Communities and recognizing the Important Role that our immigrants and communities of color play in contributing to the success and vibrant see of this city and nation. So were celebrating a city, country and world, for all the people. Not just some. Now id like to acknowledge members of the councilor course. Present tonight are columbian andre garafo and ms. Luna gafaro. And from guatemala, sylvia may and Irish Council general robert odrisco, from japan, too and general kamono and the Mexican Council general, ms. Arnault and wilma gondoy and julio huerta and im sorry if im butchering your names. From the philippines we have jedd martin leona and from singapore daryl lau. Everyone is important. We have a lot of people so im going to read the names really fast. If i have not read your name, come see my staff at the front and give them your card and well be glad to call your name out. From taiwan, alex lee and jesse chin of the taipei economic and culture office. District judge, the wonderful honorable ed chen. From us senator harris office, adam mayas and catherine pentako and from david chews office we have ye chu and we have a certificates from the office and kenneth chan, his field representatives will present that and we have some City Department leads. Our number one librarian in the entire world, mr. Michael lambert. Awardwinning library. San francisco county clerk, diana ray. The executive director of department of children, youth and families, maria sue and we are waiting for norman yee who is here. Great timing. Id like to recognize a number of commissioners but two that are here. Commissioner moses from the juvenile justice probation commission. A former Rights Commission and ms. Terrance clapton from the human Rights Commission. The honorable judge clapton. If i have not called your name, please forgive me but come up here and we can make up for it. So, we appreciate all of you who came to support the immigrant Rights Commission tonight in how hot is it . 90 heat at least, right. For most of you, with you know this event has been held at the same time every year for the last three years at the nba finals. Tip off time is 6 00 for game 5. Send your good energy to the golden state warriors. They need game tonight. See me later if you want the score update. So, for our official greeting, id like you to welcome norman yee, president of the board of supervisors. Ive known norman for over 30 years. We were children. And he still is the same, quiet, honest, inclusive and effective leader that he always has been. With an engineers mind and a love for salsa dancing, he always gets the job done so give it up for president norman yee. [applause] supervisor yee good evening. How are you . You know, i just really wanted to come down here, i just came from upstairs, to congratulate and really send congratulations from all my colleagues on the board of supervisors to the 2019 immigrant leadership a award reward immigrants on behalf of all immigrants. Its especially important in todays climate to recognize the contributions that immigrants are making and have made for centuries to our society. You know, through out our nations history, the role that immigrants have played in shaping this country have often been overlooked. In fact, mostly overlooked. So im happy today to be helping to be a part of an event that is celebrating and highlights our immigrant community here in San Francisco. Now, its really unfortunate that our political leaders at the federal government arent doing the same thing because this is what we should be doing throughout the United States to honor our immigrants and contributions. Immigrants like Frank Mccourt from ireland, isabel alonde from chile, Issac Pearlman from israel and so many more. They enrich our countrys cultural treasurer treasures wir contributions. I want to emphasize that immigrants have often been the ones that speak up first to call out injustice done to members in our community. Such as after the 9 11 incident, when muslims were under attack by our own federal government, it was those from the japanese heritage who had suffered similar scapegoating in the past who were the ones of the first to stand up and say an injustice to one of us is an injustice to all of us. I want to thank director pawn. Your staff and members of the immigrant Rights Commission for giving me an opportunity today to say thank you. Thank you to the awardees who continue to prove to the world that immigrants get the job done. Congratulations and happy immigrant heritage month and i really like to give all of them a big hand. [applause] turn it back to adrian. Thank you, president yee. Also i want to recognize someone else in the house, david saint mat from the immigration specialists and field representative for the speaker, Nancy Pelosis office. Welcome. So next please welcome adam mayhe, the San Francisco district director for the office of senator harris. They have been a important part of the commission and our office and a true champion for immigrants and the underserved, adam. Under served. There you are. Good afternoon. I have a letter i would like to read how. Friends, welcome to the 2012 immigrant Leadership Awards. The San Francisco office of Civic Engagement is committed to advocating for justice, immigrant integration and Immigration Rights. At a time when the unwarranted scapegoating of