Mayor Lurie Kicks Off Summer 2025 Opportunities For All, Black 2 San Francisco Programs

 Mayor Daniel Lurie kicked off the Opportunities for All (OFA) and Black 2 San Francisco (B2SF) summer internship initiatives, opening doors to new hands-on career development experiences for young people in the city and driving economic recovery by investing in future generations. Administered by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC), the programs leverage partnerships with major city employers to give young people the tools to find and succeed in good-paying jobs.

The kickoff of the programs builds on Mayor Lurie’s work to drive San Francisco’s recovery by investing in the city’s young people. In his proposed budget, Mayor Lurie protected important support for legal services in the city’s immigrant community, LGBTQ+ community, and families. Earlier this month, he celebrated the opening of a community resource center that will provide services preparing young people for higher education and employment, and support community-based services, driving the city’s economic recovery. 

“San Francisco needs young people—your energy, your creativity, your heart—to help us build a city that works for everyone and that’s ready for the challenges that lie ahead,” said Mayor Lurie. “Opportunities for All and Black to SF are giving young people the chance to build the skills, connections, and experiences that will shape them into the next generation of San Francisco’s leaders.”

Since 2019, OFA has placed nearly 15,000 interns in meaningful summer internship assignments across public, private, and nonprofit sectors in San Francisco and this summer nearly 2,000 students have been placed. Interns aged 13 to 24 are placed in cohorts and based on their interests, matched, and assigned to work at least 20 hours per week at partner sites including Accenture and other corporate locations, Code Tenderloin and other community-based organizations, and a variety of city and county of San Francisco departments and agencies.

Now in its second summer, B2SF will welcome 70 participants to live, work, and learn in the city. Many B2SF interns are undergraduate students at historically Black colleges and universities and are making critical connections to San Francisco’s economy and culture. 

“We know what a crucial responsibility it is to open doors and create pathways for our young people,” said Mawuli Tugbenyoh, HRC Acting Executive Director. “Significant and impactful exposure to a variety of fields, and to mentors in industry areas where they have an interest, is something every teen and young person in San Francisco should have access to, regardless of their home neighborhood or family income. And now, as we welcome the second summer cohort of B2SF interns, it demonstrates our ability to create opportunities for the next generation of the city’s workforce. I am grateful to all the staff and placement partners for their hard work on this.”

Both initiatives are public-private partnerships, drawing from public city funds, private philanthropic dollars, and nonprofit engagement support, as well as the state Youth Jobs Corps. Anchor partner Japanese Community Youth Council, a community-based youth development organization in the Western Addition, supports with managing all intern applications and materials.

Initiative fellows serve as peer leaders for both OFA and B2SF. Fellows are primarily past participants who offer their experience and perspective to current interns. All participants have access to training and professional development opportunities, including around financial literacy and career networking.

“When Opportunities for All was launched, the aim was to provide every young person who applied with quality work experience—a chance for actual career development that is so often out of reach for teens and youth in the city who do not have the connections or family resources that their peers might enjoy," said District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton.  “OFA, and now Black to San Francisco as well, represent a chance for exposure and real advancement for so many, and are an example of meaningful youth development that works for all involved. I am glad these initiatives have been given the support needed to continue.”

“As an alumna of this program, Opportunities for All is very close to my heart,” said Kahmarii Jones-White, HRC OFA Payroll Analyst and former OFA participant. “Opportunities for All, to me, means a chance for everyone to learn and to challenge themselves and each other. From my perspective, as a former participant for five summers and now as a staff member for two years at HRC, I am so thrilled to be supporting and advancing this work.”

“I have been part of Opportunities for All for six years, starting as the youngest extern at Airbnb, then earning a year-round appointment with the Public Defender’s Office,” said India Brar, OFA Fellow and UCLA student. “Following that, I became a fellow in the Department of City Planning, and now I’m thrilled to be serving as a senior fellow for the entire initiative. I am excited to work with our team to foster professional development for the youth of San Francisco this summer and to give back to the program that has given me so much.”

SOURCE: https://www.sf.gov/news-mayor-lurie-kicks-off-summer-2025-opportunities-for-all-black-2-san-francisco-programs