Christopher Gil
Senior Content Marketing Manager
Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
(415) 282-3334 ext. 152
cgil@medasf.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 10, 2018

Richard Raya Takes the Helm as Director of San Francisco’s Mission Promise Neighborhood
Will leverage years of experience in related fields to showcase results for families and students

San Francisco, Calif. — The Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) is ushering in fresh leadership with the start of 2018, announcing that Richard Raya will be the education initiative’s new director. The innovative strategy of the nation’s 17 Promise Neighborhoods is to commit to getting every neighborhood child into college or career by working with schools to connect families to a community network of support resources and using intensive data collection to measure results. MEDA is the lead agency of MPN, which includes over 25 partners.

MPN has seen numerous successes over its five years of community collaboration, including dramatic increases in high school graduation, augmented numbers of parents reading to their children and helping them meet early literacy milestones, and bringing valuable social-emotional and academic supports to neighborhood schools. (Read results report.)

As MPN enters its sixth year, the focus is now on how to accelerate impact in its next phase, and securing long-term funding to sustain the collaborative.

“This work combines my experience developing cross-agency programs to address community challenges with my equitable development and fundraising experience. All of these skills will need to be brought to bear in the current environment. I’m excited to join the MEDA team, which is at the forefront of community services with its family Asset Building programs and development of affordable housing,” explains Raya.

Prior to joining MEDA, Raya was chief of staff for an Oakland city councilmember. Raya mediated community-benefit negotiations. Before this, Raya served as executive director of Youth Radio, and director of administrative services for the Alameda County Public Health Department. At Youth Radio, he used grant writing and donor outreach to increase revenue and develop its first operating reserve. At Alameda County, he managed a $120 million budget and spearheaded the effort of the Interagency Children’s Policy Council to establish the county’s first results-based accountability (RBA) budget for tracking the outcomes of programs for children.

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About Mission Promise Neighborhood
The Mission Promise Neighborhood is a citywide community partnership that was created to support kids and families living, working and attending school in the Mission District. It brings together schools, colleges, community organizations and community leaders to help kids graduate and families achieve financial stability. missionpromise.org

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