immigrants has become the norm, we celebrate the city of San Francisco for staying in solidarity with immigrant families. Today we recognize and honor the accomplishments of the immigrant community from know your rights training through large scale naturalization clinics advocating for San Franciscos sanctuary city policy and ensuring access to pro bono low cost immigrants services, the community has been a beacon of light and pillar of hope. I extend my congratulations to all tonights honorees. Thank you for all you do for strengthening our country. Warmest wishes for a wonderful celebration. Sincerely, senator harris. Thank you so much. [applause] thank you, adam. In addition to nba finals month, this is also immigrant heritage month and so mayor london breed who was not able to join us tonight has declared this officially immigrant heritage month in San Francisco. We will have a copy of this on our website and if you would like a copy of it, see staff. That feels great. So its my pleasure next to introduce the chair and the vicechair at the immigrant Rights Commission. Strong, inclusive and strategic describes the Leadership Team of the immigrant Rights Commission. Id like to introduce chair celine canaly and mario pots. [applause] im going to throw the translate or into a hoop because they wont know what it means. It means good evening and welcome in gaelic. Were delighted to have you all here this evening. I know its very hot and we hope that the heat in the room will inspire and ignite all of us to continue on the paths that we have chosen to take care of our immigrant communities. This is a very special night. The San Francisco immigrant Rights Commission is one of the oldest and few such commissions in the nation. For over 22 years, we have partnered with the city and the community to ensure the wellbeing and inclusion of immigrants. From language rights to inclusion and qualities of life for our immigrant communities, we have worked hard to ensure that immigrants are recognized for their many contributions and are treated with the dignity and respect that we wish for all americans. We live in what we still believe to be the land of liberty where freedom reigns and democracy rules. We must have faith that we, the people, of the city and county of San Francisco, and of the United States of america, can continue to build upon the success of our immigrant brothers and sisters to ensure equal rights, comprehensive Immigration Reform and fair and humane policies for all. Our dem ok rat see is at risk thats why its important to support immigrants and all communities who live in fear of discrimination, persecution and violation of their human and religious rights. At immigrant Rights Commission, we pledge to continue doing our work with honesty, integrity and competence. And in supporting us in that work, before i introduce the commissioners to you, i would like to recognize director ponds, and all of the staff at the office of Civic Engagement and immigrant affairs. They support each and every one of us in our daily work. They stand up for all immigrants within this city and they make sure that we are cared for, we are supported, and we are always to the forefront of the mind of the city. [applause] presenpresent this evening are r fellow commissioners and i would like to introduce them and i would like you to stand and raise your hand so people know who you are. The event co chairs for this wonderful event have done an amazing job of putting it together, choosing our amazing honorees. [applause] [applause] [applause] welcome. [applause] commissioner jesse ruiz navarro and commissioner alishia wang. Thank you. [applause] and i would also like to recognize commissioners Michelle Wong who are not able to join us this evening. [applause] can you also join me in giving our great chair anna plowanapplause for all her leadp please. Im excited. This is a day that we get to celebrate our immigrant communities. And San Francisco will always be a sanctuary city and it will always be a city that will celebrate our immigrant communities. Lets give a round of applause for this great city we live in and the values we represent. Id like to recognize some former commissioners. Commissioner toyia moses. Thank you for all your years of leadership in San Francisco. I believe melva. Shes a former commissioner also, i would like to recognize her. Thank you. Gave us many years of service. Three years ago, the commission decided it was time to recognize the Many Community leaders advocates, champions and supporters of immigrants and honor their powerful contributions. The late mayor, ed lee launched the immigrant Leadership Award in 2017. The commission is pleased this area to honor 10 individuals or groups who make this world a much better place. All of our honorees tonight have contributed in different ways to support immigrants and many are unsung heroes. We proudly salute them tonight for their dedication and fear lessness in fighting for immigrant rights. And again, we want to welcome you and thank you for being with us this evening to celebrate our immigrant communities. Thank you. [applause] thank you. I also wanted to recognize commissioner cal. And also our former San Francisco chiefofstaff under how many mayors, steve . Five . Steve in the back. Were going to move along to the awards because i know we are standing between you