Janice White, Shawnte Beck and Laloni Jones celebrate at the EXCEL graduation luncheon

Surrounded by nearly 100 friends, family and newfound UCSF colleagues, 13 San Francisco residents celebrated their completion of the EXCEL (Excellence through Community Engagement and Learning) Program at UCSF's Millberry Union Conference Center on Feb. 28.

After completing a four-month paid internship in either a UCSF campus or UCSF Medical Center department, the graduates move into UCSF's Interim Staffing program which will assist them in finding ongoing temporary assignments.

Laloni Jones, a resident of Bayview-Hunter's Point who interned with the Madison Clinic for Pediatric Diabetes, was selected by her classmates to provide keynote remarks at the graduation: "Through this experience we have become stronger individuals, more confident and empowered. We are more self-aware, culturally aware, but most importantly, more employable," she said.

Many of these EXCEL graduates have indeed found themselves to be more employable. Seven of the graduates were either offered an extension within their host department or placed elsewhere at UCSF in a temporary work assignment.

UCSF's EXCEL program has a history of success in providing skills training and a paid work internship to San Francisco residents. Since its inception in 1998, the program has graduated more than 170 community residents, with a large percentage of graduates obtaining career employment at UCSF.  In partnership with UCSF's community-based training partner, JVS, the program has been expanded to offer two training cycles a year.  The expansion of the program is made possible by generous financial support from the San Francisco Human Services Agency, Mayor's Office of Economic & Workforce Development, Walter & Elise Haas Foundation, San Francisco Foundation and the Salesforce.com Foundation.

For more information about the EXCEL program, contact Damon Lew at dlew@cgr.ucsf.edu.