20 Years, 20 Friends: Margaret Hall

Our next honoree in our 20 Years, 20 Friends series – all leading up to our 20th anniversary in 2024 – is the person who laid the foundation as the first leader of Friends of the Children-Boston when it was initially brought to Boston by the GreenLight Fund (more to come on them as our final honoree in our 20 Years, 20 Friends series) – Margaret Hall.

Congratulations to Margaret Hall for being a part of our 20 Years, 20 Friends countdown!

The Friends of the Children program model originated in Portland, Oregon, but it quickly spread throughout the United States as new chapters have been opened by those who care about youth within their communities. That was the case in Boston when the program, lauded for its high-impact approach to mentoring, was started by the GreenLight Fund. One of the key players in making the Friends-Boston dream a reality was Margaret Hall, who led the organization’s start-up before hiring the first Executive Director.

Friends of the Children-Boston was launched in 2004 with its first class of 16 Achievers. Those first Achievers went on to graduate from high school in 2016 and 2017, and a number of them attended college. With a strong start, Friends-Boston has continued to impact Achievers and their communities in and around Boston, and Margaret continues to be closely aligned with the organization they began.

"Friends of the Children-Boston offered a proven approach to critical needs that had been identified by the community,” said Margaret. “We’d identified the rising violence affecting youth in Boston neighborhoods, and Friends-Boston has exceeded our hopes in breaking cycles of trauma and generational poverty for children and their families. For each Achiever, Friends-Boston has been life-changing, and the ripples of impact through their siblings, families, schools and communities continue to be powerful. There is no more important work than this."

With Margaret’s guidance, Friends-Boston was able to navigate through those very early days to grow into an organization that’s impacting the lives of youth throughout the Boston area. We’re grateful to her for making the work we do each day with our Achievers possible.