The Ed Fund recognizes BVHM’S exceptional commitment to fostering collaborative relationships that enhance the educational journey of its students
Oct. 20, 2023 – San Francisco, CA – At the San Francisco Education Fund’s Back to School Gala, the organization awarded the second annual Glady Thacher Community Partnership Award to Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community School (BVHM). This award, created in honor of the Ed Fund’s founder Glady Thacher, recognizes BVHM’s significant role as a partner to the Ed Fund and demonstrates the power of collaboration with community members and organizations to benefit San Francisco’s youth.
The award recognizes an organization or individual that has partnered with the Ed Fund in deeply innovative ways in our collective work toward increasing educational equity for students in San Francisco. BVHM is an Ed Fund priority school and was this year’s school nominee, while the other two nominees – 826 Valencia and Hanson Bridgett – represented non-profit partner organization and corporate partnership organization respectively. Nominations for the Glady Thacher Community Partnership Award were based on commitment to advancing equity, collaboration and partnership, creativity and innovation, student-first mentality, and impactful outcomes.
“It is an honor to give this award to BVHM which has an exceptional commitment to fostering collaborative relationships that enhance the educational journey of its students,” said Ed Fund CEO Ann Levy Walden. “BVHM’s endeavors exemplify the transformative potential of educational-community partnerships, making it a standout recipient of this esteemed award.”
During the 2022-23 school year, BVHM initiated a transformative partnership with Rakuten, emblematic of its future-focused approach to priority schools. BVHM empowered its student council to create campaign posters at the Rakuten office, nurturing leadership and ownership among students. BVHM’s innovative wellness events for middle schoolers, featuring an array of community partners, alleviated the negative impacts of COVID-19 on student motivation. Furthermore, BVHM’s strategic collaboration with a nearby church, facilitated in partnership with the Ed Fund, brought over 20 volunteers to support the afterschool program, exemplifying BVHM’s commitment to holistic student development and fostering lasting community connections.
The award was presented by Ed Fund Director of Development & Impact, Rebecca Moreno, and Ed Fund Senior Director of Talent & Operations, Rebecca Kroll.
“BVHM exemplifies what it means to be a community school—they partner with many crucial organizations across the city to ensure their students and families have the supports they need in order to be successful at school,” said Rebecca Moreno onstage as she announced BVHM as this year’s award recipient. “Everything from shelter, to food, to clothes and financial resources—BVHM understands that it can’t be done alone and community partnerships are a vital part of the school experience.”
Glady Thacher and Founding of the San Francisco Education Fund
In 1978, Proposition 13 passed in California, significantly reducing funding for public education. San Francisco went from among the highest-funded school districts in the country to among the lowest, and the city has been reeling from the effects ever since. From a place of deep commitment to our city and its children, Glady Thacher got right to work after Prop 13 passed. She recognized that someone needed to reach out to the private sector and help get money and resources into local public schools. Thus the San Francisco Education Fund was born, the first explicit third-party intermediary in our country whose sole focus was to bring resources to schools and teachers from public schools who have the greatest influence on students’ success.
At the time, Superintendent Robert Alioto said, “We are delighted to have this tangible link between schools and community. The [Ed] Fund demonstrates that all San Franciscans have a stake in public schools.” By the end of her eleven-year tenure, Glady had worked with local foundations and philanthropists to establish an endowment that would ensure teachers would have access to grants into the future. In the 2023-24 school year, with support from the California Retired Teachers Association, the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, and New Relic, the Ed Fund plans to distribute nearly $150,000 in educator grants to recipients from priority schools.
