Sam Beard (born 1939) is a social entrepreneur, and public servant. With

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...

and Robert Taft Jr., Sam created and Co-Chaired the

Jefferson Awards The Jefferson Awards Foundation was created in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service. The Jefferson Awards are given at both national and local levels. Local winners are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectatio ...

, an American Nobel Prize for public service and youth leadership training. The Jefferson Awards has since been re-branded to Multiplying Good, and impacts one million students a year.

Early life and education

Beard was raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and graduated with a BA from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1961, an MA from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1965, and attended Stanford Law School from 1962-1963. Sam began his career working with U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a low-income community in Brooklyn, New York focusing on social justice and the elimination of poverty.

Career

In 1969 after the assassination of Senator Kennedy, Beard founded the National Development Council. The council has since been responsible for billions of dollars of revitalization financing. Beard has initiated and chaired programs for eight Presidents of the United States, including Presidents Nixon,

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

, Ronald Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. One highlight of working with the eight presidents is the creation of more than 10 million jobs in impoverished communities across America. Beard ran in the Democratic primary for the 1988 U.S. Senate election in Delaware. In 1992, he helped to create the President's Youth Service Awards for volunteerism. Beard also worked with former Delaware Governor

Pete du Pont Pierre Samuel "Pete" du Pont IV (January 22, 1935 – May 8, 2021) was an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Rockland, in New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. He was the United States representative for Delaware from ...

and Wilmington Mayor, Bill McLaughlin to revitalize the Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

riverfront. He also served on President George W. Bush's

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

Reform Commission. Recently, Beard founded the non-profit organization GIFT (Global Investment Foundation for Tomorrow) to harness the full impact of the mindfulness and meditation movements to solve urgent global problems. The inspiration for GIFT came out of his experience in using mindfulness and meditation techniques to deal with a high stress period. Beard was excited at the far-reaching impact it had in improving all aspects of his life. This interest soon grew into a mission Sam predicts will be the most significant outcome in his life of service.

Personal life

Sam is married to Joan Beard, and has three children. Alex Beard is an artist in New Orleans, Hillary Schafer runs Multiplying Good in New York City, and Morgan Beard is a Life Coach in Los Angeles. Sam also has five grandchildren.

References

External links

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Multiplying GoodGIFT
Delaware Democrats 1939 births Living people Columbia University alumni Yale University alumni {{US-activist-stub