San Francisco, CA – San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi will be honored alongside two San Francisco community leaders on Thursday, December 6 at the Fifth Annual Cheyenne Bell Leadership Awards Ceremony, hosted by The Center for Young Women’s Development. Jeff Adachi, Tinisch Hollins and Ida McCray will be presented with an award recognizing their individual work benefiting young people and their families in the juvenile justice and adult criminal system. California Senator Carole Migden and California State Assemblymember Mark Leno will be in attendance to recognize this year’s recipients. The ceremony will take place at Hotel Whitcomb, 1231 Market Street at 6:00 p.m.
Public Defender Adachi manages an office with a $23.7 million dollar budget, which provides a variety of innovative programs to its clients including drug court, clean slate expungement services and a full-service juvenile division. He is the co-founder of MAGIC, a collaboration of youth and family agencies that work with disadvantaged youth, which began in Bayview Hunters Point in 2004 and was expanded into the Western Addition in 2006. Adachi is also co-chairman of the San Francisco Safe Communities Re-entry Council, a collaborative of over 50 government agencies, community and faith-based organizations and individuals committed to providing effective reentry services to formerly incarcerated people.
Each year The Center for Young Women’s Development honors the memory of Cheyenne Bell, a long time community activist and civil rights leader. For 10 years as Director of Community Programs at San Francisco’s juvenile hall, Bell’s foresight brought in non-profit organizations such as CYWD in an effort to offer hope, educational opportunities and services for at-risk youth. Bell passed away in 2005 and in tribute to her legacy, each year CYWD honors individuals who work with and on behalf of those who work to improve the condition of the juvenile and adult justice system for young women and men in the Bay Area.
“Cheyenne Bell was an incredible inspiration and role model to me. I am honored to receive this award in her name,” says Public Defender Jeff Adachi. “The Center for Young Women’s Development is a model program that employs and mentors young women who have been through the juvenile justice system and experienced poverty, and are committed to transforming their lives and communities. I have witnessed the effectiveness of their work and am inspired by their achievements.”
To learn more about the Center for Young Women’s Development you may visit their website at http://www.cywd.org/.
The mission of the Public Defender’s office is to provide vigorous, effective, competent and ethical legal representation to persons who are accused of crime and cannot afford to hire an attorney. Established in 1921, the San Francisco Public Defender has a long, proud history of providing top-notch representation to its clients, and championing programs that help people turn their lives around.
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