Lunch With Mayor Gavin Newsom

April 27, 2006
Yesterday I had lunch with Mayor Gavin Newsom and a group of women leaders in San Francisco. I was so inspired about what my dear friend Andrea Bornstein is doing with City Hall and Mayor Gavin Newsom with a new initiative called SF Connect and Project Homeless Connect that it got the mind swirling. I am going to start a Women's Think Tank to help solve community problems. I will keep you posted on that.

In the meantime, I thought you might find my emails to my group of friends inspirational as we begin to band together for the common good.

From: Tiffany Bass Bukow: MsMoney.com / Thrive Media
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 11:12 PM

I want to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to learn about how Mayor Newsom is working to make the world a better place for all. Like me, some of you don’t actually live in San Francisco, and instead are coming from Marin, Silicon Valley or the East Bay. As we know, this isn’t just about helping San Francisco thrive, though that is a worthy goal, since it is the hub to most of our business worlds. This is about creating projects that work in our own community and then spreading it across the world. Gavin has already done this very successfully with his Homeless Project which is now being instituted in 31 cities all over the globe.

The reason I invited you to such an intimate lunch is because I felt each one of you had the spark inside to have an impact in your community. It is one thing to theorize about how things could be better, it is entirely another to have the education and skills to know how to put a plan of action together that will really work.

Most of us are at an age in our life where we have achieved some greatness in our career and can apply that experience to a broader sense where the community can benefit from our personal rise to the top. I love the fact that Gavin decided to have a women’s luncheon only. Women tend to be more collaborative and work well in groups to solve a common goal. What better place to bring them together than for the sake of one of the best cities in the world – San Francisco.

I have done the majority of my networking over the last 15 years with women’s groups and attribute my success to women who have inspired and helped me along the way. I have chosen to dedicate my time to helping other women excel in their careers and life, not just through MsMoney.com, but also on a more personal scale. This is the reason I included everyone’s bio below that I invited to the luncheon. We won’t have much time to chat there since the goal is really to learn more about Gavin’s SF Connect.

A good way to connect between each other is to spend some time reviewing the bio’s below and you might find someone you would like to arrange a coffee date with that shares common interests. I tried to sum up your whole career in 1 or 2 lines. Quite a feat since so many of you have accomplished so much. Most of your bio info came from Google so if there are any errors blame the web.

Now back to the mission and why I personally chose to attend this luncheon and invite you. I admire a political leader who uses business tactics for social change. Gavin came from the business world and has applied his masterly of strategy and implementation into community projects that not only work well, but also are adopted by others. With so much of the country in dismay with our current political leaders, I really feel like I can look at this leader with pride. I feel he is a role model for what the future of politics should steer towards.

He started with Homelessness and is now beginning to tackle other issues, such as improving our parks and public spaces, provide job opportunities for at-risk youth, and connect low-income families to technology that can create economic empowerment.

Those are some lofty goals. What makes Gavin an effective leader is that he knows he can’t accomplish this alone. It doesn’t just take financial resources to attempt to address those problems and others, it takes the mental resources. That is where our mindshare comes in. Within each of you is something special that can be tapped into to contribute to making our communities a better place for all. A little brainstorming with some of the brightest minds in the city can go a long way.

Whether it is taking a weekend to plant trees for Earth Day, counseling a troubled teen, or providing a computer for a family in need, you can choose to be part of the change revolution by being hands-on. Or you can be part of a think tank, with that fabulous brain of yours, and come up with a plan of action that can be implemented by the tens of thousands of volunteers who have already committed their hands to help.

San Francisco has a unique place in the global community. We are some of the most liberal and out-of-the-box thinkers there is. You ladies are also big thinkers too. Just look at what you have already accomplished in your lives. At some point at the beginning of your careers you asked yourself, what if. What IF, I became CEO of a corporation, What IF I got my Master’s Degree, What IF I started volunteering.

It all started with What IF. Gavin is asking, WHAT IF we brought some of the most talented minds together in the city (a small select group which includes you) and came up with a plan of action to solve some of our communities biggest issues. He has a big dream and it is one that I share. Big goals have never stopped me before (otherwise I would have never raised millions of dollars for Ms.Money or had the First Lady arrive to help me launch it.) I can’t imagine Big goals would stop you either.



Take a look into your heart and listen to where it is telling you to go. The wisdom of the sages is found within you and you just have to open yourself to the possibility that you have something very important to contribute to the greater good. The world awaits our answers …

Namaste,

Tiffany Bass Bukow

One of my favorite quotes

“If you thought you were too small to make a difference then you have never been in a room alone with a mosquito.”

