MEDIA ADVISORY: Successful City/UCSF Welfare-to-Work Partnership Honors Graduates

WHAT: Newly minted UCSF interns from EXCEL, the model welfare-to-work program run jointly by UCSF and the City and County of San Francisco, graduate this Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.

EXCEL (Excellence through Community Engagement & Learning) is a job training program that UCSF established in 1998 to extend opportunities to the economically distressed neighborhoods near its campus and the surrounding biotech hub at Mission Bay.

With support from the City and County of San Francisco and the Salesforce.com Foundation, EXCEL is highly touted by city leaders as an example of what can be done when programs are carefully overseen by employers who need entry-level workers.

Over a 15-year period, EXCEL has graduated more than 180 San Francisco residents, including many who ultimately obtained career employment throughout UCSF. This year, the program was expanded with the financial support of the Salesforce.com Foundation, and UCSF now enrolls about 40 interns per year. 

Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) runs the 10-week course, which includes training in computers, administration, customer service and medical terminology. Participants are then placed in paid, four-month clerical/administrative internships at UCSF.

WHEN: Friday, October 25, 2013, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: UCSF Mission Bay Community Center, Fisher Room, 1675 Owens Street, San Francisco, CA 94143

CONTACT: Media interested in covering the event should RSVP to Laura Kurtzman at [email protected] or 415-476-3163.