 Mr. Vince Harper came to SSU from the central California community of Atwater after attending high school and junior college in that area. Sonoma State University allowed him to continue his interests as a student athlete. He graduated from Sonoma in 1989 with a Bachelor's Degree in Management. After graduating, Mr. Harper explored working with youth by becoming a volunteer at a youth center in Santa Rosa. This was the first step in his decision to commit himself to working with at-risk children and teens. Since the start of working for Sonoma County People for Economic Opportunity, Vince has been involved in the development of youth programming in the Santa Rosa area. His special interest has been engaging neighborhood youth at the South Park Youth Center to provide positive alternatives to gangs, violence, drugs, and alcohol. Over time, Harper has helped to develop and implement a series of workshops designed for delivery in the classrooms of 5th and 6th grade students. These workshops are now being offered in the eight different elementary schools in Santa Rosa to approximately 500 students. Currently, Vince works as the Interim Director of Youth Services, he oversees two youth centers, school based homework/tutoring centers, continued development and implementation of classroom workshop series, coordination of the Sonoma County Mentoring Partnership and alcohol prevention projects. In addition to all this, he still has time to be involved in various other community organizations, such as Rural AmeriCorps Partnership, Sonoma County Gang Prevention Network, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaboration, and is a former member of the Spectrum Educational Therapy Board of Directors. |