Luncheon attendees in my group:

Tiffany Bass Bukow – CEO MsMoney.com Inc. – Money & Life Skills Education, Founder of Thrive Media: positive media, on Board of Universal Giving, Advisor to Women’s Technology Cluster.

Jennifer Anastasoff - CEO Building Blocks International: sets up corporate service fellowships like a “peace corps”, formerly at Teach for America, Analyst in the California Legislature

Tracy Ferguson – CEO A Brighter Today: non-profit foundation and center for children with disabilities, on Board of Directors for the United Way SF.

Jennifer McFarland – CEO Women’s Technology Cluster: entrepreneurs have raised over $100M in the last 2 years, former Investment Banker at Salomon Brothers and Dean Witter Reynolds – raised $300M.

Amber Nystrom – CEO Social Fusion: incubator for socially conscious sustainable non-profits, consultant for multi-national infrastructure projects for economic development and women's rights for World Bank.

Gwen Edwards – former CEO of Middlewire, former President of Pacific Bell Network Integration: $300M networking business unit of SBC Communications, Advisor to Women’s Tech Cluster, CEO Coach.

Linda Alepin – former CEO of Pebblesoft Learning, former VP of Corporate Strategy at Amdahl: $750M turnaround, currently with Global Women’s Leadership Center at Santa Clara University.

Julie Farris – former CEO of Scalix ($25M venture funded linux email company), Founder of OneBox, 2Bridge and Portola, previously at IBM/Lotus.

Mona Lisa Wallace – former CEO Shop Eco, President SF NOW, former Executive Director of East Bay Non-Profit Coalition, currently private Law Practice,

Elana Auerbach – former President Collaborative Visions, now with www.peacexpeace.org, former Investment Banker & Management Consultant, focuses on women empowerment.

Lindsay Allen – Production at Current TV: formerly with Evening Magazine, KQED/Spark, Thrive Media. Olympic Torch bearer as United Way Hero, active with National Golden Gate Parks Service.

Sandra Amat – Marriage and Family Therapist using Gestalt, Transpersonal, Tantra, and Dance Therapy, etc. Focuses on women’s issues, former therapist with SF Family Service Agency for low income families.

Katherine Bini – International Business Consultant

Priya Sanger - Senior Law Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank, on SF Human Rights Commission, former President Barristers Club of SF, on Board of Bar Association of SF, former President SF Bank Attorneys.

Kristin Bowers – VP at Harper Collins: manages Amazon.com relationship and Western US.

Sophia Amargi – Marriage Family Therapist focuses on crisis management and overcoming adversity. Book author “Radical Joy”. Volunteers with The Center for Attitudinal Healing.

Katherine Noeson – former Technology Executive at Palm (3COM )and Website Pros, former Director Business Development at Paul Allen's (Microsoft) Interval Research Corporation.


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From: Tiffany Bass Bukow: MsMoney.com / Thrive Media
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 11:10 PM

Hello Ladies Who Lunch,

It was wonderful to see all your shiny happy faces at the event today. Thanks so much for taking the time to hear what City Hall has brewing in the big dome about our lovely San Francisco City.

I don’t know about you, but I was fighting back the tears as Gavin was talking about the places our city has left remain in ruins and the effect that must have on the children. My goodness, it just breaks your heart how the disparities of the world can be so severe even in one of the most affluent cities in the world.

Being a mom of a 4 year old has really softening me about other’s less fortunate situations. It has made me a stronger person and more committed to really help others overcome the circumstances of their life.

Below is a poem I sent out in a newsletter for Max’s preschool that talks about children. It is quite touching. The reason I include it is because so much of the Mayor is trying to do is to create a better place for all children to grow up in. Whether it is providing tech resources for their family so they can get a better job or school, or creating more parks for them to play in, there is an opportunity of many of his initiatives to improve the lives of families. When you touch a child’s life, you touch everyone in that family and give them hope.

I will keep you posted as opportunities arise with the Mayor’s Team and SF Connect.

Hugs,
Tiffany Bass Bukow

We pray for children
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of
sneakers,
who never 'counted potatoes,'
who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can't find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.

We pray for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at
their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never
rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church or temple and scream in the
phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for those who want to be carried
and those who must,
for those we never give up on and for those
who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother...and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

-Ina J. Hughes

Ladies - that is what we can all do … offer a hand to those in need. And the littlest ones in our city will be the first to grab it. I hope to see you all out in field taking a few hands and bringing a glimmer of a brighter future to a few lives.

Hugs,
Tiffany