Danielle Castillo

During my time working for the Office of Children and Families Policy (OCFP), I completed various projects, including creating three formal documents for the Youth Task Force (YTF), collecting youth artwork, and conducting a social media analysis for the office.

OCFP had been planning for the YTF retreat, which provided the foundational information for policy and advisory work, and provided a space for the YTF commissioners to develop their annual workplan. My role in the retreat was to create presentations informing the youth commissioners on creating achievable goals. The documents I created to support my presentations included:

(1) A visual framework showing the alignment between the YTF, the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors, various County departments, the Children’s Bill of Rights, and County Boards and Commissions.

(2) A workplan toolkit that introduced effective teamwork, policy and advisory work, and goal creation for the official workplan.  

(3) A resource guide that focuses on tools and frameworks that will support the youth in their leadership role.

For the OCFP artwork collection project, I reached out to 31 community art programs throughout Santa Clara County (including libraries, community centers and museums). Out of the 31 programs, seven programs expressed interest in collaborating with OCFP. I facilitated meetings with the programs to decide how OCFP could collect the artwork and how the art program would be promoted on the OCFP website. I then assessed and selected the artwork to be displayed.

I conducted a social media cross-analysis of all the offices in the Division of Equity and Social Justice (DESJ) that have a social media platform. I conducted a literature review discussing social media best practices. I presented my findings to the Chief Children’s Officer, Sarah Duffy.

I am very proud of myself for helping with the OCFP initiatives and providing support to the community. The Government Fellowship Program has inspired me to continue helping the public with equitable practices and research.

San Jose State University