Placement: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission – Biofuel Collection Program

My Hometown: Westchester, NY

My Education: Columbia University, B.A., History & Theory of Architecture with concentrations in Comparative Ethnic Studies and Human Rights

Selected Honors: Young People For Fellow (2007); King’s Crown Leadership Award (2007, 2008); Senior Thesis Prize (2009) for “The Architecture of Protest: University Campus Planning and Spaces of Resistance”

Selected Activities & Community Involvement: President, Columbia Queer Alliance; Co-Coordinator, ROOTEd (Respecting Ourselves and Others Through Education); Undergraduate & Multicultural Recruitment Committee; Co-Chair, Young People For Alumni Board

Why San Francisco is Important to Me: San Francisco represents so much of what is good in the world. It is a paradigm of social, cultural, and political progress. The fact that San Francisco has the second highest minimum wage in the country, provides universal health care for its workers, has a strong political commitment to LGBTQ rights and the environment, and gives city ID cards to transgendered folks who can’t change their birth certificates and also to undocumented immigrants, are just a few reasons why this city resonates so strongly with me. Living here has changed my view of what city government can do. There are dozens of world-class cities, but only one San Francisco.

Something Unique About Me: I was born in the Bronx, NY, went to high school with Lady Gaga, and first learned how to drive a car on the streets of Manhattan. I am a proud Tenderloin resident and in 2009 I founded “Mama G’s Thanksgiving Street Dinner,” an annual street feast held in Civic Center Plaza that celebrates community, resilience and our common humanity.