The FACES for the Future Program at John O’ Connell High School (JOCHS) was established in 2015 in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Unified School District. FACES is a 2-year healthcare internship and leadership development program for high school juniors and seniors. The program supports entry into healthcare professions with internships, workshops, academic support, college preparation, and wellness support. FACES also tracks alumni after high school to ensure college retention and access to career pathways. The FACES for the Future program was founded at Children’s Hospital Oakland in 2000, where it quickly became a best practice model for health career pipeline programs serving underrepresented, minority youth at the high school level. The FACES model was created in direct response to what Dr. Tomás Magaña saw in the Adolescent Medicine Clinics—young people struggling to survive their circumstances, motivated to overcome challenges to reach academic success, but lacking the appropriate support and pathways to help them succeed. Now, there are FACES Programs in San Diego, Oakland, and Hayward, in addition to San Francisco. New programs are being developed nationally. Here in San Francisco, all program services start through a partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District, City and County of San Francisco, Department of Public Health, the University of California San Francisco, and San Francisco General Hospital. For more information, visit our website facesforthefuture.org/

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