Dr. Arthur H. Coleman Business Legacy Award

Arthur Coleman was one of San Francisco's first Black physicians and was a celebrated health care and civil rights advocate. He campaigned not only for better services for his mainly African American patients, but also for more opportunities for young people from ethnic minorities to enter medicine.

A graduate of Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C., he also had a degree in law from San Francisco's Golden Gate University. He was the first chairman of the San Francisco Economic Opportunity Council, worked to increase voter registration and disease prevention awareness in his community, and was founder and chairman of the board of National Medical Fellowships, which awards grants to minority students and works to increase awareness of underserved populations.

Mr. Sam Jordan Award in Honor of 3rd St Business Pioneer

Sam Jordan was the first Black to run for mayor of San Francisco, finishing third out of 12 candidates in 1963, behind Jack Shelley and a man named Dobbs.

Equal to any challenge, Jordan, born in Diboll, Texas, initially won fame in San Francisco, soon after his arrival in 1947, as a boxer. Known in the ring as "Singing Sam", he won the Light Heavyweight diamond belt championship in 1948 in the San Francisco Golden Gloves Tournament.

He won victories every day over the unemployment and hunger that plague his community, directly employing as many as 400 neighborhood residents at his BBQ on Third St. over the years and feeding all who asked, whether or not they could pay.

Ms. Cheyenne Bell Award for Business Strength

Cheyenne Bell, was a fearless attorney who, with boundless love, fiercely defended youngsters in trouble. Cheyenne's tenure with the SF Juvenile Probation Department was marked by hard work and accomplishments. She pioneered the creation and expansion of community-based organizations working with youth in detention and out in the communities of San Francisco. She help champion the girls' services movement in San Francisco along with Shirlethia Holmes and Cati Okorie in the late 1980s, which helped formulate one of the first gender-specific programs for girl gang members in San Francisco, Girls Against Gangs.

She faithfully worked with our downtrodden neighborhoods, schools and churches to ensure everyone had equal access to services, information and assistance. This icon of a woman could walk with her head in the clouds or in the deep depths of despair and never lose her common touch.

Mother Brown Award for Business Creation

Mother Brown was the founder of Hope House, a scattered-site permanent housing program for chronically homeless adults with disabling conditions. Hope House is one of five pilot projects in the country of this joint funding effort. The goals include demonstrating ways to address chronic homelessness in collaborative efforts.