Meet Your Neighbor - Lisa Jackson

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Lisa Jackson and I’m a mom of 2 amazing kids, Easton and Sabina, and an awesome big dog Boomer.  I am a Community Engagement Specialist for Eden Youth and Family Center (EYFC), a non-profit in Hayward.  My job fits me perfectly as I get to outreach and connect with people all over  the Eden Area  to help build out our organization or share with others the resources we offer. I work with our Youth Employment Program, “Step Forward”, to find at-risk youth, meaningful worksites so that they can gain the skills they need to be awesome.  We currently just purchased a 3D printer and will be incubating digital talent at our clubhouse to inspire and create entrepreneurs.  In fact EYFC currently just signed an MOU with San Leandro Unified to operate an office in the new Health and Wellness Center that will open softly in June.  This is a great resource for SLUSD , and I am thrilled that we were able to form that partnership. 

I also am working with PilotCity, that’s protoyping the city of the future. In fact  PilotCity is spearheading Solar Week 2015 here in San Leandro next week,  April 29th – May 3rd. Solar Week is exhibition and opportunity for our city to explore the possibility of building a Smart Grid on the Westgate Shopping Center, off Davis. 

 I’m  also a member of the Chambers Leadership San Leandro , a great program that has activated me to move forward in building connection and  learn more about our city. This program came to me at perfect time in my life and has inspired me to not sit on the side lines. Breanna Hatcher is a great leader and inspires us with topics, that in turn help the city build strong leaders.

Tell me more about Solar Week and how we can participate Solar Week?

It  is a 5 day event  that mostly takes place at the Zero Net Building. Its starts off on Day 1 with Cal Poly unveiling their Solar Decathlon design, Friday are a solar-film design hack, the purpose being to inspire ideas for a solar film competition.   The last two days are opportunities for the community to give input on ways to transform our city by installing a smart grid and making us a smartcity through the “energy internet.”  This is so exciting for us....  I really hope folks in our community come to the table on this, to culminate real collaboration of our diverse city.  You should check out the website for all the details www.solarsanleandro.com.  

Can you tell me more about the Zero Net Center?

 The Zero Net Center is another amazing gem we have here in our city. It’s a training facility and one of the greenest buildings in the world.  Its located in our industrial area and uses 75% less energy than other commercial buildings. If you have not checked it out, you should, it’s in your backyard. 

What do you love about San Leandro?

 San Leandro is a small city with Big Opportunities. It’s a city that is just getting started in building a theme for itself.  It has allowed me to be a part of it in many small ways.When I first moved here I connected with Tim Homes from Zocalo and put on free family movie nights, I helped on the Cassidy Campaign and I was a Parent Lead for San Leandro Safe Routes to School Program encouraging schools to build walk-roll programs at their school.

 San Leandro has many hidden gems that folks are just learning about now, and I love sharing about them.   Oh’ and it’s also a walkable –bikable town which makes it a 5 star in my book. Anytime you have Frisbee Golf, a beautiful library, a Zocalo, and a marina along with some dark fiber speedy internet, what's not to love?  And the best of all is that I feel a part of this community, I like seeing people that I know around town, it makes me smile. 

Final Words?

 Hmmmm, maybe just make sure that you are living your life with passion.  Wake up if you’re asleep and take risks, that's how things happen. I like to think Big. I have a lot to do, we all do. I want to contribute to making an impact on how tomorrow is. Life is exciting, I am glad I got to share with you today.

Meet Your Neighbor - Patricia Minnis

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Patricia Minnis and I retired as a Business Manager from AT&T in 2009.  However, since I was too young to “retire”, I got involved in the San Leandro community by volunteering.  I started at Friends of Fairmont Animal Shelter and Building Futures with Women and Children.  It has pretty much snowballed from there! 

I was hired by the San Leandro Education Foundation (SLED) earlier this year to act as their Business Ambassador in the community.  It is important that the business community understand how important it is to get these great programs to our kids since our kids are our next leaders. 

I also serve as a Human Services Commissioner representing District 5 until a permanent Commissioner is appointed.  I take that job very seriously as we just went through a funding exercise which was very difficult and time consuming.  There were approximately 30 agencies asking for grants from a finite amount of money.

I am a member of the Leadership San Leandro (LSL) Steering committee.  LSL is a great program that will only get better.  It is an excellent source for San Leandro people to make connections.

