A panel formed to explore the many challenges facing Sonoma Valley youth, the Coordinating Council for Youth Development in Sonoma (CCYDS), has added to its ranks education and community leaders committed to local youth efforts.
“I am extremely gratified that we have been able to attract community leaders and educators of this caliber,” said Dick Drew, chairman of the Sonoma Valley Fund, which founded the CCYDS. “We are actively working toward a 2010 summer program in conjunction with the unified school district.”
Newly appointed education leaders are: Maite’ Iturri, principal, El Verano School; Karla Conroy, principal, Adele Harrison Middle School; Camarino Hawing, member, School Board; and Barbara Young, education consultant, former school Superintendent.
Community leaders named to the council are: Les Vadasz, Vadasz Family Foundation; Pilar Cruz, member, District English Learners Advisory Council; Maricarmen Reyes, Family Services/Director of Education, La Luz Center; Bret Sackett, Sonoma Police Chief; and Steve Pease, member, Sonoma Valley Fund board.
The council’s first order of business is to develop a comprehensive database of the existing summer programs for youth in Sonoma Valley, and find ways to broaden youth programs and activities.
Drew also announced the selection of Ellen LaBruce as the part-time Council Executive to carry out the day-to-day work. LaBruce has 20-plus years of nonprofit leadership experience, including 13 years with La Luz Center, nine as executive director. Most recently she was Manager of Philanthropic Services for the Napa Valley Community Foundation.
In edition to the creation of the summer program, LaBruce and the council are preparing a business plan to implement the recommendations in Sonoma Valley Fund’s Youth Initiative Report.
The roots of the CCYDS began in early 2009, when the Sonoma Valley Fund established a Youth Initiative Committee to explore community concerns such as the perceived low numbers of local high school students going on to college or meaningful jobs, drug and alcohol problems, and sub-standard academic performance.
Over a nine-month period, the Committee met with more than sixty people, all of whom are deeply involved with youth issues in Sonoma Valley, including middle and high school students, parents, heads of youth-oriented nonprofits, school administrators and teachers, local experts, philanthropists, and others.
The outcome of these discussions was the development of specific recommendations to benefit Valley youth of all ages, with the primary focus on programs and activities directed at late elementary and middle school kids. To implement the recommendations, Sonoma Valley Fund formed the CCYDS.
To read the Youth Initiative Report, or for more information about SVF, visit sonomavalleyfund.org.
