Annual Luncheon - San Francisco Village

Annual Luncheon

Transforming Lives and Community Luncheon

The Transforming Lives and Community Luncheon is a celebration of aging and our annual signature fundraising event. The hallmark of the luncheon is an award to one or more persons in their 70’s or older who have made a profound impact on the lives of San Franciscans and beyond, and who exemplify what it means to age with continued meaning and purpose. Recipients may include politicians, civic leaders, artists, scientists, philanthropists and others who continue to transform lives and community into their older years.

This year’s luncheon was cancelled due to the coronavirus, although we still celebrate our two honorees Senator Dianne Feinstein and Reverend Dr. Amos C. Brown for their lifelong contributions to social justice and community empowerment.

 

About our Honorees

 

You can listen to a greeting from Senator Feinstein here.

Dianne Feinstein has represented California in the U.S. Senate since 1992. During her tenure she has sponsored or co-sponsored over 500 bills, taken the lead to pass the nation’s most comprehensive assault rifle ban, successfully pushed a measure adding 1.6 million acres of California desert to the National Park system, and procured nearly half a billion dollars to restore Lake Tahoe.

Senator Feinstein’s career has been one of firsts. She was the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, the first woman elected Senator of California, the first woman member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, the first woman to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee and the first woman to serve as ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A native of San Francisco, Senator Feinstein served for nine years as a San Francisco County Supervisor, starting in 1969. She became mayor of San Francisco in 1978 following the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. The following year she was elected to the first of two four-year terms.

As a trailblazer in local and national politics, Senator Feinstein is a role model for purposeful living. For her decades of public service and her steadfast commitment to the people of California, we are proud to honor her with the 2020 Founders Award.

 

You can read a recent interview with Rev. Brown here.

Scholar, theologian, preacher, and social activist, Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown has served as Pastor of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church since 1976. He has dedicated his life to civil rights, early childhood education, international aid, refugee support, and building bridges across communities.

Raised in Mississippi, Rev. Brown organized the NAACP’s first youth council in 1955 and has been mentored by civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Benjamin Mays, Samuel Williams, J. Pious Barbour, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Rev. Brown went on to attain bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees.

In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, he has served as a member of the governing board of City College of San Francisco, National Chairman of the National Baptist Commission on Civil Rights and Human Services, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Chairman of the Bay Area Ecumenical Pastors Conference, first Vice President of the California State Baptist Convention, President of NAACP Branch in San Francisco, member of the governing board of the National Council of Churches of Christ, and a delegate to the 2001 United Nations Conference on Race and Intolerance.

His commitment to social justice with an ability to reach thousands is awe-inspiring.  In a 2019 speech, Reverend Brown said: “[The] very soul of our nation is at stake, and many of us are asleep, and the rest of us are sleepwalking.” Known for his trademark activism, intellectual discipline, masterful oratory, and sharp wit, it is an honor to recognize Rev. Brown with the 2020 Founders Award.

 

 

Previous Honorees

2019 – Gretchen de Baubigny and John Dearman
2018 – Rita Semel and Mark Buell
2017 – Dagmar Dolby and Fran A. Streets
2016 – Lewis H. Butler and Louise Renne
2015 – Roselyne Swig and Toni Rembe
2014 – Belva Davis and Henry Safrit
2013 – Eva Auchincloss, Mary Moore Gaines and Glady Thacher

 

“San Francisco Village is an adventure in the art of aging.”

Lynn Davis,
member since 2014