Mission Economic Development Agency

It is an honor to have MEDA's services as the subject behind Harvard University's latest case study. "When Families Thrive, Children Succeed": How the Mission Economic Development Agency Created a Transformational Prenatal-to-Career Model is co-authored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education The EdRedesign Lab's Lynne Sacks and Michelle Sedaca, M.A. Urban Policy │ Child Development. The case study highlights the strategic steps that propelled our growth, through the addition of Mission Promise Neighborhood, into a national model for place-based prenatal-to-career strategies designed to “build Latino prosperity, community ownership, and civic power."  From the case study: “For the people who live in San Francisco’s Mission District, MEDA has been a lifeline, providing access to stable housing, affordable childcare, afterschool programs, mental health support, financial capability coaching, small business loans, and a host of other services.” Read the case and highlights in English and Spanish: https://bit.ly/3TlhUhh  We’d like to thank our Mission Promise Neighborhood partners who make this work possible. MPN is a partnership between schools, community organizations, parents and community leaders to help low- and moderate-income families achieve financial stability while creating opportunities for their kids to graduate from high school and college. Partners: Birth Companions Community Center, WA Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), Felton Institute | Family Service Agency of San Francisco, First 5 San Francisco, Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, Homeless Prenatal, Instituto Familiar de la Raza (IFR), Jamestown Community Center, La Raza Centro Legal, Mission Graduates, Mission Neighborhood Centers (MNC), Mission Neighborhood Health Center (MNHC), Nurse-Midwives of SF Zuckerberg General Hospital, Parents for Public Schools (PPS), San Francisco Human Services Agency, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Office of the Mayor, San Francisco Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment (Kindergarten to College), San Francisco Unified School District (including Early Education Department), Support for Families, tandem, Partners in Early Learning, Urban Services YMCA.

How can schools partner with community and local government to better the lives and educational journeys of their students? Last Friday, Superintendents and educational leaders for districts serving 1.4 million students from around the country visited San Francisco to hear Mission Promise Neighborhood's answer to that question. Our esteemed guests learned about the Promise Neighborhood we created over a decade ago with San Francisco Unified School District, the City of San Francisco, community partners, and our vision to expand this successful approach into more neighborhoods to create a Promise City. They were welcomed by SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne, SFUSD Board Commissioner Jenny Lam, the Mayor’s Youth and Families Advisor, Hong Mei Pang, and MEDA CEO Luis Granados. A panel of community partners, led by MEDA’s Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer, Jillian Spindle, described the collaborative, data-driven approach our community is taking to improve academic outcomes for our children while addressing the needs and aspirations of whole families at the same time. Huge thank you to Yohana I. Quiróz, Ed.D., Chief Operations Officer of Felton Institute, Nelly Sapinski Executive Director of Jamestown, and Chris Tsukida, Director of Community Schools with SFUSD and Joni Chu, Director of Operations with Community Youth Center for speaking on the panel. The national group of superintendents is part of a fellowship created by the Harlem Children’s Zone’s William Julius Wilson Institute and the Harvard EdRedesign Lab to develop greater collaboration between school districts, cities, and community partners nationally. The superintendents read Harvard’s recent case study about Mission Promise Neighborhood to prepare for the visit, “When Families Thrive, Children Succeed,” which describes MEDA’s unique combination of cradle-to-career partnerships and affordable housing development, and the dramatic improvements our community saw in kinder-readiness and graduation rates. Thank you to organizers Christian Rhodes, Arti Doshi, and Wendy Viola from WJWI, and Paul Reville and Rob Watson from EdRedesign Lab, and so many others, for organizing this inspiring event! #MEDA

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: MEDA is honored to participate in Harvard Graduate School of Education's The EdRedesign Lab webinar series covering topics surrounding their most recent case study: “When Families Thrive, Children Succeed: How MEDA Created a Transformational Prenatal-to-Career Model” Join us on Wednesday, May 8th at 12 noon PST/3 pm EST, for the panel discussion with our leaders: Chief Executive Officer Luis Granados Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer Jillian Spindle And Senior Advisor to Promise City Richard Raya EdRedesign’s Lynne Sacks will give a brief overview of their recently released case on MEDA, and Rob Watson, EdRedesign Deputy Director, will moderate. To register: https://bit.ly/3UbjLH7 Link to the case study and case highlights (English and Spanish): https://bit.ly/3TlhUhh #MEDA #CommunityImpact #MissionPromiseNeighborhood #EdRedesign

