"So, it's, a very, quiet but large issue in our community, especially when you know, Bay area should be the tech capital of the world" - Seth Hubbert

In this episode, our featured voice is Seth Hubbert the Executive Director of Tech Exchange and we are discussing how the digital divide is impacting low-income students and their families in Oakland the greater San Francisco bay area.

In a 2018 US Census Bureau, American Community Survey and San Francisco Digital Divide Survey between 32 to 41% of households in the San Francisco Bay Area do not have broadband. With the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic upon us ongoing Sheltering in Place and schools closing back down again the need for a device and broadband are a necessity to educate our children as well as to keep them and their families safe, and healthy.

For more insights into the Digital Divide please listen to our interview with Kami Griffiths of Community Tech Network in Episode 15. To hear more about the origins of Community Tech Network and meet some of its clients, instructors and Kami, please listen back to our 2016 episode titled The Digital Divide Have & Have Nots - How Digital Skills Changes Lives.

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

We're really trying to combat this amnesiac culture that we live in by bringing people together in public space, doing participatory community history - LisaRuth Elliott

In this episode, our featured voice is Lisa Ruth Elliot the Co-Director of Shaping San Francisco and we’re discuss Shaping San Francisco’s unique model of being a participatory community history project that documents and archives the overlooked stories and memories of San Francisco

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

Rome's Kitchen is actually the incubator for my family to help us get to the next level” - Rome Rogers

In this episode, our featured voice is Rome Rogers the founder of Rome’s Kitchen in the bay view hunters point neighborhood of San Francisco. Rome like many food entrepreneurs decided to take his love of food and hard work and invest in himself to pursue his dream of starting his own restaurant. Rome’s Kitchen is a unique Bayview mash-up of Italian and soul food. I’ll let Rome tell you more about how he came up with this unique blend of food and culture in the creation of his restaurant and catering business as well as the impact of covid-19 on his business.

The Golden Gate Restaurant Association has pushed back at the City of San Francisco’s latest roll back of restaurant operations with the closing of Indoor Dining. The almost daily changes between cautiously reopening restaurants and our economy and the increase of Covid-19 cases are having a devastating impact on our small business owners. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association estimates that the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on our favorite neighborhood restaurants could be that Fifty Percent of them will shut down permanently. For more insights into how Covid-19 is impacting our restaurant businesses please listen to our Episode 11 interview with Laurie Thomas the Executive Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

I think if anything, there's been more light and more sort of like, an awareness, right. Of small businesses, and how people really need to support the small businesses to, continue to contribute to the economy.” - Pooja Rajani 

In this episode, our featured voices are Andrea Baker the founder of both Andrea Baker Consulting and the nonprofit En 2 Action along with Pooja Rajani the Director of Programs who leads the organization’s operations and project management.

I first worked with Andrea back in 2015 in the production of our two-part series “Doing Business in the Bayview” which I recommend that you listen to for more context on her team’s efforts in working with the Bayview Hunters Point community economically and culturally to reinvent their community. You can find the two-part series in our archives on george koster dot com, click on voices of the community and on the archives.

Doing Business in the Bayview Part 1 

Doing Business in the Bayview Part 2

Andrea and Pooja have been working tirelessly in the bayview hunters point community of san francsico from our last great recession in 2008 to today’s covid-19 pandemic and economic meltdown. Throughout this time Andrea and Pooja have helped to incubate, cultivate, advise and promote food and beverage entrepreneurs as well as artisans in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood.

Their work with small business owners enables them to execute their dreams of controlling their own destiny and provide an economic legacy for their families. The backdrop of today’s interview is covid-19’s impact on the small business restaurants that make up the economic and cultural fabric of our neighborhoods and their struggle to stay alive.

 For more insights into how Covid-19 is impacting our restaurant businesses please listen to our Episode 11 interview with Laurie Thomas the Executive Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

“giving a voice to the manufacturing sector, to the City, our funders, everyone, hopefully the public, and then really helping manufacturers know and talk to each other and often partner with each other, which we’re always super happy to see.” - Pierre Coeurdeuil, SF Made

In this episode, our featured voice is Pierre Coeurdeuil, Director of Advising & Education, at SFMade. San Francisco had forgotten its history of manufacturing with all of the latest booms such as the first dot com boom, then the bio tech boom and now tech boom 2.0. In 2009 Mark Dwight founder of Timbuk2 and Rickshaw Bags came together with Kate Sofis and Janet Lees to launch the nonprofit SFMade. Over the last ten years, SFMade has focused on enabling manufacturing to return to its place in our community and economy and to bring the jobs and products back into our lives.