In addition, I am a board member of the San Leandro Downtown Association, the San Leandro Improvement Association and the Estudillo Estates Neighborhood Association.

So, even though I say that I am retired, I am busier now than when I was working full time!  It’s crazy!  But it’s good stuff.  It’s stuff that I believe in that will make a difference in San Leandro.

What do you love about San Leandro?

The sense of community.  I know that Chris Zapata (San Leandro City Manager) said at some time that San Leandro is the littlest big city that he has ever worked in.  I feel that way also.  Whether I’m cruising down E. 14^th st. or pop into Zocalo’s, Mama Lupe’s, Cleophus Quealy or wherever, I know people.  It is so cool.  There is just a lot of connectivity because there are so many good things that are happening in San Leandro right now.

I agree, it is an exciting time in San Leandro right now.  The schools are really interesting right now as well.  I know that SLED is supporting the Season of Service.  Can you tell us a bit about that?

Yes, the Season of Service, Period of Peace (Facebook) project takes place over a ten-week period from Martin Luther King Day in January through Cesar Chavez Day at the end of March.  The idea behind the project is that students can utilize this opportunity to take responsibility for the culture and climate of their school campus and take a stand for the way that they want to live.  The kids use different media to express their own voices.

The project will be celebrated with “An Evening of Student Voices” which will be held on Wednesday May 20, 2015 7pm – 8pm at the Performing Arts Center at San Leandro High School.  It is a free event (no ticket required!) and I encourage all to come see what these kids have accomplished.  These kids are our future leaders so the more tools that we can give them to inspire them, the better off San Leandro is going to be.

What else are you doing with SLED?

Again my title is Business Ambassador.  The idea is to get out into the business community and raise funds to support the San Leandro schools.  We are very proud of the fact that we raised over $188,000 last year and are proven good stewards of the resources we raise.  This money goes to support programs that are aligned with the district’s curriculum and also programs that are sustainable in three areas: Positive Youth Development, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) enrichment and Volunteerism. 

SLED’s goal is to inspire students, support our schools and strengthen the San Leandro community.  To me, those goals all work together and feed off of each other so it really does make total sense.

Another program I manage is the Eat Out for Education program.  We’ve done a couple of experiments this year (laughs) which worked fabulously in raising money for our San Leandro schools but the model didn’t quite work.  We are returning to the multi-restaurant model for the first Wednesday of every month but we upped the ante from 10% to 20%.  However, the Habit Burger supports us every Wednesday!  We really appreciate the generosity of all the participating restaurants and we will always list the current participating restaurants on our website and Facebook pages – we will add restaurants as more wish to participate. I just need to remind folks that they must turn in a current coupon in order for the restaurant to donate.  Current coupons are always available on our website (www.sledfund.org) and on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SLEDfund).  And I know you (This is San Leandro) share our Facebook posts with your followers which we appreciate.  We love it when people share our posts!

Describe your position as a Steering Committee member for Leadership San Leandro (LSL).

There are currently 10 steering committee members and all are alumni of the program.  Jack Papazian and Carole Rinaldi crafted a fabulous program in 1995.  They retired two years ago and Breanna Hatcher, who is a life coach, is now the Program Director of LSL.  Even though it was a fabulous program to begin with, Breanna brings an incredible nuance to the program where it further enables you as a student to look inside yourself and recognize your best leadership potential and qualities.

The Taste of San Leandro is the sole (so far!) fundraising opportunity for the Leadership San Leandro program.  Under the leadership of Marguerite Mazzitti who is the event chair, we raised $30,000 at the event last month for the program.  An evening of food, wine, local San Leandro craft beer and San Leandro people – what more can you ask for.  It was THE event to be at in San Leandro!

Why is volunteering so important to you and how does volunteering in so many places help you see the “big picture” for San Leandro?

When Stephen Cassidy was elected mayor and I was hearing more about Patrick Kennedy and OSISoft and the fiber loop and the city being involved in that, I could see, the wheels were starting to turn.  There is just so much happening now and Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter is carrying that momentum forward for San Leandro.  The Maker move and getting kids involved in that – it is REALLY exciting!  The things that are happening at the Gate.  21^st Amendment coming to town.  The things that WILL be happening downtown are going to be fabulous!  Again, things don’t happen overnight.  You’ve got bureaucracies you have to deal with along the way.  We have a huge challenge with the calming of downtown traffic.  The city does not own E. 14^th St., CALTRANS owns it.  But, speaking specifically about the San Leandro Downtown Association and the San Leandro Improvement Association, you are going to see some pretty cool dramatic improvements in Downtown San Leandro.  I will say that in the next 2-5 years, you won’t even recognize downtown San Leandro. 

