Tag: #CSCUSA2

This is a long one, another cuppa might be in order. Enjoy!

Friday was an opportunity to understand in part what United Way Bay Area (UWBA) was about, why the UWBA employees are so passionate! Over the past 3 weeks we had heard so much about Sparkpoint Centers, just one of the many services that UWBA provides. So it was a field trip of the interesting kind!

Heading out for a field trip required a Cable Car ride down California Ave, catching a train experiencing the BART public transport, out to Richmond. This trip provided an opportunity to see the landscape change from the inner city to suburbia as we all wondered what was ahead for the day. In Richmond, we were met by Nicole, Meghan and Ansa (Atlas Fellow) where we were to pile into the cars and continue on. This field trip provided an opportunity to get to know our hosts a little more, asking lots of questions about UWBA, and to understand the passions of why they do what they do.

Train trip selfies and the wall art at the Richmond Station.

First stop was the Contra Costa County Sparkpoint Center. The role and service of a Sparkpoint Center is to be a one-stop assistance for low-income families and individuals to help them become financially stable, which includes high wage job training, and debt and credit counseling.

Meghan is leaving UWBA, with next week being her last week. But she is certainly not going to be too far away from UWBA, as she spreads her knowledge and passion at her new work location … the Contra Costa Sparkpoint Center in Richmond. She will be the new Site Co-ordinator for the area, touching many lives at the ground level. Meghan will be using an ECM database entering key data that flows into UWBA, that helps to see and report on the important work that the Center is doing to support the families. She will be a great role model for all the Sparkpoints in the local surrounding areas.

A short tour by the energised and passionate Regina, together with Nicole, provided a real insight to the services that the Center provides for the low income families such as a space for Tech Hub where people can learn computer skills. The Center also provides a space for legal support service, credit and financial counseling and career coaching and connection to other financial services.

This cheque from Chevron, one of UWBA’s partners, proudly hanging on the wall and spoken of. It provided the important funding back in 2011 to get the Center up and running. Also acknowledged, was The City of Richmond donates the space for the Center to run their services out of which means what the Center saves on rent, goes back into the community. With the support of partners like this, it is helping the mission of breaking the cycle of poverty in the Bay Area.

A group picture with Regina, Meghan, and Ansa (Atlas Fellow). Regina did a wonderful job in explaining all about the services provided by this Sparkpoint Center. Her enthusiasm and passion was evident. Regina has been researching ways on further helping low income families with getting into affordable housing in the area. She even spoke about an initiative that was happening that she thinks could easily be implemented here in the US for the thousands of low income families. She handed over a document that she had printed out which I read with interest. ICON has developed a method for 3D printing a single story 650-square-foot house out of cement in only 12-24 hours using a Vulcan printer for about $10K. If all goes to plan, a community will be made up of about 100 homes for residents in El Salvador next year. Regina thinks why not here! She would love to work with someone, anyone, to get this going in the Bay Area! When she shared this with us, I thought it was worthwhile mentioning here in the hope that it might help Regina’s dream if someone was to take on the challenge!

Next site visit was the Napa Sparkpoint Center which is part of a local school community. Here we met with Lupita, Ligia, and Maria. Again, the passion evident! SparkPoint Napa provides collaboration between On The Move, Phillips Elementary School and Napa County Health and Human Services, to bring more resources, connections and opportunities to the low income families in the Neighborhood.

Here Lupita and Ligia share the type of services they provide to the community with the help from four parent interns, and partnerships such as with On the Move organisation, on important areas such as:

• being a VITA site providing a service to help families prepare and complete their yearly income tax W2 documentation.
• Medi-Cal application support to obtain medical insurance
• Citizenship Legal Services that helps legal permanent residents become U.S. Citizens at a low cost
• Citizenship classes and tutoring
• Support for other services such as emergency funding in the recent fires that were in the Napa Region.
• helping to bridge parents with the local school, organising parent / teacher conferences to support their children.
• run programs such as how parents can teach their children the value of the $$, healthy and affordable meals, how to purchase a vehicle (which provides necessary skills on how to calculate their monthly payment, understanding dealership charges, what is a down payment and interest, and getting car insurance), English classes, etc.

