Sara Beanblossom Joins Riley Institute as Director of the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship
FOR INFORMATION:
Claudia Winkler
Director, Marketing and Communications
The Riley Institute at Furman University
864.294.3368; Claudia.winkler@furman.edu
JUNE 20, 2023 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Sara Beanblossom Joins Furman’s Riley Institute as Director of the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Riley Institute at Furman University has appointed Sara Beanblossom as director of the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship, a national policy leadership program for individuals working to advance afterschool and summer learning policy.
Beanblossom joined the Riley Institute in May and brings extensive experience in the field of afterschool and education policy and research to the role. Beanblossom has 25 years of expertise in communications, advocacy, fundraising, and community building that inform her approach to addressing policy challenges. She also participated in the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship as part of the 2013-2014 class and knows firsthand the demands of the program.
Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the 10-month White-Riley-Peterson Fellowship begins its twelfth year in August. The fellowship is named for William S. White, Richard W. Riley, and Terry K. Peterson, all of whom have been instrumental in the growth of afterschool and summer learning programs and policies.
“Under Sara’s leadership and with her deep knowledge of and experience within the afterschool field, the Riley Institute’s efforts to improve afterschool policy around the country will continue and grow,” said Don Gordon, executive director of the Riley Institute. “We cannot wait to see how she will expand the fellowship’s impact.”
Named for former U.S. Secretary of Education and former South Carolina Governor Dick Riley, the Riley Institute advances social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond by building leadership for a diverse society, broadening student and community perspectives on critical issues, hosting expert speakers, supporting public education, and creating knowledge through community solutions-focused research. It is committed to nonpartisanship in all it does and to a rhetoric-free, facts-based approach to change.