Mitzi Chavez

Analyst | Research, Evaluation, & Data Team

Mitzi Chavez was raised in San Francisco in the Excelsior and Outer Mission neighborhoods. She was born in Mexico and immigrated to the United States as a young child—granting her the opportunity to experience San Francisco as an immigrant Latina, raised in a monolingual Spanish-speaking household. She attended Balboa High School where she served as a bilingual Health Educator advocating for youth health rights. Mitzi was first introduced to DCYF’s work as a 15-year-old Youth Empowerment Fund Advisory Board member where she engaged in the competitive bidding process and empowerment of youth-led organizations for over 3 years. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Science in Health Education and an emphasis in Community-Based Public Health.

Following multiple data-related employment opportunities and recognizing that DCYF was foundational to her career aspirations, Mitzi joined DCYF’s Research, Evaluation & Data team in August of 2020. As a data analyst, Mitzi supports DCYF grantees, staff, and City partners with navigating DCYF’s Contract Management System (CMS) and supports ad hoc department analytic projects. When away from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco, Mitzi enjoys walks at the beach, swimming in Russian River, nature hikes, and a good cup of coffee.

What inspires you to do this work?

Data can be intimidating, yet a powerful tool to help inform what's working, not working, or needs improvement to ultimately support San Francisco's children, youth, and families. It's a privilege to support DCYF in efforts to be further data-driven and I get the honor to engage with organizations that are on the ground, putting in work to support San Francisco's youth.

When I hear the word ‘data’, I typically don’t visualize a person who looks like me providing support to CBO staff who likely have observed the same - and therefore may not feel like data is of interest or is a topic they have previously explored. I find joy in helping to bridge the gap between someone who has never explored data to someone who, following our interaction, understands how the CMS works, how to use the tools, and perhaps even feel less intimidated by a topic that is often not explored by people who look like me.

DCYF’s tagline is “Making San Francisco a Great Place to Grow Up.” Do you believe this? Tell us why.

Yes! San Francisco fostered my upbringing with many learning, developmental, and generally supportive opportunities. In partnership with the wonderful community-based organizations, I believe we strive to provide the same meaningful upbringing for SF's current children and youth and hope to improve on the existing level of support in the near future.

Is there a song or anthem that inspires your grind and motivates you to serve our communities?

“San Francisco Anthem” by San Quinn.