
SF’s 45th mayor is the first African-American woman mayor in the city’s history.
March is Women’s History Month, and we’re counting down the days until International Women’s Day on the 8th. There’s no shortage of feminist icons in the Bay Area, but London Breed is someone we see in our news feed every day. And we can’t stop being inspired, because she’s making history right before our eyes.
Just in the last part of February, Mayor Breed announced several plans to help the African American community, including a $120M reinvestment into the community during the next 2 years, and a $2.5M expansion of the African American Small Business Revolving Loan Fund. She also announced a $500 stimulus for lower-wage workers and families, and free transportation on Muni for those traveling to and from their Covid-19 vaccination appointments.
On the anniversary of declaring a state of emergency in San Francisco, it’s important we recognize that many city workers, like our Muni operators, have been working in public during a health emergency for a year. They deserve access to the vaccine.https://t.co/NrvfeP0ziA
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) February 25, 2021
Raised by her grandmother in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood, Breed is a native San Franciscan with a long history of public service. After graduating from Galileo High School, she earned a B.A. in Political Science & Public Service with a minor in African American Studies from UC Davis in 1997. She then achieved a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco in 2012.
Breed served as the Executive Director of the Western Addition’s African American Art & Culture Complex from 2002-2012. During her tenure there, she also served as San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commissioner and San Francisco Fire Commissioner.
In 2012, Breed was elected to the District 5 seat of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She served there for 6 years, 3 of them as president of the board. As such, Breed became Acting Mayor after Mayor Ed Lee’s sudden death from cardiac arrest in 2017. She was officially elected to the position in 2018.
Mayor Breed is spearheading the City’s response to Covid-19, and it’s because of her that much of the testing and relief has been successful and equitable. She has focused attention on providing relief for residents, small businesses, and communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The network of vaccination sites developed under Mayor Breed has the capacity to vaccinate at least 10,000 people per day.
The City’s homeless population has also benefited substantially from Mayor Breed’s time in office, as she’s provided more housing for residents and helped those suffering from mental health and substance use disorder. She’s also worked hard to make San Francisco a clean, safe city by cracking down on climate change, introducing the harshest Styrofoam ban in the country, and decreasing CO2 emissions and lowering energy use for public transportation.
As we welcome Women’s History Month, it’s just as essential to celebrate the women who are making history today. And Mayor London Breed is doing so as we speak.
[Featured Image: Shutterstock]