Celebrating 20 Years: Honoring Beacon Pioneers

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

This year, the San Francisco Beacon Initiative is celebrating its 20th anniversary. I had the privilege of serving as Managing Director for the initiative for six years. During that time, I had the opportunity to learn alongside Milbrey McLaughlin, Jim Connell, Michelle Gambone, Connie Dubin, Sue Eldredge, and many others.

It was Sylvia Yee, Vice President at the Haas, Jr. Fund, who had the vision of bringing together city leaders, the school district, community leaders, and representatives from multiple foundations to build the initiative. This was an initiative where commonly held rules and conventions were changed if they interfered with the mission of the Beacon Centers. This was an initiative where leaders from philanthropy, the school district, and city government held each other accountable for the early promises of support. This was an initiative where foundations checked their egos at the door by agreeing to pool their funds and accept a common proposal and common report to minimize the administrative burden on the Beacon's Directors. 

Sue Eldredge

Lastly, we can thank the Beacons for helping to school Michael Funk, long-time Director of the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center, who is now the After School Division Director at the California Department of Education. It is important that we note that the Beacons are rooted in youth development. They came before 21st Century Learning Centers, ASES, and the academic agenda to raise test scores. Even though they embraced the academic agenda with grace, the Beacon Centers were, first and foremost, always youth development centers.

To learn more, view  these two brief videos:

• Celebrating 20 Years: Honoring Beacon Pioneers
• Celebrating 20 Years: The San Francisco Beacon Story

Photo Credit: www.snbc.org

Remembering the Broad Shoulders of Richard Murphy

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

The field of youth development lost an important leader and friend recently when Richard Murphy passed away at 68. 

When I served as the first director of the San Francisco Beacon Initiative, Richard Murphy was an important mentor to me. As many people on the west coast may not know, Richard was a pioneer in New York City opening public schools in the afternoons and evenings to serve as neighborhood community centers for youth. He called these centers Beacons. 

Richard Murphy

One of the many lessons I learned from Richard was "when windows of opportunity to serve large numbers of youth open, don't think you have to have it all figured out. Jump through the window and you'll figure out how to land on the way down." This was very reassuring as the San Francisco Beacon Initiative represented an "open window", which many of us jumped through. I was reminded of this advice again with the launching of California's afterschool initiative that was funded by Prop. 49. 

The youth development and the afterschool movement owes a great debt to the creativity and courage of Richard Murphy. His passing is an important reminder that we all stand on the shoulders of leaders who came before. For a full obituary, click here. To read a fine remembrance by Karen Pittman (Forum for Youth Investment) and access other articles about Richard, click here.