Annual Gala
Each year the Berkeley Community Scholars hosts our Annual Gala in the fall to celebrate our scholars and present the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Award to Berkeley’s “Most Useful Citizen.”
This year we honored Frances Dinkelspiel, Lance Knobel, and Tracey Taylor —the founders of Berkeleyside— with the 2019 Wheeler Award.
Since the time Berkeleyside was founded in 2009, we’ve witnessed increasing media consolidation, the closure of local newspapers across the country, reduced funding for investigative reporting, layoffs at national media outlets, and polarizing cries of “fake news.” But in Berkeley, where people understand that local news is the lifeblood of democracy, where we value objective information to help us make wise decisions, we have Berkeleyside. Thanks to the Berkeleyside team, well-respected reporters cover city council and school board meetings, public safety issues, local elections, the changing landscape of our city, and even the “Battles of Berkeley.”
The Berkeleyside founders are driven by a desire to make an impact in their local community—much like the BCS High Hopes and Promise scholars. Our Annual Gala honored the founders for the impact they have made over the last decade, and raise funds for the scholars who will make an impact in the next decade.