Downtown already has a different vibe with the outdoor seating at the Village. 

It does!  It does!  Just wait.  You are going to see more cool things!

Any final words?

I think what I said earlier, San Leandro and specifically Downtown San Leandro will be transformed over the next few years.  I know.  I sit in on many of those meetings discussing our future.  Like you said, the vibe downtown is already changing – for the better.

Thank you so much Patricia.  You do so much and you are such an inspiration.

Oh, thank you!  I appreciate that. I sometimes can’t describe it all the way or tell you how we are going to get there but it’s people like you Paul that take the time…….it’s a community effort.  There are so many folks out there that appreciate what San Leandro has to offer and see a vision for it.  It will happen.  It will absolutely happen.

   

Meet Your Neighbor - Keli Arnold

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Keli Arnold, I work at the T-Shirt factory which is a family owned business of mine. My Mom and my Dad started it and my sister owns it now. I help run the store. I volunteer with San Leandro Relay for Life, I have been doing it for 13 years now. I also coach at San Leandro High School (cheer).

What do you love about San Leandro?

There are a lot of small businesses that have been around for a long time, that have stayed around, that's my favorite part. Being part of a small business I know how hard it is. San Leandro is very community based. 

Tell me more about the relay, you have been doing it for 13 years, you put your heart and soul into it.

Everyone has a reason they do it, everyone has been effected by cancer.  I choose relay because it's for all cancer. Cancer  that I have been effected by isn't breast cancer, that's what everybody knows about. I feel it's really important to do Relay because it's every single caner. I know about childhood cancer and brain cancer that no one knows about. 

This year I will be working with Jessi Cutter and Evelyn Gonzalez, all 3 of us are leading it this year (San Leandro Relay for life), it's a great team.  We are on the same page of making it all cancers, not just breast cancer.

How can people get involved or put together a team for May 30th?

So the website www.relayforlife.org/sanleandroca . Anybody can make a team.  Last year I had an 8 year old child who started a team, their parents helped them, this year we have the police department. So however you want to make your team, it's very community based, it's a bunch of people from San Leandro getting together for one purpose.

Your other passion is coaching the high school cheer leaders, tell us about that.

I have about 50 daughters every year, we do it because we love it. All three coaches went to San Leandro High (Jenna Hewitt and Jessica Potchenco). Jenna had a different experience than me, she had several coaches I had one amazing coach when I went there. I just want to be able to give them that stability, some girls really need that, maybe at home they don't have that. Yes it's cheerleading woow hoo! that's great, but at the end of the day some of the girls really need that stability. They have a coach that they can talk to. That's why I do it.

It never seems that it's just cheerleading for you or your girls, they are really engaged.

They help at Roosevelt, they do a team at Relay for Life. I really like them to do community stuff. It's not just about cheerleading, they are representing their city and their school. Not just cute in their skirts at the games but involved in the community.

How long have you been a coach?

I did it in 2007 then came back in 2012, this is the first year that we have had our freshmen become seniors. We have done the whole loop.

Final quote or words of wisdom?

I would say get your kids involved with community stuff, my son doesn't know anything but Relay, when people say they aren't doing Relay he is so confused. I think a lot more kids and youth should be involved in community, find things they can volunteer with.  It's important that kids learn that at a young age.

Meet Your Neighbor - Ruben DaSilva

Who are you and what do you do?

I'm Ruben Dasilva and I own Rubiano's.  I make pizzas and pastas.

What do you love about San Leandro?

I love that San Leandro is a close knit community, I know a lot of people here, I was born and raised here.  It's in the middle of a big metropolitan area but it still feels like a little town.

You went to school here?

I did, I went to St Leander's for a couple of years, also Garfield and John Muir. I graduated from San Leandro High School in 95

Before you opened your restaurant you worked with Mike Wiesner?

Rubin and His Staff at Taste of San Leandro

I started working for Mike Wiesner when I was 16 years old at Sergio's on Davis Street, that was a long time ago.  That was the original Sergio's.  I helped Mike build Paradiso when he got the lease there, helped him with painting and everything else to get it up and running.  Then I went off to school in Santa Barbra, came back.  Worked with my Dad doing building maintenance.  Then we opened this (gestured to Rubiano's).