Later in the afternoon, we were able to visit and see some of the local employment areas, enjoy a good ole California Burger experience for lunch, and visit a couple of wineries. Napa County is north of San Francisco, in California. As we were driving around the local area, we were able to see many hillside vineyards in the Napa Valley wine region, and good markets with regional gourmet food. There is also a Napa Valley Wine Train which is a vintage locomotive and traveling restaurant that runs through the valley. This whole area is where these types of places that we saw, provides a wide range of seasonal work for a lot of the local families in the area. Being seasonal, means that families have to save hard during the on seasons, to ensure that there is money to get through those off seasons.

The Wine Restaurant Train

Nicole and I amongst some beautiful flowers and garden.

Sutter Home Winery has been around since late 1800s. Sutter Home Winery is one of the largest family-run independent wineries in the United States, and is the estate known for the creation of White Zinfandel.

Front – Benedicte and Meghan; Middle – Ricardo and Nicole; Back – Susannah and Ansa

The day was finished late with dinner at an interesting and popular Italian Pizza Bistro – BOTTO. There was an interesting story behind this little place, where the owners took on a company that provided reviews – Yelp! As the owners were not interested in being part of the “Yelp Community”, Yelp retaliated by adding an algorithm that put the worst reviews as first. To not be outdone by this, the Owners turned this around to their advantage, they put up that people would get a free pizza initially for adding a 1 star rating which has ended up being a melt down for Yelp. Now it has become the norm, you visit BOTTO’s, you add a 1 star review. So far as advertised on BOTTO’s website is:
THE YELP VAFFANCULO METER
A daily count to all the one star reviews the idiots at Yelp are removing
from our profile. It’s going to take them a while
LIVE UPDATE SO FAR 2,993

Love the story, Authentic Tuscan cooking with attitude, also specializing in getting the worst reviews on Yelp! So meet one of the Executive chefs Davide Cerretini, Michele Massimo was in the kitchen cleaning up at the time of this picture. These 2 passionate partners and chefs make the best pasta that we have all experienced … trusting our hosts Meghan and her partner “Don” (as nicknamed by the Chefs), they ordered our meals which were divine!

BOTTO’s menu and signage made me giggle!

As the UWBA Sub Team got into an Uber at the end of the wonderful day, we took time to reflect on the amazing day we had. It was awesome to get out and to see the Sparkpoint Centers, to meet the awesome people working in these centers, to meet the locals! Thanks to Nicole and Meghan for taking us around to experience another side of San Francisco.

Highlights of today …

For those that love words … I believe the UWBA Sub Team was this very meaning today so thought it very appropriate when I stumbled across it on my walk around the office … “unlimited in creative power” … in Susannah’s words “we nailed it!”

What I also learnt about myself today was Me and a Mac … not a great combo! But I do make great wrapping paper.

So after our last checkpoint call together this afternoon …

… it was time to head out and go Brazilian style for a special birthday at Minas Brazilian. With a team effort, we held a surprise party to help Alona celebrate her birthday with her CSC Family. A great night had by all … fantastic food, great vibe!

Polaroid pics that everyone loved!

Group selfie

The food was wonderful, highly recommend the grilled salmon!

I thought I would touch on some funny moments after the past few days. If you can imagine, when you are working with people whom all come from different countries, where the common language for all is English, but where the English language can be so diverse in everyone’s interpretation.

To give you a couple of examples

I say “It’s time for a Kit Kat Break“, it’s interpreted as “What App are you talking about now Sharon .. this Snick Nax?”. We both looked at each other, and I just burst out laughing. I then explained it is a type of biscuit and we needed to stop looking at data as it was driving us a little crazy!

Another example … Benedicte says “It’s foggy out there”, but what Susannah and I heard we both had to turn our heads. I will leave it up to you but it was not “fog”!

