In an effort to expand employment opportunities for San Franciscans, today Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the hiring of Guillermo Rodriguez as the new director of CityBuild. Mayor Newsom’s Inaugural Address pledged to expand job opportunities, doubling current efforts to make sure more San Franciscans are ready for the jobs of the future by expanding the City Build program so that it will teach the "green collar" job skills demanded by the emerging green tech revolution.

"Guillermo is uniquely suited for this job, given his corporate, non-profit and environmental advocacy background," said Mayor Newsom. "We are pleased to have him on board to grow the CityBuild program and to coordinate and launch San Francisco’s green collar job training and placement initiative."

Rodriguez has an extensive background in both business and non-profit management. He was the executive director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute where he has successfully championed local hiring programs and serves as a member of San Francisco’s Solar Task Force which has recommended an innovate incentive program to spur residential and business solar installation using San Franciscans trained as solar installers. Rodriguez is active in many civic and community based organizations. He serves as a Trustee of the California State Parks Foundation and as a member of the Board of Meals on Wheels San Francisco and Latino Issues Forum.

"Since its inception, CityBuild has trained, graduated and placed 650 San Franciscans into good paying union jobs," said Workforce Director Rhonda Simmons. "With Guillermo’s skills, community networks and with the Mayor’s leadership we can double and triple those numbers and make the Mayor’s "green collar" job initiative a reality and model for other cities."