What was your inspiration behind opening a pizza restaurant?

The building maintenance started to slow down and I was ready to do something new, do something different.  I have always wanted to do a pizzeria.

Rubiano's creation for my children (chocolate and marshmallow)

We love that its somewhere you can bring the children and not have to worry about them being noisy, not just pizza, you can get pasta, salads.  You always have some specials.

Every once in a while I will make some different pizzas that are a little unique and odd.  How many places have you gone to that make a crab Rangoon pizza.  What I have found is a lot of people are scared of trying them sometimes.  I will make a pizza and have everybody (the wait staff)  hand it out. People say  "Wow, I can't believe how good that is" It really tastes like a Crab Rangoon. We have a floating potato pizza that is really good.

You have beer on tap, but it's not your typical Budweiser?

I try to keep stuff local, not too much big dig chain stuff.  Try and keep it small and local, little mom and pop beers.  Trying to get another cooler so we can get four more beers in here.

Word of wisdom?

Keep doing what you love to do and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Lot of people told me that I wouldn't be able to do this and that I would not survive here.  We survived, we are still kicking and screaming.

Rubiano's

600 Dutton Ave Suite C, 

San Leandro, California

510 553 1000

Find them on Facebook

Meet Your Neighbor - Susan Levenson

The first time I met Susan she was dressed as a fish at a Chamber of Commerce coffee connection. 

She is passionate about natural resources in San Leandro. I caught up with Susan at the Friends of San Leandro Creek Watershed Festival at Root Park.

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Susan Levenson and I am the Watershed Awareness Coordinator for friends of San Leandro Creek

What do you love about San Leandro?

Oh my gosh!  This is my home town, I grew up a block away, played in that creek when I was a kid.  What's not to love, it's a great community.  My mom still lives here.

Tell me more about friends of San Leandro Creek

Friends of San Leandro creek is a great organization that help bring up this creek, make it available for the community, make the creek itself healthier. Highlight all this goodness in the middle of an urban area.

What did we find today?

We found a gorgeous 8 inch rainbow trout right below the bridge at Root Park  (the area where the trout was found was drying up). We took it up near Chabot Park where there is riffles and deep pools, tons of insects and we let him out there, so exciting.

What the grand vision for San Leandro Creek?

There are so many things we are working on right now (Susan was called away to MC the raffle).

from their web site  “…is to restore and enhance San Leandro Creek, to increase its potential as a visual and recreational amenity, to preserve its cultural and natural history and to make San Leandro Creek an economically attractive resource, and to promote a healthy environment for its native flora and fauna.”

If someone wants to get involved what do they need to do?

Rainbow trout was found in this small pool

Real simple, look at my website or call my office. www.fslc.org

Words of Wisdom

Search out a little bit of nature, it's all around, even in urban places like this. Sometimes it's such a beautiful surprise like we had today.  We find a native Rainbow trout.

Meet Your Neighbor - Bowie McPet

Who are you and what do you do?

My Full name is Bowie Girl Dawg McPet, I mostly sit around and play all day.  Sleeping, eating and walks.

What do you love about San Leandro?

I just love the hills, the creeks and things to climb and get wet in.  Pond, lakes, I just like to swim.

What type of dog are you Bowie?

I am an Australian Shepherd

Is that an Australian dog?

No, I have nothing to do with Australia. I'm an American breed.

What is your favorite walk?

This one, we usually walk to this huge tree which has fallen down and chopped into pieces, we call it big log.  We also walk to the lake.

How old are you Bowie?

I am 5 human years old. In dog years that's about 33.

Do you like to bark at the postman

Yes, I also rip up my human's mail. The junk mail mostly.  I don't like anything that comes through the slot.

When you hear the mail trucks can you tell the difference between FedEx, UPS and the US Mail?

Of course I can... I'm a dog!

I hear you have a Facebook  page?

I have a page attached to my human, the pictures are of our walks, pictures of me swimming, before and after grooming, and pictures of me making friends with other dogs.

Any words of wisdom or closing remarks?

Well my human does not dress me in clothes, for that I am thankful.  I sometimes wear a bandanna, I have lots of different styles depending on the season.  At Halloween I get a pumpkin one.