Imagine you are Brazilian and trying to say Vietnamese after you tell me we are going to Cordon Bleu (which is a French term generally), so I had to ask him to spell or say slowly and I was still not getting it until he mentioned Yen and the country she was from.

I’m guessing they are going with the noun .. cook of the highest class!

So yes, it takes several go’s, possibly being a little creative, but we have certainly had a lot of fun interpreting amongst each other.

Today there was a get together to listen live to one of the key notes at Dreamforce being held in San Francisco across several locations. It was announed about the partnership between Salesforce and United Way and the new digital age of connecting everyone together to record their donations and, soon to be, volunteer hours … connecting Citizen and Corporate Philanthropy at a scale they could potentially help so many!

Announcement back in February 2018

The partnership

Tonight, after a very long day continuing being immersed in data, the four of us went to meet some of the UWBA colleagues for a farewell drink of one of their colleagues leaving the organisation. It was another interesting place with a great vibe that we were introduced to as part of the overall San Fran experience – a Tiki Bar complete with exploding volcano, twinkling stars, carvings and totem poles. Pagen Idol

Group pictures

Benedicte, Ashley, Meghan, Ricardo, and Susannah

Benedicte, Paris, Ashley, Meghan, Kaila, Ricardo, Gabriel, Susannah

Sunday, 23rd September was my day to check out the Presidio area and to conquer the Golden Gate Bridge!

I decided to make the National Cemetery at Presidio my first stop. It was certainly a very humbling experience being amongst so many souls whom sacrificed so much! I took time to reflect and to send healing out.

The Presidio area is also well known for their picnic days. With many food trucks offering many delights, to a local Indian community dance group where women and young girls danced their traditional dances. The entertainment was colourful and full of vibe.

Next mission, to walk to and across the Golden Gate Bridge. I am happy to say it was conquered. What spectacular views and a beautiful afternoon!

The last couple of days, my CSC colleagues and I have been very busy analysing data and writing on walls as we thrash out our thoughts and discussions.

And the last couple of nights some of us have been re-visiting the Grace Cathedral. Monday night was a Sound Healing like no other. I think the pics and short video speak for themselves. Attended by 1300 people it was spectacular! This sound healing was in light if the Harvest Moon, a very special event providing space and sound to rip through your stuff and to give one almighty healing!

And tonight was the Tuesday night Yoga.

I love chatting to my CSC colleagues and discovered that for those that joined me, that they had not experienced such things back home like this so it was great to see them participating and enjoying the experiences.

Pictures below:

Awaiting to get into the Grace Cathedral with Hong Jing and Madlen

The impressive lights and instruments such as gongs, crystal bowls, Didgeridoo, Xylophone, rain makers, Native American Flute just to name a few that were to be played for an hour and 15 minutes.

Two ladies playing the Harp for an hour as people arrived .. see the short clip i have posted here so you can get a glimpse of what the energy was like!

Yoga with my CSC colleagues Abhay, Valentin, Susannah and Benedicte

Today was busy teaming and getting into Salesforce reporting and spreadsheets. Needless to say having the time getting into the data analysis side of things was quite different for me with the focus on one task being an unusual thing to do, so the day went by quickly!

Lunchtime selfie practice for Ricardo .. only took 3 times to get it right!

So come to the end of the day it was off to the California Academy of Sciences to do yoga with a bit of a difference. One session was amongst the coral with a funky headset, the other session amongst the stars in the planetarium.

The Rainforest

Each Thursday night there is something fun for the adults only. Tonight it was Yoga amongst the Coral …

… and Yoga amongst the stars in the Planetarium

California Academy of Sciences

Benedicte advertising that “Water in a Box is better”!