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

“Yes, it’s a pandemic, and yes, we have to stay safe, but we have to learn how to help each other. We have to learn how to support each other’s businesses. We have to learn how to support each other’s families.” - Michelle Pusateri, Granola Master, Founder

In this episode, our featured voice is Michelle Pusateri from Nana Joes Granola. Nana Joes Granola is a wonderful example of a local manufacturing startup that has incubated through SFMade. And who’s owner brings her passion for both healthy natural foods and putting the community before profits which is why at Nana Joes Granola every employee is making above minimum wage. And who named her company after her Grandma who she called Nana, and both of her Grandfathers named Joe! The name seems to exemplify Michelle’s love of family and treating her employees and their families like her own family.

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

“We've also learned is that, human connection cannot be replaced by video connection. The human touch cannot be replaced by remote. And so we are hoping soon to get back to that stage where we can see people in a room. We can, hold somebody's hand, we can look somebody in the eye, and hear their story and support them.“ - Doug Styles

In this episode, our featured voice is Doug Styles, the Executive Director of the Huckleberry Youth Programs. During the Summer of Love in 1967 Haight Ashbury San Francisco, Huckleberry Youth Programs became the first shelter for runaways in the nation. The program began as a joint effort with Glide Memorial Church and the legacy Haight Ashbury group the Diggers.

Over the last 53 years, their mission of helping free spirits survive in San Francisco has continued including the addition of an array of wrap-around support services such as their Crisis Shelter, Counseling Programs, Health Care Education, and Juvenile Justice Diversion programs.

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

“I think places like ours where you can come in, sit down and enjoy a full service dining experience; there’s something culturally refueling about that, about sharing a meal with folks” — Jeff Trenam, Owner, Blue Plate SF

In this episode, our featured voices are Jeff Trenam, Owner, and Shannon Walter the manager of Blue Plate SF a restaurant located on Mission and Valencia Streets in San Francisco.  The Covid-19 pandemic and economic downturn have hit our neighborhood restaurants very hard. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association has estimated that Fifty Percent of restaurants will be lost from the pandemic. Due to increasing coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, the City of San Francisco has paused its reopening plans that were scheduled this past Tuesday, November 3rd. The plan was to expand capacity such as increasing indoor dining to 50%, and now it will remain at 25%.

Jeff and Shannon at Blue Plate SF are a wonderful example of small businesses reinventing their operations to adapt to the almost daily changes of the pandemic and its impact on our community and economy.

To find out more about Covid-19's impact on San Francisco Restaurants, please listen to our interview with Laurie Thomas the Executive Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

"Arts and culture really drive San Francisco. A lot of folks think of San Francisco as being a tech city, which we are. But the number one industry in San Francisco is tourism. And there would be no tourism in San Francisco if it weren't for arts and culture." Author: John Caldon

This week's show is focused on our arts and culture sector which generates $1.45 billion in annual economic activity in the City / County of San Francisco and supports over 39 thousand jobs. In this episode, our featured voice is John Caldon, the Managing Director San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center. The San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center opened in 1932 with the production of Tosca by the San Francisco Opera. The "War Memorial" name commemorates all the people who served in the First World War. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. It covers 7.5 acres in San Francisco's Civic Center Historic District and totals 7,500 seats among its multiple performance venues.

The Center is comprised of the War Memorial Opera House, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, Herbst Theatre, The Green Room, The Wilsey Center (Atrium Theater, Education Studio), and Harold L. Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall, the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center (SFWMPAC) is a landmark cultural institution owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco. The resident performing arts organizations are the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and San Francisco Performances. 

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!

We’re championing a new generation of younger artists who were also looking at ways to make this art form relevant, contemporary, and even more equitable” Author - Melanie Smith

In this episode, our featured voice is Melanie Smith, President of San Francisco Performances. San Francisco Performances is an innovative curator of established classical music, jazz, and dance artists as well as a leading supporter of the next generation of performance artists with a commitment to equity for all. Their artist’s residencies provide opportunities for public school students who encounter music and dance for the very first time—to engage personally with artists and gain a deeper understanding of their work.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a very big economic impact on performance organizations and the performing art community with an estimated 50% unemployment rate for performance artists on a national level. The financial impact will continue since the gathering of people in theaters will be one of the last business sectors to re-open in the San Francisco Bay Area.  To Melanie and John’s point performing art organizations are being forced to develop new models of live streaming of shows and when small socially distanced audiences can come back into the theater the creation of hybrid performances of both on-line and in person could become the new theater experience. To find out more about how you support San Francisco Performances 41st season go to sf performances dot org.

Delve deeper into Voices of the Community Series on Arts & Culture, Making the Invisible-Visible, Covid-19's impact on nonprofits, small businesses and local government, City of Stockton's rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and our archives: You can explore episodes, speakers, organizations, and resources through each series web page. Watch and learn from all five series now!