By John T. Moore

San Francisco, Calif.

A two-year-old community-based job training program in San Francisco is helping low-income youth turn away from the gangs, drugs and homelessness that often plague their lives.

Instead of hopelessness, the OpNet career-development initiative has turned many lives around by teaching these youth skills in information technology and positioning them for a career in the new media industry.

Many of the 115 trainees (ages 18-25) that have gone through the program say they are happy with the way OpNet has given them a career and a new way of life.

Kelvin Briggs, an OpNet graduate, chats with Kelly Brown, OpNet's director of marketing and industry relations.

Graduates such as Kelvin Briggs say they couldn't have gone as far as they have without OpNet's help. Briggs, now a design assistant with Quokka.com, echoes the thoughts of many other OpNet trainees.

The feedback has been extremely positive from many of the successful graduates, says Dan Geiger, cofounder and CEO of OpNet -- which aims to bridge the so-called "digital divide" through a series of projects.

Geiger's partner is E. David Ellington, who also is founder and CEO of NetNoir Inc. OpNet's launch was sponsored by Local Economic Assistance Program Inc., the nonprofit affiliate of Community Bank of the Bay. Its funding comes from foundations, corporations, government grants and individual supporters.

Since its creation, OpNet has maintained a three-part objective: to create economic development opportunities for low-income young adults; increase the employment of women and people of color in the digital economy; and help meet the growing demand for skilled new media workers.

To meet those ends, OpNet's three programs -- EntryNet, InternNet and SupportNet -- work hand in hand.

EntryNet is a five-week software training and job preparation program that not only gives youth training in tools such as HTML, Photoshop and Flash, but it also gets them ready to face the new media industry.

Joe Hawkins (right), director of training and support works with Michael Mascaga, an OpNet graduate.

"In San Francisco we are in tune with where the industry is at, and we have contacts at most of the companies who are real encouraging," Geiger says.

OpNet teaches not only software skills, but also communication skills and conflict resolution.

"When we do group projects, we try to mirror the real world of work in this industry, so learning how to work in teams, resolve conflicts, and manage projects and customers becomes very important," Geiger says.

The next program OpNet tackles is InternNet, which gives these young people experience on the job with paid internships in new media companies. Many of the interns get hired after their internship has ended, reflecting the satisfaction employers have with OpNet graduates.

The new media employers are getting trained, creative and motivated employees and a link to San Francisco's diverse communities.

"This industry is wide open, young and non-traditional," says Geiger. "They don't care what you look like -- they just care that you show up and do the work."

In OpNet literature, people such as Alice Ray -- president of Ripple Effects in San Francisco -- are quoted as saying how valuable the organization's interns have become. "OpNet provided the bridge by which our company and these young artists found each other," Ray said.

Geiger told about one OpNet graduate who was at the beginning of a successful design career when he began having family problems.

"Everyone in the family was leaning on him because he was the only one making money," Geiger says about the individual. When his job performance suffered, his company gave him a week off so OpNet could help him work out a plan to make it through that rough transition period.

He's back at work thanks to OpNet's help and his company's flexibility and support.

"We have a whole support system to help people develop successful careers," Geiger says.

The final part of that support system comes via SupportNet, which promotes long-term career success with job placement assistance, subsidies, continuous training, counseling and peer support groups.

It's often between two and six weeks from the end of their training before graduates get paid. In that time, someone may be about to lose his or her house and they're on the cusp financially, Geiger says.

That's when OpNet kicks in financial support to get them through the lag time until their first paycheck.

Its latest program -- Women'sNet -- is set up to attract and retain a higher percentage of women in the program.

The program strikes a responsive chord in the industry and the community as a whole, says Geiger. Many people who've done well in San Francisco's new media industry are volunteers with OpNet because they're looking to do something with real meaning.

Together, OpNet's volunteers and participants have set three goals going into 2000: