The Center for Young Women’s Development

The Center for Young Women’s Development in San Francisco is one of the first non-profits in the United States run and led entirely by young women. From the beginning, they have organized the most marginalized young women in San Francisco, those in the street economies and the juvenile justice system, to design and deliver peer-to-peer education and support.  FCN sits down with Executive Director Marlene Sanchez to discuss CYWD’s unique approach, some of the keys to its successes, and how her own personal experiences have informed her passion for this work.

A Success Story

“When everyone else saw me as a menace, CYWD saw me as a stakeholder.”
 Marlene Sanchez was the child of an incarcerated father. Because of this, she had to struggle with many emotions and was labeled a gang member before ever being in a gang. When she was an 11-year-old girl, she was in a fight at school and as a result was taken into county jail where police fingerprinted and took a mug shot of her. They wouldn’t even let her contact her father from Juvenile Hall because they wouldn’t believe that he was not an older boyfriend. At the time, Marlene didn’t find any part of this encounter to be abnormal.

In hindsight, she realizes how wrong that situation was. “It’s vital to think about how society responds to fights or other issues in schools and to reconsider our approach”, she says. “I never want any other 11 year old girl to have to go through the same thing I did”.

At the age of 15, Marlene was hired to do street outreach for the Center for Young Women’s Development in San Francisco. Shortly thereafter, she was picked up and then badly beaten by police who said she was “tagging” (spray painting graffiti). When she went to work at the Center the next day, she told her questioning colleagues what happened. “I hadn’t thought it was a big deal,” she says, “but their reaction was an overwhelming, ‘No, this is NOT OK’”. The group then organized a protest in front of the police department protesting their treatment of Marlene. “This was a pivotal moment for me as a young woman,” she says, “it shifted the way I saw the things I had normalized in my community and proved to me that young women had the power to make change.”

Marlene continued working with CYWD where she had the opportunity to explore interests in doing work on health issues, in juvenile hall and prisons, and with political prisoners. Her personal experiences – coupled with the empowerment, skills, and opportunities provided by CYWD – informed her passion to make sure that young women in the street economies and in the juvenile justice system weren’t forgotten about – that someone would be there to look out for them and not just stand up for them, but stand up with them.

A Different Approach

CYWD targets women who are 16-24 years old. “CYWD answers first and foremost to the women we work with,” Marlene says. The program is a 9 month program – it is wrap-around and intensive, involving various components like mental health, massage, job readiness, critical thinking, political education, etc.

CYWD has found that to be successful in the community, they had to look for public and private youth-focused organization and city departments to partner with while narrowing their focus on the hardest to reach. “We get the girls who are sick and tired of being tired,” she says, “those to whom being in prison wasn’t an awakening experience.” CYWD has had a lot of success with repeat offenders. “It takes intensive work, so this population is an ideal target group for us to focus on”.

Marlene also notes that women who come to these types of programs are often seen as clients – people there to get a service. CYWD, on the other hand, is able to reach young women because they treat them differently – participants are seen as being there to actively define and contribute to their own goals, and CYWD is there to support and work with them as they do so. “There is already a stigma in the juvenile justice system where those involved are seen as unchangeable, the throw-aways of society, but this is not the case and CYWD knows this”. Marlene herself is an example of this fact. “When everyone else saw me as a menace, CYWD saw me as a stakeholder.”

Sisterhood and Lasting Connections

“Wherever young women are, that’s where we are.” This is something CYWD has consistently been known for. News about the program travels by word of mouth and young women are their best recruiters. Some young women come to CYWD because they want their participation in CYWD’s programs to serve as a fulfillment of court mandates. This can be an increased motivation toward their ongoing participation and completion of the program. If a young woman wants to get in, CYWD will fight to make that happen, but she will have to work harder than they do. Marlene says that that engagement from the beginning is something these women need (especially when substance abuse is a factor and detox is an issue). Self referral is one of the important reasons for CYWD’s sucess. “They picked us! Some young women are there because they said they wanted to be, and CYWD will hold them to that”. Marlene says that the fact they are paid to be there is also an incentive that they are held accountable for.

