We Are the City Spotlight on New Door Ventures
By Omar Butler, Executive Director of New Door Ventures
The COVID-19 pandemic and “new normal” afforded New Door the opportunity to step back and rethink our work environment, both for staff and how we serve youth. As we pivoted our entirely in-person model to virtual, we were all showing up to the work in a different way. We spent a lot of time considering the best ways to deliver our model to Transitional Age Youth (TAY) while understanding their needs, barriers, and the realities for what life would look like when they emerged from this time. In a time marked by uncertainty, we are actually coming with a better understanding of how to best serve TAY and prepare them for this new way of working.
One of New Door’s mantras is to “meet youth where they are,” and while that’s looked a little different in the past 20 months, we’ve still been able to do it. Our nimble pivot to virtual workshops, case management, and internships has given participants the chance to prepare for a world that will now always have a virtual element to it. We’ve used this time as a high-impact opportunity, adding extensive digital literacy skill-building into our employment and education programs. New Door youth have learned how to use platforms like Google Classroom, Microsoft Office, and Zoom, and received hands-on experience and best practices in virtual interviews.
New Door has also bridged the digital divide by ensuring that all youth have access to the technology and resources they need to successfully connect to employment and education. 80% of New Door youth only have access to the internet through a personal or family smartphone, so we’ve also built out a lending library that includes Chromebooks and hotspots for youth in our San Francisco and East Bay Employment Programs.
Throughout this transition I have been continuously struck by the resilience and intelligence of New Door youth and our passionate, patient, empathetic staff.
As a San Francisco native and head of a non-profit, I wrestle with the question of whether San Francisco is a great place to grow up. I think that it is, but I think there are certainly opportunities to make sure that that the greatness of our city is accessible to all. With the museums, parks, and new amenities that continue to emerge, we have to make sure those spaces aren’t for a select few, and that all of the population of San Francisco is invited and embraced. It’s important for all of the intuitions across the city to look at projects through a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) lens, and make the right decisions regarding access, inclusion, and affordability.
San Francisco can continue its tradition of having a very ambitious framework with DEI, and really charge City departments with recognizing barriers to access, and designing programs so that those barriers are removed. The city has done a great job of making sure we don’t have soiled neighborhoods, but I think it’s unfortunately happened over time. The opportunities in more affluent neighborhoods need to be accessible to working-class neighborhoods, too.
The holiday season is here, and is the time most associated with recognizing gratitude. Please share a story, statement, or practice that exemplifies gratitude for New Door Ventures.
New Door’s oldest tradition, the Celebration of Gratitude, immediately comes to mind for me. Before pandemic and for the last 20 years, New Door would bring staff, program participants, alumni, and community members together on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving for a shared meal. We loved the chance to bring everyone together during the holiday season, and we’re looking forward to having even more to be thankful for when we finally reunite again.