With many minds, the impact is even greater. Thank you to Hayward Promise Neighborhoods for hosting the latest California Promise Neighborhoods Network (CPNN) Convening. CPNN’s Promise Neighborhoods, including MEDA’s Mission Promise Neighborhood, met with Cradle-to-Career state and national partners to collaborate and plan our collective work ahead. It was our honor to co-leading the planning and support for this event as part of our California Department of Social Services partnership. #MEDA #cradletocareer #PromiseNeighborhoods

BASKING IN A PROP A PASS: We have been basking in the glow of a Proposition A win from San Francisco's Presidential Primary Ballot. Prop A garnered 70.06% of the vote and will greenlight $300 million in general obligation bond funding dedicated to affordable housing production and preservation, and unprecedented support for transitional housing for women survivors of domestic violence, homelessness, and substance use. This is an important step to ensuring that we are striving to meet our Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). The passage of Prop A will help fund at least three upcoming affordable housing projects in the Mission and additional projects across the city for hundreds of low-income families. We are very proud of the collaborative effort and dedication from our staff and community partners. They dedicated hundreds of collective hours launching mobilization campaigns, voter outreach, literature drops, and community meetings. This win shows the strength of our community and the positive outcomes that can be achieved when we unite with determination and purpose. Thank you to our amazing community partners for their efforts to support this win including Calle 24, USM, LTF, LPEC, CCDC, SFHDC, TNDC, TODCO, LRCRC, USM. Photograph Credit: Juan Mesa #SanFrancisco #MisionUnida #JuntosAdelante #AffordableHousing

Our Vice President of Development and Communications, Lucy Porras, and CEO, Luis Granados, had the honor of presenting MEDA's cultural place-keeping initiatives to HUD managers, supervisors and employees at the OneHUD event in San Francisco. "It was a true honor to present MEDA's impactful story to over one hundred HUD employees in San Francisco," said Lucy Porras. "MEDA's trajectory has always been marked by transformative partnerships with our local, state, federal, and private entities. MEDA is proud to have its work and values align with the OneHud Strategic Plan. We look forward to continuing and maximizing our impact with HUD and other agencies for many years to come." Thank you for the opportunity to share MEDA's work, vision and impact. #JuntosAdelante #MisiónUnida #SanFrancisco #Housing #AffordableHousing

This is how YOU can help Mission students get to college: The 9th annual Mission Promise Neighborhood Scholarship Fundraiser starts TODAY! For the past 9 years, Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) and Mission Graduates have teamed up to help college-bound seniors at John O'Connell High School reach the next step towards achieving their dreams with a college education. Today through May 15th, help us reach our goal of $10,000 to send our amazing Mission students to college. Donate by texting MPNSF24 to 53-555 or visiting givebutter.com/MPNSF24

NALCAB Member Spotlight: Mission Economic Development Agency envisions generations of Latino families choosing where to call home, thriving economically, succeeding in learning opportunities, and leading policy and social change toward a more equitable society. Learn more: https://smpl.is/8wc4u

Thank you to California State Treasurer, Fiona Ma, for spending time with our MEDA clients and staff during this busy tax season to discuss the importance of strong financial literacy and asset building. While our tax clients waited for their free tax preparation appointments that MEDA hosts as San Francisco's largest VITA site, they were able to sit in and learn through the "Talking Taxes" seminar. Treasurer Ma, alongside our Vice President of Asset Building Programs, Ernesto Martinez, emphasized the importance of filing taxes early, and investment tools for building generational wealth. Thank you, Treasurer Ma, for sharing so many valuable resources that can help the state of our community's financial future. #MEDA #VITA #SanFrancisco

We fight for our families, and we advocate for our neighborhoods. This week, the National Promise Neighborhoods Coalition met with congressional representatives to request increased funding ($182M) for Promise Neighborhoods in the 2025 budget and for extended funding for successful existing Promise Neighborhoods. MEDA is proud to be in partnership with SBCS, Delta Health Alliance, Partners for Rural Impact, Omega CDC, Save the Children US and the William Julius Wilson Institute to advocate for this important federal program. Funding #PromiseNeighborhoods means supporting whole communities from prenatal to college to career through local leadership and community-driven solutions. To learn more about the National Promise Neighborhoods Coalition, visit: https://lnkd.in/gigsT9Qk #MEDA #PromiseNeighborhoods #SanFrancisco