A work readiness management intern for the City of San Diego and City Planning graduate student at SDSU, Eric Henson dedicates his research and work through community outreach to connect the principles of work readiness with the sub-fields of city planning, such as transportation, housing, community and economic development.

Prior to his job at the city, Eric interned at the San Diego Housing Commission Achievement Academy, where he assisted low income families with work readiness, and mentored several youth cohorts through the San Diego Workforce Partnership to create action plans addressing youth unemployment in Section 8 families. In 2013, as a UCSD Urban Studies and Planning undergrad, he was accepted for the Center on Policy Initiatives Students for Economic Justice fellowship, where he worked on Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaigns for the San Diego Organizing Project.

Recently, Eric’s volunteer work under the Bay Terrace Community Association led him to collaborate with Councilwoman Cole to increase Bus Route hours in District 4 and National City for working class residents in need of transportation access to their jobs during nights and weekends. He also advocates for Food Justice Community Planning in Southeast San Diego as a mentee under the Project New Village Food Security group. To this day, he attributes his organizing roots back to San Diego City College in 2010 under the campus organization “Education For All” that educated the student body on the community college budget, undocumented students, and the school to prison pipeline.