An eventful day, but hey whom am I kidding, every day is an eventful day!  Let me share about today:

• First up … a learning for the UWBA Sub Team as we were deep into the reporting side of business this morning, a question was asked “What is Tocqueville?” in reference to what we were looking at. It led to an interesting discussion and we learnt something new. This particular program is named after Alexis de Tocqueville although a French man. in the mid 1800s was renowned for his works in Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution.  In both of these, he analyzed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies.
• Next … Homebridge – Health Care Services Hiring Event – this was an opportunity to see how UWBA partners with a Not For Profit organisation.
  • UWBA helps by providing a venue, staff, and campaigning an event of this nature.  This type of event is where it provides an opportunity for “clients” (the youth) to come along and potentially put forward their details for jobs on offer.
  • We were able to see how this campaign was recorded and what data is captured live into the Salesforce system. In all my years around CRM, I do fully appreciate that having a CRM tool is important, additionally gathering key quality data also helps any organisation towards having something to analyse which can help with resources, promotions, types of engagements, etc.  Having a good CRM system is only as good as what is being entered, and how it is being used!  A tough, but necessary addition for many!
  • A plug for Homebridge, they provide home care and support services in San Francisco county. Their largest program is home care, in which they deliver more than 500,000 hours of home care service to over 1,200 clients annually. They also operate a training program for personal caregivers, and transitional care program for those discharged from hospitals by offering home based services to elderly and disabled in the Bay Area.

• This afternoon was an All Hands Staff Meeting that we were invited to – being a part of this meeting provided an insight on a few different topics that were interesting.
  • So from a Fire Extinguisher Sweep sending 3 employees off to find the 5 extinguishers on the floor; to what to do in emergencies such as fires or (dare we say it) Active Shooters which was quite different from anything I have experienced in Australia, but I do understand very real in the US.
  • Next on the Agenda was Alyssum Maguire from Solano Youth Voices, a guest speaker whom presented on the great work they do such as the Youth Council, expansion of the Youth Voice by building a network of youth leaders and organisations. They are running Rising Leader’s training on a monthly basis for youth (ages 10-14); hosting creative engagement events for youth. All of this sounds amazing, wouldn’t it be great to have something like this across the board in all countries!
  • Next week is the Dreamforce event in San Francisco, and the statistics were phenomenal for last year with 170K registered, from 83 countries, and 10M online viewers; and there is guaranteed to be similar, or if not better, attendance this year.  There is a sense of buzz around the office as you think about those numbers, and how many will get to hear about United Way in a few scheduled keynotes. So if any of my followers are in the area, or are in the US and going to the event, reach out.

• So to end a day of all days of learning, what is left, but a social event outside after work. I love social gatherings as it is a way to get to know people outside of the company walls, with it also being an opportunity for the UWBA team to get to know us better.
• Once the socialising was done, only one thing left to do, try out some good food at a recommended Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown, and true to form, the food was great, and an added bonus where the staff looked after myself and my CSC colleagues very well!

The one time of the year that there is a fire drill in the building, and guess who were the lucky ones to find out UWBA’s evacuation plan. Luckily it was at the end of a meeting, the alarms are going off, quickly grabbing my important IBM gear, we were ushered out the door and down 10 flights of stairs. Interesting listening to some on how hearing the sirens made them nervous, others not so much. I think sometimes we might get a little complacent, sometimes frustrated, but these drills are an important necessity. And you know what, it was time for a tic tac break anyways to enjoy a little sunlight before we headed back indoors.

This afternoon I got to spend a little one on one time with one of the team members, Meghan (in picture below). After listening to her talking about what she did within UWBA the other day, I wanted to re-connect to listen, and listen again. Her passion for what she does clearly came out, which seemed common across everyone that we have spoken with so far. What I found beautiful about Meghan was her eyes welling up knowing that there was help, and was very appreciative of the opportunity that UWBA had been given by Atlas Corps and IBM. The consistent message we have seen is how all UWBA employees are wanting to make a difference in the world!

So this afternoon it was about taking some additional time to dig a little deeper and begin to think about a couple of recommendations moving forward that would benefit all … just one small piece of a bigger puzzle to help this fantastic organisation to continue the great work that they provide to so many.

Tonight was an amazing opportunity not to be missed … yoga at the Grace Cathedral. What an awesome place to be to do my favorite exercise – yoga. My yoga instructor, Jude, would be very proud and impressed.