Do you like Halloween?

Oh course I do, I get to see all the kids dressed up, some of them are scary.

Do you steal their candy?

Maybe... Thanksgiving is also a great holiday, I get to steal my human's food.

I have heard you are a little bit of a food snatcher.  I hear your humans had a party and you stole the cheese

Yeah, cheese cubes, I got into them twice (looking proud).

I want to say one more thing, I am honored to be part of This is San Leandro

Thank you Bowie, that's very sweet.

Your welcome... ruff!

Bowie looks after 4 humans, loves getting groomed at Classy Canine in Castro Valley, has a Facebook page and business cards to give her new friends.

Meet Your Neighbor - Breanna Hatcher

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Breanna Hatcher and I am a life coach and trainer.  I'm also the program director of Leadership San Leandro.

What do you love about San Leandro?

To me it's the tight knit community, given that we are 80,000 people you don't feel that way. You feel like you are part of something, part of a group of people who really cares about each other and want to make a difference in their town.

Tell me more about Leadership San Leandro. What is your involvement and where leadership programs originally came from?

I am the program director.  I came in a year and a half ago, my vision was that we would add a professional development component to the program and seize the opportunity of the 9 Fridays that we have with people. Be able to develop their skills, talents and passions over time by giving them insight into who they are, what their strengths are and insight into what they could do in the community and then connect them with the key movers and shakers.

Where did the leadership programs originate from?

Our program is 20 years old, which isn't uncommon.  They have been around for a while. Chambers started them because a group of leaders from one city unfortunately all passed (died) in a plane crash and they realized they had no succession planning.  They had no one to replace these leaders for their city.  So it originated for a city wanting to make sure they have leadership to follow in the footsteps of other leaders.

To me it's not just political, our city needs people who are interested in every aspect of San Leandro, from the non profits to the for profit businesses, we have a  huge manufacturing base.  We want to ignite, spark and explore the talents of people. If the city is succeeding we are all succeeding .  Not just the political entities but all the business, nonprofit and public entities .

Leadership San Leandro is an amazing program, I am actually part of this year's class.  The

program is subsidized and we have an event coming up that help the subsidy

We have the Taste of San Leandro which is the only fundraiser for Leadership San Leandro.  The charming story is that Jack Papazian (who was the director of the program) had the idea  of bringing food and wine together and getting people to pay a set price for that,  get tray of cheese and set them out. 

Now we have about 28 wine, food and beer vendors coming for the Taste of San Leandro.  It is about bringing the community together with great food, wine and beer.  We have 3 micro breweries that are somewhat famous, or becoming famous. Twenty First Amendment, Drakes and Cleophus which is a new brewery, we are becoming a hub for breweries.  All this you get for $40, all the food you can eat for 3 hours, it pretty miraculous. It's a great way to come together and meet people you  who not meet otherwise.

It's interesting how San Leandro hasn't tried to copy Alameda and do the wine thing, we have the beer thing, it's neat

  21st Amendment are trying to partner with Cleophus and create a downtown of food tasting and craft breweries.  Get people to come as an attraction, to come and taste beer, not to see them (the other breweries) as competitors, seeing them as colleagues and collaborators.  It's super cool.

With your business, you don't just do professional development for business people, you do life coaching.  Many people, including myself have so many wonderful things to say about your sessions.  Tell us a little more about what you do?

I was in Human resources for 15 years, I have a Masters in Organizational Development, which is about making organizations better. I realized after years and years of doing that, talking about how the meeting was bad, and the meeting about the meeting was bad.  It was not igniting people or sparking a passion or helping them see how they could utilize their strengths or be their best self.  That is why I wanted to go into the coaching to leverage people for who they are.  If people are being their best self and utilizing their strengths and have the skills and vision to execute on that, be it in an organization, any organization, our families, our volunteer work.  That's why I love the individual one on one, and that to me is everything, never boring, never a bad day in the shop, it's always a good day. 

Even in people darkest moments there is always a spark of hope and I love being the person who helps to support that and show them what's possible, what's next and what they already have inside of them that can make that happen.

Final words of wisdom?

Just speaking of the City. If you spend a little time getting to know San Leandro you will really love it.  Previously in my corporate life I didn't have that opportunity, I didn't know my neighbors.  If you just take a moment to reach out I think San Leandro embraces you, supports you and shows you that whatever you want to do you can go do it, and you can go do it here!