth and to ensure that all kids can access paid job-training programs.

“It’s about building those relationships, building soft skills, getting kids used to showing up on time, what attire to wear — that’s the beginning of getting an entry-level understanding of what it is to work,” said Sheryl Evans Davis, executive director of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission who is helping to lead the initiative.

The program envisions four-week paid internships, with students working up to 20 hours a week during the summer. About a third of the new internships will be set aside for disadvantaged youth who may need more intensive training before they entering the workforce.

Over the next few months, the city will begin spreading the word about the new internship opportunities by hosting job fairs at high schools.

“We’ll be working with (the San Francisco Unified School District) to make sure everyone knows what’s out there and available,” Davis said. “And we’ll see where the kids are — how many have had jobs before, what their interests are — to try to get some alignment there” between the students’ interests and potential internship placements.

As a mayoral candidate, Breed frequently returned to her own early experiences working in professional settings. At age 14, Breed got a paid internship, found by the Japanese Community Youth Council, at the Family School, a nonprofit that provides services to young families. She took on basic office duties — filling out paperwork, answering phones and other administrative tasks — and she describes her time there as formative.

“My own internship experiences in high school were essential to my success, and I want every kid in San Francisco to have that same opportunity,” she said.

She proposed expanding internship programs while on the campaign trail when asked about how, as mayor, she would seek to chart the next chapter of the city’s relationship with the tech industry in particular.

City officials also see the Opportunities for All project as a way to begin collecting more data about how the internships are working, who they’re helping and who the programs are still failing to reach. Davis said between 5,000 and 7,000 San Francisco youth who take on internships and jobs each summer, “but what we haven’t known is if that’s 5,000 unique students or if that’s people working multiple jobs,” she said.

“We need to talk about where the gaps are and make sure people suffering from inequities can develop skills and build a network and get some employment. The main thing the mayor wants is greater access.”

“My own internship experiences in high school were essential to my success.” Mayor London Breed