White House Honoring Two Bay Area Groups for Work with Youth

This Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama will present National Arts and Humanities Youth Awards to Bay Area groups — San Francisco’s Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) and Santa Rosa’s California Indian Museum and Cultural Center — for their work with young people.

BAVC is celebrating its 40th year as a non-profit resource for Bay Area video makers, serving over 7,500 freelancers, filmmakers, and students each year.

Staffer Lauren Taylor and trainee Nicole Rivera will accept the award for BAVC. Rivera learned how to make short documentaries in BAVC’s Next Gen Program, which teaches media literacy to low income teens.

“When you really connect with the youth and provide the space for them,” Rivera said by phone from Washington, “a lot of vulnerability and a lot of strength comes out of that.”

Rivera, a freshman studying cinema and race and resistance at SF State, says she was “really shy,” before walking into BAVC. But since then, she’s done interviews and made videos about racial justice and female sexuality.

The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center was started in 1996 in San Francisco “to culturally enrich and benefit the people of California and the general public,” according to its website. The organization has resided in Santa Rosa since 2000. Accepting the award on behalf of the center will be Jayden Lim, 15, and Makela Yepez, 18, who are both Pomo Indians, according to Nicole Lim, the center’s executive director.

The National Arts and Humanities Youth Awards honor outstanding after-school and out-of-school programs. A total of ten groups from around the nation will be honored at Tuesday’s event at the White House.