CYWD’s principals and values include social justice, sisterhood, self-determination, and self-value. “Sisterhood means that we hold each other accountable in a loving way that some of us are not used to … some do well and some aren’t ready (which is fine)”. Even if a young woman is there only one day, maybe that is all she needs. These women know the Center has an open door policy and they can always come back. “Women can steal from here and come back 3 years later and be received with open arms, even women who punched doors and were asked to leave can come back,” Marlene says, “We realize that right now might not be a good time, but we’re here when you’re ready.”

Marlene says that opportunities for young women to form connections with each other can be hard to come by, but these connections are “so important to their empowerment. The point is that these challenges and issues are not isolated, and these women need to know they are not alone”. CYWD provides opportunities for women to engage in leadership programs and to form these bonds with other women because “such a big part of their success comes from feeling connected by building self-esteem and relationships.” Participants get to see that there are commonalities – for example, between African American and Latina women, who may have been pinned against each in the past. Instead, CYWD focuses on their commonalities and the power that can be created when women come together.

The Issues that Need Even More Attention

Marlene cites the lack of focus on young women who are pregnant or parenting in the juvenile justice system as one of the issues that doesn’t get enough attention. “There’s really a lack of comprehensive education around health, sex, and parenting. It’s hard because such a high percentage of women are finding out they’re pregnant for the first time or even having gynecological care for the first time when in lock-up.” The first pap-smear Marlene ever had was as a teen, while shackled, in lock-up.

One of the things CYWD is doing about this is working on the Incarcerated Young Mother’s Bill of Rights. It addresses issues such as the discrimination met by mothers who have been involved in the criminal justice system, as well as the lack of information these mothers receive about their rights as parents. There is also a lack of appropriate placement for young pregnant women and mothers. “Policies are coming down to affect pregnant or parenting young women in detention that affect their choices”, Marlene says. For example, whether or not to have an abortion or give their child up for adoption are the only choices in many programs. CYWD wants these young women to have the power to make their own choices and know that the cycle can end with them.

CYWD also has a strong focus on LGBQ issues of young women in the system. 50% of the women in CYWD’s programs identify as lesbian. Marlene says this is likely because these young women feel comfortable and safe being “out” at CYWD.

More Success Stories

Marlene has many examples, in addition to her own, of how CYWD has help reverse the cycle – of girls from the system or streets who became involved in and then transformed through their involvement with the program. A few stand out.

A girl of 16 was on a track where she likely wasn’t even going to graduate high school. She completed CYWD’s Sisters Rising program and then went on to do more work with the organization. This included trainings on facilitation for staff and coalition work involving a trip across the country to New York City uniting young women on these issues. After that, she became a Senior Organizer for CYWD before moving on to a Program Associate, and then a Program Coordinator. She is now 20 years old, and in addition to working full-time she is attending college and has her own apartment.

Another young woman was involved in Mothers United and completed the Sisters Rising program. She had a spark of activism in her from the beginning and now is part of the Coalition Against Police Brutality. She has already had lasting impacts – when she had just turned 18 and had a baby, she lived in a group home where she was mistreated – she was instrumental in having it shut down.

CYWD continues to see the fruit of all their work. For example, someone involved in the program some time ago has spoken in front of congress and is now going to law school.

Marlene, herself, is a continuing success story. Among her accomplishment include the recipient of the Harold Atkins award for ending cycles of incarceration presented to her at Centerforce’s 10th Annual Summit in 2009. She also received the Unsung Hero award in 2005 from the Dali Lama. She has two boys, 10 and 3.

Marlene Sanchez

Marlene Sanchez

This work takes a lot of investment. “It’s not enough to give these women leadership skills,” Marlene says, “we must also create opportunities for young women to utilize these skills.” In addition, it is crucial to build community and sisterhood with a group of young women who’ve not had that traditional family support (for example, having come from a family torn apart because of incarceration). “These women can become whatever they want to with the right support.”

For More About CYWD …

… their various programs, their unique approach and successes, and resources, visit them online at: www.cywd.org, or contact them via mail or phone:

The Center for Young Women’s Development
832 Folsom Street Suite 700 San Francisco, CA 94107
(415)703-8800 ext 1001

Other Programs Like CYWD

Marlene was eager to give exposure to other program like CYWD, she cites:

A Final Note

CYWD is currently actively recruiting Board Members. Women of any age across the U.S. who want to be involved are asked to contact CYWD. They are especially in search of people with skills around financial management and literacy, organizational development, evaluation, research, and policy.

For previous FCN spotlights, visit the spotlight archive page.