and that delicious reception. Our first award speaking of food, goes to our corporate leader Rainbow Grocery. Rainbow grocery is being recognized for support and value of workers rights and fair trade practices and policies and sustainable food. Good food. Since 1975, rainbow has supported local communities through employment and livable wages and donations to non profits and Community Outreach programs. And receiving the award for rainbow is lesley layba and the rainbow gang. [applause] good evening, everyone. Thank you commissioners. Its such a great honor for us to receive this award. It is particularly meaningful for us as those of us standing up here represent a collective of over 230 workers who own Rainbow Grocery collectively. We have done so in the Mission District of San Francisco for the past 44 years. [applause] for the 44 years weve been dedicated to our Mission Statement of having multi lingual workplace and maintaining a space of inclusivity where all people feel safe, and so this award means a great deal to us. Being situated in the Mission District of San Francisco means that we have enjoyed the generous support of an incredibly diverse and amazing neighborhood of people who have made what we do possible. And we take that very seriously. We also have an incredibly Diverse Membership within our own collective. People who have come as immigrants from all over the world and we have, for example, 25 of our members who speak spanish as a native language. So this is an amazing chance for us to feel honored and we appreciate very much the work that everyone here does. Thank you very much to the commissioners for this award and also for the work you do on behalf of immigrants. [applause] honorees. When you come on the stage after you speak, you will receive your award and certificate from our wonderful commissioners and then you can exit stage right. Is that right . Stage right. Ok. Next award is our Industry Leader and this is going to leo sosa. He is an immigrant from guantanamo and he launched throw Youth Technology programs before starting his own nonprofit dove mission, which aims to train young adults age 1624 for careers in tech. He has also worked in many neighborhoods throughout the city helping to connect low income families to broadband, distributing computers and building computer labs in Affordable Housing communities. Please welcome leo sosa. Hello. I like the sound of that. Now were ready. I would like to thank my parents. I arrived to this country of may 10 in 1985 not knowing how to speak english, not knowing about the culture, not knowing what was going to happen to me. I can tell you today its a very special day. I want to thank the San Francisco immigrants right commission for nominating me for this wonderful award. This award is not about me, its about thousands of young people that i have trained for careers in the Tech Industry since 2003. 60 of those people are immigrants. I just left the computer lab inside Valencia Gardens and i asked the cohort how many of them are immigrants. Out of 18, six say they are and the rest of them say their parents are immigrants. Imagine what were doing in San Francisco to connect these people in tech. Again, there would be no admission without organization likthe missioneconomic developm, Mission House and development corporation, the San Francisco house and development corporation, and mercy housing. Those are the pillars that made me who i am today. Without their support, theyll be no Youth Technology programs that i launched, no programs, no computers, there will be no subsidized employment dollars for young people. There will be no scholarships and there will be no jobs in tech. So with those non profits, i started building this model that were going to clothes diversity in the Tech Industry but most importantly, were going to connect high school, middle school, elementary and young adults to Career Pathways that theyre going to provide them to stay in San Francisco, Financial Capability opportunities and at the end of the day, theyll be the next immigrant leaders in San Francisco. So thank you very much for being here tonight and lastly, i want to thank my wife, my family, and everyone that has believed in the work that wore doing in San Francisco in Affordable Housing communities. [applause] [applause] moving right along. Next we have three Grassroots Community organizations in advocates that wed like to honor. First one is vanessa moses. A powerful black bay area leader and the executive director of just cause. She has a long track record of buildings and leadership of working class communities and in 2017, vanessas leadership lead to the formation of bay rising a Regional Alliance of community that organizations working to address inequality and vanessa was a co creator of bay resistance, a Rapid Response network of over 50 organizations. Unfortunately, vanessa is ill tonight but accepting the award for her is gloria. [ speaking spanish ] good evening, my comrade here and i are representing the work of cal sahouta. Present present present [voice of interpreter] thank you very much for this recognition. It means a lot. We would like for the immigrant community to be here as well. The community we work for and the community that works for us on the daily with a lot of effort. [applause] [voice of interpreter] i would like to say its the immigr