Rules Committee selects members for Safer Schools Sexual Assault Task Force after survivor and community presentations

The Rules Committee on Sept. 22 moved to recommend six members to the newly formed Safer Schools Sexual Assault Task Force, a group intended to help implement campus sexual‑assault policies and support students across San Francisco.

Manush/Minush Kandel, the women’s policy director at the Department on the Status of Women, introduced the task force and described the applicant pool as “incredibly strong.” Candidates included campus advocates, clinicians, survivor‑leaders and youth organizers who said they would emphasize inclusion of community colleges, immigrant and international students, and students of color.

Dixie Kat Wong, who identified herself as director of the Youth Advisory Council at API Legal Outreach, said her goals included outreach to API and low‑income students, Title IX education and youth involvement in implementation. Several applicants described training, direct survivor services, outreach and data collection as priorities. Amelia Gilbert, who said she researched the economic impact of sexual assault in her Harvard Kennedy School master’s thesis, stressed the need for better data and tracking of outcomes; survivor‑applicants described the importance of trauma‑informed practices and survivor representation on the task force.

Members of the public spoke in support of candidates such as Leslie Simon, founder of Project Survive, praising decades of prevention work at City College and high schools. Supervisors discussed representation and nominated a slate of six candidates, including residency waivers for several nominees. Supervisor Marr moved the recommendation and Supervisor Cohen seconded; the committee advanced the appointments without objection and directed the clerk to forward the slate to the full Board.

Committee members reiterated that the task force meetings would be open to the public and encouraged community participation from those not formally appointed.