San Francisco Sun

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today welcomed the inaugural cohort of Historically Black College & University (HBCU) students to San Francisco as part of the City’s new Black 2 San Francisco (B2SF) initiative. This summer educational program, managed by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC), is part of the Mayor’s 30 x 30 initiative, which aims to bring 30,000 residents and students to live, work, and study in Downtown by 2030.

As part of B2SF, a cohort of the Mayor’s Opportunities for All career exploration program, 60 scholars from across 20 HBCUs will spend their summer in San Francisco living, learning, and working. Participating institutions include Tuskegee University, Morris Brown College, Clark Atlanta University, and Howard University School of Law.

“We have created a program to elevate San Francisco’s premier education institutions and make our City a more diverse and inclusive place, and it’s with great joy that we welcome the first cohort of HBCU students to San Francisco this summer,” said Mayor London Breed. “This initiative connects HBCU students to industry leaders and opportunities for hands-on learning and can serve as a model to the rest of the country for how we can create sustaining partnerships. I am also pleased to see all the ways B2SF sustains our City’s goals to enliven Downtown, educate the next generation of leaders, and encourage new residents to lay down roots in San Francisco.”

During this six-week session, B2SF scholars will engage in lectures and workshops on various subjects and work in paid internship placements across more than 30 City & County departments. These include the District Attorney’s Office, City Attorney’s Office, Fire Department, Arts Commission, Controller’s Office, and Recreation and Parks Department.

The students will also participate in cultural and recreational activities in San Francisco. These include walking tours of Fillmore District and Chinatown; volunteer service at Glide Memorial Church in Tenderloin District; visits to Third Baptist Church in Western Addition; urban farming experiences at Alemany Farm; explorations of Balmy Alley; among other engagements. They will also be hosted at Lawrence Livermore Labs for regional engagements.

“Today is the result of intentional collaboration and hard work between many stakeholders,” said Sheryl Davis, Executive Director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. “Interest in this opportunity quickly outpaced original expectations during the application process. Instead of offering a pilot cohort for 20 students this summer as planned, we have scaled up B2SF to welcome 60 scholars to San Francisco.”

B2SF is a public-private-nonprofit partnership involving stakeholders such as University of San Francisco (USF), community-based organization Collective Impact, San Francisco Foundation, Genentech, LinkedIn, and Accenture. Scholars reside in USF student housing and attend daily courses at its Downtown Campus on Howard Street.

This cohort marks the first phase aiming to launch a satellite partnership with several HBCUs including physical locations with full academic programming suites. The initiative seeks to increase professional development access for HBCU students while allowing local youth engagement with HBCU programming.

“The City Attorney’s Office is thrilled to participate in this program and host legal interns from HBCUs this summer,” said City Attorney David Chiu.

“I would like to give a warm welcome to the HBCU scholars,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “I am confident that by the end of summer when they head back home they will leave their hearts in San Francisco.”

“This program is a true win-win for both these scholars and San Francisco's economic recovery,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips from Economic Workforce Development.

Dr. Jarrod Lockhart from Morehouse Medical School leads participatory research focused on mental health while other interns focus on economic security or participate in reading camps through different city departments.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Historically Black College & University (HBCU) initiative this summer,” said Dr. Jarrod Lockhart from Morehouse School of Medicine.

At program's end select groups will share findings with local stakeholders at events culminating on July 26th.

"I wanted...to experience issues relevant...to law government politics," stated Zacharie St-Hubert from Howard University School Of Law.

Samuel Rhymes expressed his desire "to strengthen [the] Black community."

Paul Nnaji highlighted mentorship opportunities while Kolby Tate emphasized support for black culture within SF.

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