My UWBA sub team colleagues Benedicte, Susannah and I met up with Emma from Atlas Corps to experience something out of the ordinary. The evening included live music, chanting by Nathan Kendall which both music and chanting was absolutely beautiful, and I stayed on for a meditation session to finish the evening out.

A great ending to a Monday!

Yesterday was a day of testing out the public transport system and getting around the City where I ended up at Golden Gate Park by pure chance. That’s what happens when you embrace letting go of having plans and just going with wherever you end up.

After hiring an electric bike, it was off to explore.

The Dutch Windmill

Bison Park

Watching Irish Dancing and a Big Band at Speckels Temple of Music

Ocean Beach which was simply stunning with the weather just beautiful.

So after a trip on a caltrain and bus back, it was then to the famous Lombard Street which was next on the list for the day. Certainly very pretty as the street was in bloom, and sometimes noisy as the cars and motorcycles would come down the street, twisting and turning with the best of whatever tunes they were playing.

Today was the start of a new week. Getting stuck into meeting key people and working away on the tasks at hand at UWBA.

One highlight that stood out for me for the day was where we were invited to a “Diversity and Inclusion Round Table – Brown Bag Lunch” session which was rather an interesting team bonding exercise. It turns out that these sessions are an open invitation where it provides anyone who chooses to go along with their lunch, an opportunity to have a healthy debate about different topics that are hot in the news.

Today’s hot topic was on Serena Williams loss against Naomi Osaka. Everything from fairness to womens rights to racism to the caricature cartoon that was drawn none other than by an Aussie was discussed and debated. Of course being the only Aussie in the room, it was an interesting experience to be a part of to say the least. So when it was asked of each of my colleagues and I what our thoughts were compared to the Bay Area team, they wondered if our opinions would be the same or quite different. I had to think fast when I was not even aware of what had happened, let alone know about the cartoon.

Whilst I was listening, I researched other “vocal” tennis stars such as Nick Kyrgios, one of our younger Aussie tennis players whom was notorious for his behaviour on the court. I was quick to show that there are other players whom get a similar type of treatment from the press, and my comments were if people, and that means anyone, that reacts with emotion in a difficult competitive high profile event, it is not always going to end as well as it could.  And with the discussion on whether the Umpire was fair or not, the other end of the scale is here where an Umpire has been reprimanded for his behavior towards Nick.

Serena is a great tennis player, and is a great change agent for many things! My philosophy is if you use your words wisely, pick your battles with grace, live with passion, and be humble, then change will come.

And to finish off this thought provoking experience of the day, I wanted to say congrats to Noemi whom won against Serena, for keeping her head in the game. She is a winner, and I do feel for her not being able to fully celebrate with all the controversy!

A buzz in the air as 13 of us made our way to Stanford, to find out about Tailgating and University Football. I can hear you non Americans asking “What is tailgating?” … we were soon to discover it is
host or attend a social gathering at which an informal meal is served from the back of a parked vehicle, typically in the parking lot of a sports stadium.

The sights showed some extravaganza, fun, and lots of family and communities coming together.

And let the game begin … John, one of our IBM Hosts did a wonderful job in making sure that we all knew what was going on with the game. Simply blew me away how many players were in fact on the ground, and how long 27 seconds can truly take! But in the end the Stanford Carinals crushed their opponent … definitely being the stronger team on the day.

Group selfies

Next, we got to check out the Stanford University campus. As far as a campus goes, it truly was beautiful and VERY BIG! One fact I learned was this is where Design Thinkingwas born.

Next on the sightseeing list was to check out Googleplex and Apple Park … both impressive sights. Both looking to expand such as Google looking to build a “Google Village“.

The drive home was my opportunity to drive the roads of California. This meant getting my head into left left left. We did some more sightseeing via Half Moon Bay and back up the Coast for some beautiful sights. We saw yards full of pumpkins of all varieties in wonderful displays, fog, trees, cliffs and an array of houses and buildings.

The day finishing with a very wholesome meal at Grubstake!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our host John for organising all of us, keeping us well informed and safe. To John’s wife, family and friends, thank you for making us feel very welcome at your Tailgating party. We all had a blast!