URBAN INSTITUTE
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The Chinatown Urban Institute is a seven-week youth empowerment and professional development program offered by the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco. The program is for young leaders ages 18-24 to understand and take action on urban planning issues, using the City as a living and breathing laboratory for knowledge. Through an inquiry-based approach, Urban Fellows will learn the history, technical skills, and pragmatic applications of the planning profession as a tool for social justice and advocacy. Biweekly sessions feature seminars, walking tours, and interactive fieldwork components to give the participants hands-on experience in grassroots community planning. Graduates of this program have gone on to positions in city government and Chinatown CDC’s youth, planning and housing development departments
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PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The Chinatown Urban Institute has a strong professional development component and aims to create a pipeline of advocacy planners who are committed to making San Francisco’s Chinatown and the City a great place to live, work, and play. It aims to generate strong leadership and instill community-based planning values in a new generation of young people.
San Francisco’s Chinatown is a neighborhood with over 150 years of place-based advocacy and community development. In response to the 1906 earthquake and exclusionary policies, the neighborhood has resisted displacement and thrived, persisting today as a vibrant immigrant community with its unique forms of community-based sustainability and resilience. This year’s Chinatown Urban Institute will focus on these neighborhood efforts, situating it first in historical context and case studies of advocacy and organizing around topics such as housing, economic development, transportation, public space, and sustainability.
Selected Fellows are expected to commit a minimum of 20 hours per week to participate enthusiastically in the sessions and interactive explorations of the Chinatown community. There are required course readings and short written reflection assignments. Fellows will also complete a group project where they will creatively apply their planning knowledge in a hands-on manner. Participants will receive a small stipend upon satisfactory completion of all course expectations.
The 2019 program will take place from Tuesday, June 18 - Thursday, August 1, 2019. Meetings and training will last for six hours and take place on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10am-3pm. Training and events, such as brown bag lunches with special guest speakers may occur on some days following the regular training sessions. Fellows are expected to commit about 20 hours per week for the trainings, readings, and assignments.
Program is free, and participants will receive a small stipend upon satisfactory completion of the program and all course expectations.
San Francisco’s Chinatown is a neighborhood with over 150 years of place-based advocacy and community development. In response to the 1906 earthquake and exclusionary policies, the neighborhood has resisted displacement and thrived, persisting today as a vibrant immigrant community with its unique forms of community-based sustainability and resilience. This year’s Chinatown Urban Institute will focus on these neighborhood efforts, situating it first in historical context and case studies of advocacy and organizing around topics such as housing, economic development, transportation, public space, and sustainability.
Selected Fellows are expected to commit a minimum of 20 hours per week to participate enthusiastically in the sessions and interactive explorations of the Chinatown community. There are required course readings and short written reflection assignments. Fellows will also complete a group project where they will creatively apply their planning knowledge in a hands-on manner. Participants will receive a small stipend upon satisfactory completion of all course expectations.
The 2019 program will take place from Tuesday, June 18 - Thursday, August 1, 2019. Meetings and training will last for six hours and take place on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10am-3pm. Training and events, such as brown bag lunches with special guest speakers may occur on some days following the regular training sessions. Fellows are expected to commit about 20 hours per week for the trainings, readings, and assignments.
Program is free, and participants will receive a small stipend upon satisfactory completion of the program and all course expectations.
WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY?
Former applicants ranged between ages of 18-24. Most Fellows are undergraduate students, but we also accept exceptional recent high school graduates and graduate students. Ideally, we are looking for a good fit between the Urban Fellow and the program. Successful applicants can demonstrate a commitment to serving and improving Chinatown community in San Francisco, as well as the potential to benefit from gaining direct experience and skills in the field of community-based planning.
The field of planning and community development encompasses many disciplines. People trained in the field have gone on to become planners (with some specializing in transportation, land use, urban design, housing, etc.), housing developers, city administrators, project managers, budget and policy analysts, community organizers and advocates, social service providers, elected officials, executive directors, program officers in charitable foundations, land use attorneys in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Through the Chinatown Urban Institute, Fellows will gain transferable skills such as research and fieldwork, critical thinking and analysis, team-building and public speaking that are valuable in any area of employment.
We have seen successful outcomes from the Community Urban Institute program. As an example, two former UI graduates are now working in affordable housing development organizations. The knowledge they gained about low-income communities of color and their living situations is very applicable in their current jobs. They also continue to be involved in the Chinatown community on a volunteer basis through Chinatown CDC’s youth leadership alumni program (ACCESS) and grassroots transportation equity group called Chinatown Transportation Research Improvement Project (TRIP).
Further questions? Please contact Erika Gee at erika.gee@chinatowncdc.org.
The field of planning and community development encompasses many disciplines. People trained in the field have gone on to become planners (with some specializing in transportation, land use, urban design, housing, etc.), housing developers, city administrators, project managers, budget and policy analysts, community organizers and advocates, social service providers, elected officials, executive directors, program officers in charitable foundations, land use attorneys in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Through the Chinatown Urban Institute, Fellows will gain transferable skills such as research and fieldwork, critical thinking and analysis, team-building and public speaking that are valuable in any area of employment.
We have seen successful outcomes from the Community Urban Institute program. As an example, two former UI graduates are now working in affordable housing development organizations. The knowledge they gained about low-income communities of color and their living situations is very applicable in their current jobs. They also continue to be involved in the Chinatown community on a volunteer basis through Chinatown CDC’s youth leadership alumni program (ACCESS) and grassroots transportation equity group called Chinatown Transportation Research Improvement Project (TRIP).
Further questions? Please contact Erika Gee at erika.gee@chinatowncdc.org.
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Chinatown Community Development Center © 2020